Art Hatje Cantz Verlag | Xiaowen Zhu. Oriental Silk

Can Corporate History Be Art? This Question Can Only Be Asked If One Is Not Familiar With The Fascinating Long-Term Project By The Chinese Artist Xiaowen Zhu. Anyone Who Has Experienced Oriental Silk Will Answer This Question With A Clear “Yes.” The Project’S Title Is Also The Name Of A Company Founded In Los Angeles In The Early 1970S. Specializing In Trading And Distributing Silks, It Was Headed For Decades By Kenneth Wong And His Family. Through Her Multi-Sensory Works Zhu Opens Up A Multifaceted View Of A Firm That Is Distinguished, Like Its Silk Products, Through Its Own Haptics, Style, Colors, And Values. The People, Places, And Stories That Make Up The Phenomenon Of Oriental Silk Form A Fascinating, Vivid Tapestry In Which The Past And Present, Art And Life, Are Closely Interwoven.

Xiaowen Zhu (*1986, Shanghai) Calls Herself A “Visual Poet And Aesthetic Researcher.” For Her Artistic Studies She Combines Diverse Materials And Media To Create An Experience That Articulates The Specific World She Inhabits. She Lives In Berlin