The exhibition Currency Wars by the Chinese artist Xu Qu, curated by Jérôme Sans, can be seen until the 14th of November at the Almine Rech Gallery, in Brussels.
In this exhibition the artist presents two series of works divided between three rooms of the gallery. The Maze series (two paintings of large dimensions) surrounds the series Currency Wars as in a continuum, introducing the visitor to the space.
Currency Wars is a group of paintings that can be moved around the room. Like Janus, these images are mounted in pairs and displayed back to back, perhaps facing the old and the new. What at first sight seemed to be a formal and colorful approach of abstract techniques with carefully defined lines and compositions is, however, a very attentive and critical eye. These images are oversized banknotes and watermarks of different currencies, old and new, from different countries.
Surely, the choice of placing them in a movable metal stand is related to the circulation and fragility of currencies in the present economic system, but it also allows us to ponder about the artwork as a commodity and a product integrated in a market.
If you happen to be in London, you can visit the Almine Rech Gallery booth at the Frieze Art Fair, where solo works from Xu Qu are also on display.
