THE LONELY CROWD
White Canvas Gallery Nanjing
15. 10. – 30. 11. 2009
Artists:  Xu Dongping, Antea Arizanović Mutaović, Guan Ce, Jure Cvitan, Zhang Jiangshan, Manja Vadla , Yu Shaoning, Zhang Muchao, Mark Požlep, Zhu Kai, Iztok Maroh, Huiqin Wang
Curated by: Nevenka Šivavec  and Chen Haibo
The exhibition that has borrowed its poetic title from still fresh and convincing book The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman, published in 1953, presents the work of twelve contemporary artists from both Slovenia and China. The Lonely Crowd is an interesting sociological and psychological analysis of the new personality type that was developed by capitalism and nourished by popular culture and mass media. The actions of this new individual are no longer influenced by family or tradition, nor his inward orientation, but his orientation towards the exterior, towards the others.
The alternative offered by the Lonely Crowd is not merely a return to the inner orientation, but a well thought out autonomy. The autonomous individual is not maladjusted, nor a delinquent, but on the other hand he is also no hero. The autonomy merely means that in their private lives (to the extent that this notion still exists) people cultivate new critical and creative measures while being dedicated to their true feelings and desires.
The aforementioned social analysis - which was at the time applicable to USA - can be today applied to a large part of the world, including the so-called third world, into which production has been pushed to today. In his work Riesman has foreseen everything that we are still experiencing in the contemporary developed world: alienation, the tyranny of too much choice, anxiety, depression, etc. Late capitalist ideology addresses us as the subject with the power to do anything we desire, for our life is in reality an art or business project.
The exhibition is part of the exchange project between Center for Contemporary Art Celje and White Canvas Gallery Nanjing.

Manja Vadla, Adolf and his twin, 2009