CAO FEI'S ISLE OF INSTABILITY A NEW ARTWORK COMMISSIONED BY AUDEMARS PIGUET CONTEMPORARY TO BE UNVEILED AT WEST BUND ART & DESIGN,

Le Brassus, September 10 2020 – Cao Fei will premiere her latest artwork, commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary, in Shanghai at West Bund Art & Design from 11 to 15 November 2020. Open to the public and located within the Audemars Piguet space at the fair, the timely work, titled Isle of Instability, responds to the artist's time living in isolation with her family since March. It presents audiences with a personal reflection on the global pandemic and the limitations felt on a shared human scale.

A portrait of the artist (L) and a study (R) for the artist’s upcoming installation, Isle of Instability, 2020, commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary. Courtesy of the artist and Audemars Piguet.

Cao Fei is one of the most innovative Chinese artists working globally today. She mixes social commentary, popular aesthetics, references to Surrealism and documentary conventions in her films and installations. Her works reflect on the rapid and muddled changes that are occurring in Chinese society today and often deal with themes of anticipation, questioning the possible collapse of our future while proposing an escape, or a solution, through the potential of humanity: its dreams, imagination, creativity and the individual in relation to the collective.

Audemars Piguet Contemporary was engaged in developing a new artwork commission with the artist well before the onset of the global Covid-19 situation. In October 2019, Cao Fei visited the home of the brand, in Le Brassus, Switzerland, to finalise plans for the artwork. As worldwide cases of Covid-19 grew, Cao Fei and her family found themselves in Singapore unable to return to their home in due to international travel restrictions. Together, Cao Fei and the Audemars Piguet Contemporary team agreed on a new subject for the commission to reflect the current state of the world. Isle of Instability documents the artist’s personal experience living under lockdown and in turn our shared global experience of confinement.

Isle of Instability was imagined and produced in Singapore, away from the artist’s home, studio and day-to-day habits in Beijing, with her daughter serving as an assistant and actor. This artwork explores the limitations and emotions felt in isolation and the psychological and physical implications

1

on herself as well as her family. It also offers solace to the public and the opportunity to converse about shared experiences and the ways in which humanity deals with uncertainty.

“Being away from home for so long, the foreign culture became familiar, the exotic cuisine became my go-to delicacy, the labyrinth of alleys became my daily routine, the strangers next door became my friendly neighbours, and I, once a guest of this country, became a resident. Lost in transition, certainty has become a luxury.”

Cao Fei Contemporary Artist

“Cao Fei turned a challenging situation into a unique opportunity, creating work that explores the social realities of daily life under lockdown. The process of adapting to a new situation alongside the artist is also what distinguishes this Audemars Piguet Contemporary commission. The artist’s infinite curiosity for documenting our present reality will be shared and felt above all.”

Denis Pernet Art Curator, Audemars Piguet Contemporary

“Born in Le Brassus, raised around the world.”

Press contact Rachel Rees, Audemars Piguet, [email protected], + 1 646 425 2268

Alexandra Ross, Sutton Communications, [email protected], 020 7183 3577

Address Isle of Instability will run from 11 to 15 November 2020 at West Bund Art & Design Fair Shanghai, located at the Audemars Piguet space, Hall A of the West Bund Art Centre.

West Bund Art Centre, 2555 Long Teng Avenue, Xuhui District, Shanghai

Opening times VIP opening: 11 November Public days: 12-15 November

2

Visuals and video available under: https://audemarspiguet.picturepark.com/Go/8L2ZjBmr

Join the discussion @AudemarsPiguet

Follow us on: #AudemarsPiguet Facebook https://www.facebook.com/audemarspiguet Instagram https://www.instagram.com/audemarspiguet LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/audemars-piguet Twitter https://www.twitter.com/AudemarsPiguet Weibo https://e.weibo.com/audemarspiguetchina Youku https://i.youku.com/aptvofficial YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/audemarspiguet

About Cao Fei The works of Cao Fei (b. 1978, Guangzhou) have been exhibited at a number of international biennales and triennials, including Shanghai Biennale (2004), Moscow Biennale (2005), Taipei Biennial (2006), the 15th & 17th Biennale of Sydney (2006 and 2010), Istanbul Biennial (2007), Yokohama Triennale (2008) and the 50th, 52nd & 56th Venice Biennale (2003, 2007 and 2015). Exhibitions and screenings of her work have taken place at Serpentine Gallery (2006 and 2008) and Tate Modern in London (2002, 2013 and 2014), New Museum (2009), Guggenheim Museum (2011 and 2018) and MoMA in New York (2016 and 2015), Fondation Louis Vuitton (2016), Palais de (2005 and 2017) and Centre Pompidou in (2019, 2014, 2003). In 2016, Cao Fei held her first solo exhibition in MoMA PS1, New York. In 2017, she was the first Chinese artist to receive the BMW Art Car Project.

Cao Fei's recent projects include the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative at Guggenheim Museum New York (2018), a solo show at Tai Kwun Contemporary in (2018), a retrospective at K21 Düsseldorf (2018), a solo exhibition at Centre Pompidou in Paris (2019), and an Augmented Reality Art Project by APPLE and New Museum New York (2019). Her most recent project is her solo exhibition Cao Fei: Blueprints at Serpentine Gallery (2020). She was a nominee for the finalist of Hugo Boss Prize 2010 and the Future Generation Art Prize 2010. She received the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA) Best Young Artist Award in 2006 and Best Artist Award in 2016. She was also the recipient of Piedra de Sal Award at Cuenca Biennale in 2016.

Cao Fei was one of the Jury of The Selection Committee for the Curatorship of the 8th Berlin Biennale (2014), the Jury of The Bonnefanten Award for Contemporary (2016) and the Jury of Hugo Boss Asia Art Prize (2019). She was also the nominator of the Rolls-Royce Art Programme Muse (2019). Her future projects will be a solo exhibition at MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in (2021) and a solo exhibition at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (2021).

About Audemars Piguet Contemporary Audemars Piguet Contemporary commissions international artists to create contemporary artworks, fostering a global community of creators. The brand believes in the power of contemporary art to connect and be connected. Its patronage resonates with the talented artisan community that the Manufacture has supported and grown in the Vallée de Joux.

The team accompanies each commission process from inception to development to exhibition and builds experiences for audiences to engage with the work around the world. The resulting artworks belong to the artists and contribute to their body of work.

Audemars Piguet Contemporary engages with and commissions artworks in two ways. Under Studio Audemars Piguet, artists develop ambitious artworks across a variety of scales and media

3

alongside our curatorial team, which enables them to explore new territories in their practice. Under the Audemars Piguet Art Commission, the brand’s biennial competition, an artist—not yet internationally recognized—is selected to develop a large-scale artwork with an invited curator.

As with mechanical watches, commissioned artworks are about more than what you see. These works are sensitive to our ever-changing world. They are an opportunity for new creation, bringing together audiences and leading to conversations that go beyond first impressions.

Since 2012, Audemars Piguet Contemporary has nurtured artistic exchanges with artists around the world including Kurt Hentschläger, Dan Holdsworth, Ryoji Ikeda, Lars Jan, Theo Jansen, Alexandre Joly, Kolkoz, Robin Meier, Quayola, Cheng Ran, Arin Rungjang, Tomás Saraceno, Semiconductor, Jana Winderen and Sun Xun. Commissioned artworks have been presented worldwide, at major venues including Art (of which Audemars Piguet has been an Associate Partner since 2013) in Hong Kong, Basel, Miami Beach; the Venice Biennale; Times Square, ; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; HeK (House of Electronic Arts), Basel; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg; and Ars Electronica, . – www.audemarspiguet.com/en/experience

About Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet is the oldest fine watchmaking manufacturer still in the hands of its founding families (Audemars and Piguet). Based in Le Brassus since 1875, the company has nurtured generations of talented craftspeople who have continuously developed new skills and techniques, broadening their savoir-faire to set rule-breaking trends. In the Vallée de Joux, at the heart of the Swiss Jura, Audemars Piguet has created numerous masterpieces, testament to the Manufacture’s ancestral craftsmanship and forward-thinking spirit. Sharing its passion and savoir-faire with watch enthusiasts worldwide through the language of emotions, Audemars Piguet has established enriching exchanges among fields of creative practices and fostered an inspired community. Born in Le Brassus, raised around the world. – https://www.audemarspiguet.com

© Audemars Piguet 2020

4