Van Gogh House London

Chinese artists Weizhen and Lv Xiaoshuai lived in Van Gogh House for the month of October, 2019.

The inaugural residency was run in partnership with the Royal Drawing School, an independent educational charity founded by the HRH King Charles in 2000. We welcomed two Chinese artists to the house in October: Wei Zhen from Sichuan University and Lv Xiaoshuai from Southwest Minzu University.The two artists spent time in 87 Hackford Road as well as Dumfries House in Scotland. The residency culminated in an exhibition at our nearby sister space San Mei Gallery.

During their residency in London and Scotland, the artists created works strongly inspired by the study of Western landscapes. Mudlarking –the act of unearthing objects buried in the mud and sand – along the banks of the Thames, they found a large quantity of shells, ceramic tiles and other artefacts eroded by the passage of time and water. The large watercolours by Wei Zhen represented shapes of consumed rocks, unveiling the dynamic reflection of the waters on the river’s soil. Lv Xiaoshuai’s clay sculptures play with the porosity of the material and the cracks it develops while drying and setting.

Before this residency, the artists had not collaborated with each other, but the experience has lead to many further opportunities for them to work together in China. They remain involved in our programming in Chengdu and their works made on the residency were collected by HRH King Charles. 

This residency was supported by the Royal Drawing School. The artists also collaborated with San Mei Gallery, London and AVG Space, Chengdu