Among the works included in Chewing Gum VI is Lee Ufan’s sculptural installation Relatum – play of primitive (2015), which examines the relationships between objects and space. A painting by Mary Corse and a sculpture by the duo Elmgreen & Dragset will be situated in conversation with one another and with Lee’s installation. Corse’s Untitled (DNA Series) (2017), which features vertical black and white bands, incorporates acrylic paint and glass microspheres that reflect and refract light. In Elmgreen & Dragset’s recent sculpture On Target, Fig. 7 (2022), an arrow is embedded amid overlapping circles rendered in black, green, and white lacquer and mirror reflective stainless steel. Skewed slightly to the right of center, the target depicted in this work raises questions about perception and experience. As such, the sculpture exemplifies the artists’ interest in re-contextualizing everyday objects and challenging traditional modes of representation to create new meanings and associations.

A work on paper by Zhang Xiaogang, who is known for his figurative paintings and sculptures that engage with memory to explore both personal and collective histories, will also figure in the exhibition. In Zhang’s Black Stone (2014), a figure drifts across the picture plane, floating within undefined space and exuding a sense of isolation and alienation. Meanwhile, Mao Yan’s 2013 painting Oval Portrait: Andrew eschews markers of cultural and temporal significance. Rather, the portrait is imbued with spiritual and psychological complexity that encourages introspection and meditation. Li Songsong’s idiosyncratic work on paper Which Animal Do You Like Best? (2013) will be in conversation with these works as well as Xiao Yu’s wall-mounted bronze sculpture BB (2019), which invites contemplation of the human condition and the ecology of the art world.

Highlights in Chewing Gum VI will also include Robert Rauschenberg’s painting Page 19, Paragraph 5 (Short Stories) (2001); a painted wood sculpture by Joel Shapiro that reflects the artist’s longstanding interest in exploring—and occasionally erasing—the line between abstraction and figuration; a vibrant handwoven painting created by Brent Wadden in 2022; and a set of Yto Barrada‘s chromogenic prints, Untitled (felt circus flooring, Tangier)(2013–15). The patchworks of images, colors, and materials in these works collide in unexpected ways in the exhibition.