Tianzhuo Chen

Tianzhuo Chen’s solo exhibition is part of KAF’s three-year collaboration with Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and is curated by Khairuddin Hori who was appointed by Palais de Tokyo (Paris).

Central to the Shanghai exhibition is Trayastrima, an operatic performance which evolves Tianzhuo Chen’s poetic and evanescent work ADAHA II, performed at the exhibition’s first iteration at Palais de Tokyo. Trayastrima brings together sculptural, video and performative elements and features recurring characters that are grotesque, yet familiar: a menagerie of outlandish acrobats, androgynous characters, five-eyed blondes and gangster rappers. In another piece, a skinned and splayed Eric Cartman, the iconic character from South Park, is reincarnated into a luxurious carpet design. ADAHA II was performed across three separate platforms, traversing a water fountain, a neon flame and two, four-meter tall polyfoam sculptures that resembled deities whose ‘ruined’ aftermath are presented in Shanghai.