“At the beginning, our working method was collecting and composing things. Now we are taking things out of it, transforming them, or looking for a real object that could replace them, gathering various comics’ aesthetics, and not only making a composition.”
A synthetic tree of rainbow hues, Spread Forest epitomizes the provocative artistic practice of Xu Zhen, a Chinese artist also known by the moniker of his company, MadeIn. A spoof on the phrase “Made in China,” MadeIn approaches the process of art production in a similar manner to Andy Warhol and his factory, working from a conceptual perspective that addresses the materiality of production and riffs on the culture of mass consumerism. MadeIn Company was established by Xu in 2009 in Shanghai, and in 2013 the company launched Xu ZhenⓇ, its flagship art brand.
Executed in 2010, the present work addresses the concept of “spread.” Xu was interested in transforming comic collages into an abstract visual language, and through the use of bright colors and otherworldly references he creates art objects that seem to belong to another realm. Merging varying comic narratives, Zhen manifests a form that speaks to intended superficiality, breaking down the barrier between an ornamental form and the art object. Spread Forest is a strong example of Zhen’s mature practice, demonstrating a radical approach to art-making that is rife with conceptual wit.
