SHANGHAI.- Subcurrents originally refers to the underground streams that quietly and continuously shape the terrain and structure of the land. In this exhibition, the natural motif is transformed into a threefold metaphor: it represents the emotional undercurrents running beneath contemporary society, the hidden force moving within social structures, and the seepage of memories beneath the strata of consciousness. It alludes to an invisible, intertwined and meandering collective subconsciousness.

Subcurrents may be understood as invisible movements of the subconscious, projected or repressed by the visible reality. Psychologically, they manifest as suppressed desires, emotions, and forgotten memories. These forces silently surge and intertwine beneath the threshold of consciousness, shaping countless future possibilities through their ongoing tension with reality. They may well constitute the concealed riverbed upon which "truth" flows, persistently influencing the course of the real world.

In the context of the art ecosystem, Subcurrents also signify marginal practices still submerged beneath the surface of mainstream recognition. The discourse of established artists shapes the visible layer of culture, sedimented with the aesthetic inertia of a previous generation, while younger practitioners are emerging as invisible subcurrents. Embedded within their practice lies a contemporaneity yet to be fully perceived, a vitality yet to be verbalized, and an innovative potential still beyond the definitions and classifications of art history.

The young artists and their practices in this exhibition can be seen as embodiments of the two layers of subcurrents. Guangyao CHEN’s sculptures imply unseen emotional contrasts between dreams and reality, memory and the present; Yinuo LI’s allegorical fragments whisper on the canvas, concealing a micro-reconstruction of visible narratives; Zihan CUI’s works compose an ineffable fog of thought through tranquil symbols and undercurrents of perception; Ziang YIN’s paintings intermingle mythicism with a sense of nature, creating a connectivity of non-human perspectives; Elizabeth NAGYPATAKY’s sculptures solidify the emotional tendencies of movement into material form, with unnamed forces and unreleased emotions flowing beneath; Marc TRUCKENBRODT’s paintings reveal a fairytale-like serenity running underneath their seemingly intense formal features, generating a tension between the work's stillness and motion.

These artists collectively form six sets of dyadic imagery: dream and reality, appearance and subtext, the expressible and the ineffable, anthropocentrism and non-human perception, materiality and immateriality, intensity and submersion. Intertwined and interwoven, these dualities resemble the tributaries of subcurrents, unfolding more deeply and multidimensionally throughout the exhibition. They respond to the subconscious undercurrents of our time through nonlinear trajectories.

Ultimately, Subcurrents as a metaphor refer to internal forces that remain hidden yet persistently active. Through unobtrusive and anonymous, they exert a profound and tangible influence. Over time, these forces may converge to dismantle established frameworks and give rise to new systems of understanding.