The Tale of Angels, a group show opening at The Red Mansion Foundation gallery in February, features Chinese artists Gao Shiqiang, Jiang Zhi, Kwok Ying, Miao Xiaochun, Shi Jinsong, Xiang Jing and Xiao Yu.

The exhibition essentially is a Chinese response to the idea of angels, as rooted in western mthologies and tradition and Middle Eastern traditions passed on through Judaism, Christian and Islam. Angels are first described in the Bible, created by God as a separate, higher order of creatures than humans, that possess aspects of intelligence, emotions, and free will. Today, angels are continuously imagined and represented, both in literature and visually, beyond their theological context and biblical origins;. At the same time, the image of angels has been utilized for curiosity, communication or faith.

In the history of western art, there have been numerous images representing angels, usually winged in appearance, implying their nature as God’s heralds and flying creatures. In China, these spiritual beings have always been deemed as western, yet, to many, the contemporary imaginings of angels do not necessarily derive from the original source, ie their description in the Bible), but instead depend on the visual interpretations of western art.

The exhibition aims to set up a framework for discussion, and to encourage and invite Chinese artists to expand their boundaries, and develop new ideas for visual response. It intends to re-examine not only the theoretical notion of an angel, but also, more significantly, the ways in which angels, particularly in the context of Western culture, could be re-imagined.

To the artist Shi Jinsong, the beauty of angels has an innocent quality. At an initial glance, his recent stainless steel installation of a Christmas tree has a glorious metallic shine, but a closer look reveals some fearsome sharpened blades. This work exposes the balance between the beauty of angels and their potentially wrathful nature, and more importantly, the conflict between the amiability of ‘imagination’ and the injuriousness of ‘realisation’. Jiang Zhi has imagined another chilling visualization; that of the flayed flesh of an angel, vulnerable in its nakedness and desolation, like a discarded skin.

The curator, Jiang Jiehong, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham City University, will talk about the show during the exhibition.

The Tale of Angels, 27 February-30 May 2009, 9.30 – 5pm, Monday to Friday, by appointment. The Red Mansion Foundation, 46 Portland Place, London W1B 1NF. T +44 (0) 207 323 3700