Students from Art+ Development Center, Shanghai Bring the Wow

First Floor Studio Hallway

Artist Statement

Wenqi Wu 

Erci Cai 

Qin Gu 

Youyi Yang 

Chuhan Shan 

Andrew Slivchak

Tracy Tang 

As an art development center, our artistic vision is to help our students to be the best version of themselves they can be. Every student that comes through our doors has a different set of interests, level of experience, and skill set. We have no tests, exams, or assignments. Our focus is tailored to the development and ability of each individual student. In this exhibit, entitled Bring the Wow, we are proud to feature seven such students from our development center, each of whom bring their own concepts, themes, and ideas to the forefront. 

Artists Wenqi Wu, Erci Cai, and Youyi Yang are all high school students. Their work is bold and thought provoking as their productions explore such mature themes as conflict, civil rights, and equality. Wenqi’s work is often conceptual and his materials, most notably in Plate and Weapons of War, often play a major role in expressing his ideas. Erci’s work is equally as strong. In Making the Rounds, Erci presents the viewer with bullets laid out over the US Second Amendment, but it’s only upon closer inspection that one notices the engravings on the bullets which reveal something deeper. In the case of The 5th Estate and Composition in Human Rights, Youyi Yang uses paneled works to impart a narrative and show different elements of the same subject matter. Four prominent journalists who have been imprisoned or lost their lives reporting are formed within the crosshairs whole Mondrian’s work serves as the basis for her statement on the disparity of human rights.   

Qin Gu is the lone photographer of the group. Her photographs are indicative of her passion to document her travels. At the same time, her findings reveal the often-overlooked subtle beauty in our daily lives. Chuhan Shan is all about expressive textures and content related to personal identity. In Keys to the City, Chuhan’s manifestation of a Japanese city is done in the form of printmaking using keys. Her choice is purposeful as she expresses the macro-micro relationship between the city, buildings, doors, and the keys that open them. 

Finally, artists Andrew Slivchak and Tracy Tang are developing artists who express interests that are close to their heart. In the case of Curry Power and White Tulip, both students have produced content portraits that combine their central figure with quotes, statistics, and/or biographical information. The typography that’s woven into their project functions as both context and background. Their research, design strategies, colour choices, and value range are all a part of the decision-making for these process-driven works. 

Our interests and inspiration aside, our student works are an example of how we are constantly exploring and experimenting with different materials and mediums to express our ideas. Over 9,000 kilometers later, we’ve bridged the ocean to Bring the Wow.