Uprooted Body: Alienation, Belonging, and the Poetics of Pain: Shirley Tse, He Yunchang, Ray Ren, Sining Zhu, Ruoyi Shi

a poco art archive is proud to present "Uprooted Body: Alienation, Belonging, and the Poetics of Pain," an evocative group exhibition featuring the works of internationally acclaimed artists Shirley Tse, He Yunchang, and emerging talents Ray Ren, Sining Zhu, and Ruoyi Shi. Inviting audiences to explore the delicate intersections of alienation, identity, belonging, and the transformative power of pain, the exhibition opens December 14, 2024 and runs through February 22, 2025.

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At the opening reception on December 14 at 7 PM, Ray Ren will debut a live performance art piece to further contextualize themes explored in this show, offering an immersive experience to connect with the conceptual underpinnings of his work in the show. On February 22 at 7 PM, it will conclude with an artist talk by Ruoyi Shi moderated by Ann Shi, and a closing reception

to follow.

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"The personal is political, and the body is a battleground." — Barbara Kruger

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The diasporic body, uprooted from its land of origin, serves as a living archive, carrying a history etched into its cells—an anthology of movements, memories, and languages. Migration is not merely the act of crossing physical borders; it is a journey through thresholds of identity, culture, and belonging. The weight of unfamiliar air presses differently against unaccustomed skin, and the soil beneath holds stories, languages, and scars that complicate the act of grounding oneself in new places. “Uprooted Body” delves into the profound tension between displacement and adaptation, the duality of estrangement and the longing for connection, and the dissonance of inhabiting a body that feels less like home and more like a battleground for transformation and negotiation. 
 

This exhibition immerses viewers in the visceral experience of settling into foreign terrains—where the air feels alien, the land resists recognition, and even the elements challenge the body's claim to belonging. The space itself becomes an manifested body: the entrance features Ray Ren’s Tongue Diary that enveloped the immediate entry hallway and staircase, welcomes viewers with a slightly discomfort. As viewers climb into the “body” of the space, A Chang (or He Yunchang), pioneer of endurance performance art in China since early 1990s, explores his politicized body as his territory where he exercises democracy in “One Meter of Democracy”. Shirley Tse’s ongoing “Lompoc Stories series: The Discipline of D.E.,” where intentional deterioration symbolizes the fragility of belonging in a fragmented world, extends into her "Crowstrike" piece, inspired by a personal injury from a crow's fatal collision and reflecting the repeated injuries to California's scorched landscapes. Sining Zhu, Ruoyi Shi and Ray Ren interrogates how the body resists, reacts, and eventually integrates into its surroundings. The journey of the body ends with culmination in another of Ren’s works—a striking piece that evokes purging and repulsion through the metaphor of a toilet. 

Curated by Ann Shi, Uprooted Body is a poignant response to the global experiences of dislocation and redefinition, presented at a critical juncture in history when the diasporic body and the female body face mounting threats amidst a shifting political landscape under a new presidency.