Matthew Barney's First Solo Exhibition in China Opens at UCCA Beijing

Matthew Barney's first solo exhibition in China, 'Redoubt', opened at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing's 798 Art District, running until January 12, 2020. The show centers on a two-hour dialogue-free film set in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, where the artist reenacts a wolf hunt inspired by the myth of Diana and Actaeon. Barney appears as the Engraver, documenting the hunt on copper plates that undergo electroplating. The exhibition also features five monumental sculptures made from burned Idaho forest logs and about fifty engravings used during filming. The project was completed in 2019 and debuted at Yale University; a third stop is scheduled for March 2020 at London's Hayward Gallery. UCCA director Philip Tinari, who moderated a 2016 roundtable with Barney and Chinese artists Cao Fei, Wang Jianwei, and Qiu Zhijie at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, expressed pride in hosting the artist. The show explores themes of mythology, nature, dance, digital technology, and alchemy, reflecting Barney's interdisciplinary practice. Critics have raised concerns about Chinese audience reception due to the work's complexity.