The White Rabbit Gallery, located in the inner city suburb of Chippendale, is one of the largest and most significant collections of contemporary Chinese art in the world. It closes twice a year for the installation of new exhibitions.
For those of you who don’t live in Sydney, we’ll try to visit at least every six months so that we can share this glorious treasure with you. If you do live locally, please understand that these photos don’t begin to do the artworks justice. I highly recommend an in-person visit to the gallery – they’re open Thursday to Sunday and, astonishingly, admission continues to be completely free.
Here are the highlights from our most recent visit. These shots were taken with my iPhone and were somewhat limited by the low lighting. In addition, there are several audio-visual and dynamic pieces which simply couldn’t be captured in still photos.
. . . . .
This first artwork is titled Under Heaven 20121018 by Xu Zhen’s Madeln Company. It comprises over seventy kilograms of piped oil paint. The piece was completed in October last year, and is still drying…
It made me want to rush home and bake raspberry meringues. According to the artist, the patterns reminded him of “cityscapes seen from space” – I saw similarities to coral reefs and from a distance, it looked like a large collection of swirly party ribbons…
. . . . .
If there is one piece worth visiting the exhibition for, it’s Mini Home (2005).
Artist Jin Shi recreates in half scale the home of a poor urban migrant couple – peasants who have come to the city in search of a better life only to find themselves trapped by the system. It is heartwrenchingly small, especially when you consider that the real “house” was only twice as big.
According to one of the knowledgeable White Rabbit guides, the couple who lived in the space would take turns to sleep, with one sitting outside while the other rested. At the bottom left is a very basic lavatory, and all components of the artwork – down to the cups, saucers and television – have been reproduced at half scale.
I found this piece incredibly moving and came back to it several times during our visit…
. . . . .
On the ground floor, the enormous Appeals Without Words (2006) by Jin Feng shows eighty-nine peasants queued to lodge corruption complaints to the central authorities. The subjects are painted in gold to resemble statues – a statement on the length of time their complaints can take to be heard – and their placards are blank, signifying the futility of the process. A beautiful, imposing and emotive piece…
. . . . .
Bai Yiluo’s Illumination (2011) is a collection of antique oil lamps, an item which was commonplace in Chinese homes before electricity. It made me ponder how quickly items which we consider to be essential can become obsolete, and reminded me of Zhao Xiangyuan’s collection of soap in Song Dong’s Waste Not exhibition.
My friend Roz taught me that many contemporary artworks are delivered in pieces to be assembled on site. Sometimes the artist will be closely involved in this process; other times the gallery will decide how the pieces are to be displayed. In this case, Bai Yiluo was happy for White Rabbit to lay out his lamps, and this circular display is the fourth arrangement they’ve tried since the exhibition opened…
. . . . .
By contrast, artist Zhou Jie had very strict instructions for the layout of her porcelain city, titled CBD (2010). Each piece arrived at the gallery beautifully packaged, numbered, and with clear directions for placement. The artwork reflects the layout of Beijing’s new CBD, supposedly covered with pathological organisms to highlight the spread of buildings like viruses, and expressing the artist’s concern about urban growth.
To me, it was as if the city had sunk into the ocean and become part of a reef. This image was enhanced by the bed of rice on which the pieces were laid out…
The beautiful creamy porcelain was intricately shaped and detailed...
CBD was Pete’s favourite artwork in the exhibition…
. . . . .
Ideality (2007) is a modern photographic series by Wang Guofeng based on the “ten great buildings” built in Beijing to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1949 Communist Revolution. After taking high resolution images of each building, the artist painstakingly photoshopped out all the cars and people…
…and inserted a tiny image of himself (to scale) into each large photo. As significant landmarks in the most populous country in the world, these buildings would never be deserted, so the idea of being the only person there must have been both eerie and intriguing (and somewhat post-apocalyptic)…
. . . . .
On the top floor of the gallery, Even in Fear (2008) runs on a continually inflating and deflating cycle, with the weather balloon blowing up to what appears to be near exploding point before shrinking down again. Artist Zhou Xiaohu seeks to represent the materialistic drive so prevalent in China today, and the growing anxiety that comes with an expanding economy and subsequent wealth…
(Edit: The White Rabbit Gallery have just tweeted that the weather balloon has burst! It was meant to eventually, and the artwork was delivered with spares.)
. . . . .
All the pieces for Wonderful City (2011) by Cheng Dapeng were created using a 3D resin printer. The light box presentation made it difficult to photograph them, but they were surprisingly detailed…
. . . . .
As always, the White Rabbit gift shop is a treasure trove of old-fashioned toys and gadgets. I’m old enough to remember playing “elastics” at school…
I couldn’t resist a photo of this egg cosy…
As the gallery doesn’t charge an entry fee, we try to support them by buying something whenever we visit. This time we picked up a couple of their postcard books from the current exhibition (Roz, I have a copy for you).
The Smash Palace Exhibition will be on display at the White Rabbit Gallery until August 4, 2013. If you’re in Sydney, it’s definitely worth a visit!
. . . . .
White Rabbit Gallery
30 Balfour Street
Chippendale NSW 2008
+61 (02) 8399 2867
www.whiterabbitcollection.org
(website includes artists’ biographies)
Open Thurs – Sun, 10am to 6pm
Closed February and August
Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Smashing gallery, Celia. Very inspirational. I can see why you go back.
Recently saw an installation of clock movements on the white flooring, with a little pencil lead attached to the ticking hands.
Which drew a repetitive circular image as it progressed through time – to be in place for a month.
Beautiful and strangely fragile, probably due to the changeability.
The curators wouldn’t allow me to take a picture though. Aren’t you lucky to be able to photograph.
Gill, what we’re really lucky about is that a gallery of this calibre offers free entry! I always feel so blessed to be in Sydney and have so much contemporary art on offer at no cost!
Sounds like a fantastic exhibition Celia. Funnily I saw a very similar egg warmer in a shop window a couple of days ago and it made me laugh. Moreso because adjacent to it was an egg in a balaclava : )
Hahaha!! Sounds very cute, Tania, did you buy it?
Unfortunately I just don’t ‘get’ modern art. I am into classicism and I am an occasional amateur artist. On the other hand The White Rabbit sounds like somewhere Grannies would love to go. You know grandmothers are just antique little girls :-)
Merryl, I’m the reverse, traditional art isn’t my cup of tea, but I contemporary art! And you’re right, with their wonderful tea house and gift shop if nothing else, the WR Gallery is a perfect place for Grannies.. :)
Your art gallery posts have really encouraged me to try and get the kids and I along to one soon – and this looks amazing. Thanks for making it feel so accessible.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment, Claire! I probably spend more time on these posts than others, because I so love the artwork and would hate to not do them justice when I write about them!
Great post Celia! I love your blog, really diverse and always interesting. Thanks!
Lisa, so kind, thank you! When I first started blogging, I was told to stick to a theme – “if you’re a food blogger, just blog about food”. It seemed much more fun to blog about all the things we really loved – I wonder if that makes me a “life blogger”? ;-)
That oil picture must weigh a ton Celia! It does look like icing doesn’t it? I also enjoyed the photos, so intriguing to hav just the one human subject shown. Don’t judge me, but my absolute favourite thing you’ve shown us today was the egg cosy! So bizarre and quirky- brilliant! X
Becca, the paint alone weighs 70kg! And the egg cosy was seriously cute! :)
Oh! I can’t believe this!! Shall share with quite a few Sydney gfs as much into modern art as I am!!! Was this the Gallery to which you took Debra Kolkka when she was in Sydney? I have a long list of restaurants and shops I want to visit next time I get out of my rural nest, but this just has to come first!!!! I remember going to Japan and HK in the years past and using every connection we had to get stuff which was not supposed to leave the country back to Australia: just could not leave that kind of talent behind – oh my, these are fabulous!!!!!!
Eha, I’m SO happy you liked it! Yes, that’s the gallery I took Debra too – I’ve also written about a couple of their exhibitions in the past:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/11/03/white-rabbit-gallery/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2013/01/10/waste-not/
I love the red exhibit- at first it looked liked red letuces and cabbages. I must me hungry?
Thanks for taking us along on your visits to museums, Celia. It is such a different venue than my day to day!
Heidi, I’m so glad you enjoyed it – made it worthwhile posting! :) xx
I can’t believe there isn’t an entry fee! I used to play elastics too. Loved it! There are some very moving pieces in this exhibit including that half-house. So hard to imagine a couple living in anything so small and having to take turns to sleep! xx
Charlie, have you been? I think your photographer hubby would love it – lots of interesting angles and shapes to shoot.. x
How wonderful Celia! I want to recreate that first work of art in edible form!
Claire, maybe the top of a cake? I thought the same thing! x
Great post. It’s all facscinating, especially the Mini Home. And, the White Rabbit gift shop calls me :)
It’s a lovely place to while away a couple of hours, ED. And it’s just a little too easy to pick up quirky gifts in that shop! :)
Ooh can we go here next time when we catch up? I love modern art!! :D
Sure! The tea house there is very nice too! Have you been before?
Incredible Celia, this art almost looks like it is from another world. Actually, it is another world! Thank you for sharing these wonderful things. City life offers some amazing experiences doesn’t it?
Jane, it’s all swings and roundabouts, as you know, but there are certainly some wonderful things to do in Sydney. I’ll go back in six months for all of you and see what’s new then.. x
70kgs!! Insane!! Must be a very tough and handy wall to be able to hold up such weight.
Funny that the balloon burst!! That’s life isn’t it? The bubble will always burst one day :)
Lisa, apparently the balloon is meant to burst – symbolic of the economic bubble bursting – and the artwork comes with spares! :)
I loved this post, Thank you dear Celia, this is amazing… Love, nia
Thanks Nia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! x
I would love to come back to Sydney and visit the gallery with you.
And we could drink tea in the lovely tea house again! :)
Reblogged this on photographyofnia.
This is another exhibition I could easily get lost in, Celia. I can see why you would return to Mini Home several times. It’s fascinating.The piece showing the gold-faced peasants waiting is another that would entrance me. Thanks you so much for taking us along. You take us on the best field trips!
John, I wish you could come with us – I had trouble moving to the next floor as I too was spellbound by the large painting. I wanted to stand there and study each of their faces, but there was a school group bringing up the rear, and we were trying to avoid them, so we went to the top floor and worked out way back down.. :)
FAntastic works! Thank you.
You’re most welcome! Thank you for taking the time to read the post! :)
Amazing and beautiful works of art, thank you for sharing, especially for those of us not in Sydney. I’m so glad you blog about many other things you love and that enrich our lives. You are very inspiring, Celia!
Danielle, that’s very kind of you, thank you! I know these left of centre posts aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but as I’ve always said, I really do blog for myself, and I so love the modern art we get here in Sydney! :)
What a powerful exhibit. I want to go.
I’m smiling over the “French Jump Rope” or “Elastics” as you called it. When I was a girl in the early sixties we called it “Chinese Jump Rope” Now I want to find out where it originated. Keep the adventures coming! Maz.
Maz, I was always rubbish at that game – I’m too clumsy! :)
I SO want to go to see this gallery. I love the little house and that porcelain is amazing.
M, the porcelain is so intricately detailed – I wish I could have taken better photos, but the lighting was too poor. You’ll have to make a trip down to see it! :)
Gosh you have some huge exhibitions. You write them up beautifully and as I will most likely never see them I am very grateful to you – I enjoy my viritual visits to Sydney’s cultural scene so much xx
Thank you my love, I’m SO happy you’re enjoying these posts! I wish I could somehow bring you all to the gallery with me, it’s so much more impressive in person. And I’m inspired to write them because I remember how excited I was every time you posted a new photo of a gorilla for me.. :)
Celia, I went to this gallery for the first time recently and really loved it! Thanks for your overview it was great seeing all those works again through your eyes .
I went with a friend and we decided to make regular visits when the program changes.
Diana xx
Thanks Di, isn’t it just the most fabulous place? :)
Oh my goodness, that piped painting is unreal! Never seen anything like it. Would be such an amazing piece for a big white dining room wall. If only I could paint…