19/9/2023
The exhibition "On Purple: The Purpose of Hue" officially opened on 16th September 2023. The exhibition was a part of the 21st London Design Festival 2023, which took place within the Mayfair Design District. The exhibition featured nearly 50 pieces by both international and local artists. These works spanned painting, sculpture, prints, photography, new media art, installation, and other media, with each piece carefully selected by the curatorial team.
The opening ceremony was held at 6:00 pm on the 16th, during which the London Design Festival and London Art Collective awarded prizes to the participating artists. The editors of The Times and The Sun presented the awards to the winners. Among these excellent artists, the recipient of the Popularity Achievement Award was CLADOGRAM - Xin Cheng, Yuxuan Hou, Jingwei Xu, Ji Luo; the Emerging Artist Excellence Award winner goes to Xue Tong; while Lorie (Yi Lu), Neil (Yufei Zhang), Zheming Zhang, Shiwei Guo earned distinction with the Artistic Innovation Excellence Award.
“On Purple: The Purpose of Hue” creates a space that embraces the power of purple and its profound symbolic meaning. This exhibition stands among of recent major exhibitions of LAC focus on both emerging and established artists who delve into various dimensions of the colour purple. These dimensions range from its symbolism in different cultures to its widespread utilisation in art, fashion, design, technology, and nature. The curatorial rationale regards colour as a sensory material through which individuals can experience specific emotions, with the goal of illustrating that the sensations linked to the colour purple can truly provoke the audience to contemplate the philosophy behind it. The deliberate choice of the title "On Purple," echoing the phonetic resemblance to "On Purpose," serves to underscore our intention to curate an exhibition centred around the theme of purple. This title holds deeper significance, signifying not just a hue but a purpose. As a result, this exhibition takes on a profound importance, emanating a distinctive and captivating aura.
To challenge the dominance of the white cube, the curatorial team collaborated with Berlin-based artist Lizz Lunney to renovate the entire building's exterior facade. This dynamic partnership gave rise to a 10-meter thematic installation outside the exhibition space. The conventional boundaries of artistic expression were redefined through this collaborative effort between the curatorial team and Lizz Lunney, bringing forth an innovative vision. The exterior facade of the venue, having witnessed a remarkable transformation, offered attendees an immersive experience even before they entered the exhibition space. Equally, the collaboration resonated with the core vision of the exhibition, aiming to transcend conventional thought patterns and encouraging individuals to explore a multitude of viewpoints and solutions for social challenges, thus promoting dialogue and understanding.
The works of “On Purple: The Purpose of Hue” span across art and design, bridging the realms of tradition and contemporary. The exhibition has become the top attraction in the 2023 London Design Festival's Mayfair Design District. It aims to break down boundaries, examine the spirit and concepts centered around the color purple through a renewed lens, and combine different cultures to unearth shared common goals across a spectrum of diverse contexts.
Helen Ashton, Jonathan Bennett, REGEN (Jiangyu Cai), Chen Chen, Chunhan Chen, Yuyang Cheng, Tinchan Cheung, CLADOGRAM - Xin Cheng, Yuxuan Hou, Jingwei Xu, Ji Luo, Evangelia Dimitrakopoulou, Charlotte Farmer, Xinyu Gao, Lucille Huang, Paul Huxley, Emily Lazerwitz, Mengyuan Li, Tong Song, Xingwen Qu, Xingyu Zhao, Shiqi Li, Siying Li, Xiafei Li, Yaqi Li, QiuQian (Erica) Lin, LinD, Bohan Liu, Cecilia-Xixi Liu, Clara (Yanjun Liu), Guangyuan Liu, Yixu Liu, Zheyi Liu, Lorie (Yi Lu), Neil (Yufei Zhang), Zheming Zhang, Shiwei Guo, Sonia Martin, Paul Mcbride, Chang Meng, “MISMSIM” by Jialong Miao, Ayaka Morito, Ellie Niblock, Qian Ye, Nana Shiomi, Xue Tong, Yijuan Wang, Zichun Wang, Zusa Zemon Wang, Xiangfei Yan, Ranyi Yang, Weiran Yao, Yunjie Yao, Tingru Zhang, Zixiong Zhou, Rivers (Qinnan Zhu)
London Design Festival was launched by Sir John Sorrell CBE and Ben Evans CBE in 2003. Building on London’s existing design activity, their concept was to create an annual event that would promote the city’s creativity, drawing in the country’s greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators to a deliver an unmissable celebration of design. The launch of the first Festival took place at Bloomberg on 25 March 2003, with a show of support from design, education, government and London organisations. 20 years later, this vision remains ever strong.
In 2019, the Festival welcomed a record-breaking 600,000 individual visitors from over 75 countries. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2022, London Design Festival now moves into a new decade, celebrating how it has played a key role in the growth of the design industry, bolstering London’s position as a global destination for business, culture and tourism, and contributed to the UK’s reputation as a creative powerhouse. As one of the world’s leading design events, the Festival has also served as the blueprint for design weeks and festivals globally and continues to be a key moment on the cultural calendar.
“On Purple: The Purpose of Hue” was curated by Hanlin Qin and assistant curator Yan Xie.
Hosting world-class contemporary art and design galleries, auction houses, fashion brands, jewellers, automotive businesses, retailers, hotels, restaurants, members clubs, bars, cultural institutions and events, Mayfair & St James' is a leading international destination. Mayfair Design District exists to unite these, to foster social connections, enhance openness amongst the community and to promote Mayfair and all it has to offer.
Established in 2017 following a decade of cultural growth, the established heritage Mayfair is renowned for now has a new design-centred character that ensures this vibrant enclave continues to delight in an increasingly digital age. Promoting Mayfair's cultural identity is key to maintaining its development and attraction of world-leading businesses in order to ensure Mayfair's continued status as an iconic destination.
Mayfair Design District has been generously supported since 2018 by leading construction & Interiors company Westgreen. The partnership demonstrates Westgreen's commitment to working with the very best in the creative community and high-end retail. Westgreen works together with Mayfair Design District to champion culture, promote Mayfair as a hub of creativity, and celebrate the vibrant leadership of the district and its community.
London Art Collective (LAC) was founded in London, UK in 2018 with the aim of providing a platform for independent artists worldwide to showcase and promote their work. Over the years, LAC has gradually gathered global artistic resources and become a mainstream art exhibition organiser. To date, LAC has signed up over 150 global artists.
Since 2020, LAC's partners have shifted their focus from independent artists to museums and galleries. Between 2020 and 2022, LAC has held over 20 art exhibitions on various themes, covering numerous art forms and styles, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation art, etc. The daily attendance at the exhibitions exceeded a thousand people. LAC has also established deep partnerships with over 30 British galleries, and strategic partnerships with major UK institutions such as the National Gallery and the Tate. At the same time, LAC has received abundant support from local British art funds, banks, and auction houses, and its professionalism and influence in the art market have continued to rise.
Commencing in 2023, LAC has launched a global youth artist support programme and cooperated with art institutions to provide young artists with global exhibition opportunities.
The mission of LAC is to convey a more diverse range of ideas and values through the power of art, providing audiences with unique aesthetic experiences and spiritual resonance.
Website: LondonArtCollective.com
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