It’s a small world (after all)

Meitao Qu at Public Gallery

This week, I had the pleasure of visiting Public Gallery to see Meitao Qu’s new exhibition. Public Gallery opened in 2020 and focuses on multi-media and an intergenerational discourse, encouraging experimental artwork. This is their third exhibition featuring Meitao Qu, and the artist’s first solo show in their space. Qu is a UK based artist who grew up in Shenzhen, China, in the crux between four different theme parks. Fascinated by the imaginary and its effects, Qu has created an environment of her own to consider the role of sites such as Disneyland, World’s Fairs, and more.

Qu’s world in miniature has a palatable edge to it; the fantastical landscape appeals to the voracious consumer, catering to fantasy and creature comfort with a mixture of fairytale and urban architecture. In One World, one Dream, houses that vary from brownstones to colonials totter over one another, stacked and arranged artistically in layers on a rosewood dining table. At the very top, encased in a dessert tray, is a beautiful castle reminiscent of Disneyland theme parks. Qu is particular in leaving elements such as her castle contained and separate, while allowing the rest of her eclectic architecture to mix. The turrets of the castle silently watch from behind the vitrine as a sushi train circuits around the dining table, pulling along a row of teetering sky rises on bone china dishes. The continuous movement of these skyscrapers parade upcoming enterprises as they tremble along the train tracks. I notice that regular inhabitants seem to be hanging on for dear life on the outside of train, instead of in a designated seat.

Meitao Qu, One World, one Dream. Mixed Media.

The cyclical design of One World, one Dream, with its circuitous train and two mirroring highways on the periphery of the city, creates a liminal aspect rooted in movement and repetition. Each highway is inhabited by more stacked buildings, this time held in motion by many small doll legs running on the road. Feet melted slightly into the tarmac, they evoke a sense of ridicule, struggling against the constant development in housing that shifts the city.

On each wall of the gallery hangs one bone china plate; the four stare like mirrors back into the center of the room and reflect a similar message. Each piece is styled with traditional Chinese plating from the 80s and 90s: clean cut edges and bright colours simper out from their arrangement. Trapped in a sea of blue resin, another model skyscraper is lain within 一帆风顺 Smooth Sailing’s depths.

Meitao Qu, 一帆风顺 Smooth Sailing, Mixed Media.

Qu creates a complex network by combining multiple layers of cultural meaning together, based on reality and fantasy. Fitting these facets together like a layered cake, she builds a sustainable environment of her own making, with pockets dedicated to liminal space, as well as containment and archival content in others. A sushi train touts the progress made in recent years through new architecture, and a dessert tray displays a fairy castle that casts history in a magical light. Both are important parts of the artist’s impression of nationalism, powered by aspirational messaging, historical lore, and consumer identity.

The juxtaposition of geography and cuisine throughout the exhibition interlays the entwined relationship of capitalist venture and architecture in both fantasy and the mundane. Something about this work is engrossing, and I feel as though the more I ingest it, the more I fall into a sticky intentional trap, just like a boat sailing through bright blue jelly.

Images courtesy of Public Gallery and Artsy.