Material Matters is a collection of selected works by artist Wang Jiazeng from recent years. His works are regarded as monuments to the era, imbued with a wealth of symbolic elements.

The materiality of his works presents a dissonance with sensory perception. Metal is forged to be as soft as clay, imbued with vitality, while paper, through piling and compressing, presents sharp edges akin to blades. Organic and inorganic materials deform and intertwine, creating a lavish and mysterious narrative style with the materials themselves.

As Abstract Expressionism master David Smith once said, "Steel's role in the socio-economic landscape is unmatched by any other material. It has almost no art history of its own. The associations it carries have been imparted to it by this century: power, structure, movement, progress, suspension, destruction, and brutality." Wang Jiazeng’s focus on steel and metal in his work accurately and skillfully reflects the complex societal changes in Northeast China influenced by industrialization.

Through every scratch, crease, and structure in his work, we can discern the beauty of intentional decision-making. All materials are purposefully altered, with extremes transforming into their opposites—hardness becomes softness, bluntness becomes sharpness. And this purposeful alteration is the crux of the work. Wang Jiazeng’s works are always intentional, rather than accidental events. Just as historical changes bring about intellectual shocks, the artist offers a profound reinterpretation through a different form.

His new cardboard series continues to narrate the impact of industrialization on the lives of ordinary people from a macro perspective. Repeating and colliding geometric elements in the works mimic the steel and glass structures of modernist architecture, with the entire composition resembling an aerial view of a city. The corrugated cardboard, a common logistics material, also serves as a key clue of the era. This material is understood as a standardized product of manufacturing and hints at the accelerating pace of contemporary life. Wang Jiazeng transforms the cardboard into a marble-like substance, carefully carving it to make the surface appear weathered and worn over time. He approaches this process like a scientist, seeking solutions to contemporary issues. As structuralism asserts, “All structures and materials are neither old nor new, but necessary.”

The title of this exhibition Material Matters speaks to the inevitable decisions made regarding material and concepts at a specific moment in time. Although randomness introduces some variables, the intentionality and depth of Wang Jiazeng’s work, as well as his precise handling of materials and structures, convey an inevitable conceptual manifestation. His works are not only artistic expressions but also profound reflections on contemporary societal changes and cultural influences, serving as a mirror and a condensation of the spirit of the times.

Text: Ruoheng Li