Without going to New York and Paris, life could be internationalized

Chen Zhen is largely recognized as one of the most important artists of the global art scene. His work thrived from his singular and intense life experience of migrating and working across different continents and cultures. The recent exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum in Chen's native city of Shanghai reflected on his lifework, at once unique and complex, critical and optimistic, and its attempts to provide innovative responses to the diverse challenges of the changing world, from the end of the Cold War to the rise of of global capitalism and new geopolitical conflicts. Chen proposed to constantly reexamine the realities and histories of what he viewed as an exciting new world, full of problems—like a giant with an overmuscled body and an exhausted heart. The publication includes documentation of the eponymous exhibition at Rockbund Art Museum, along with detailed sketches of both existing and unrealized projects.