An infrathin sight from East

P420 is pleased to present An Infrathin Sight from East, a project born from the collaboration between the gallery, the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, curated by Marinella Paderni and Ewa Maria Śmigielska. This group exhibition offers a lateral perspective on contemporary developments in two particularly significant contexts within the global cultural and geopolitical landscape, filtered through the imagination of five young Chinese and Polish artists.

Making their Italian debut, Li Feifan (b. 1995, Jiaxing), Xiang Xinyi (b. 1996, Hunan), and Shen Ziye (b. 1998, Chongqing) are graduates of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing—one of China's most prestigious art academies—while Karolina Sadłoń (b. 1996, Bielsko-Biała) and Ana Vostruchovaitė (b. 1995, Vilnius) trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

Their personal histories and artistic trajectories are distinct, manifestations of distant worlds that transcend divisions to find a space of contact and dialogue within the gallery's main hall.

The exhibition transforms Duchamp's original concept of the inframince (infrathin) into the generative notion of an infrathin sight—a movement of thought that not only investigates the rapid and shifting transitions between territories of the present but seeks a space of expression that is free and alternative to the weight of history.

The modern naturalism of Li Feifan's and Xiang Xinyi's paintings enters into dialogue with Shen Ziye's site-specific installation Herbal Chronicles, for which the artist drew upon traditional Chinese natural medicine to support her healing journey from a form of juvenile cancer.

The works of Karolina Sadłoń and Ana Vostruchovaitė also address bodies and relationships, actions that shape their ways of inhabiting the present, and a new sense of naturalness to be found in fairy tales, myths, and dynamic psychology.

Through their respective practices, these artists give voice to both personal and collective concerns, addressing social themes such as humanity's relationship with nature and caring for the world through art and individual commitment. Their generation confronts environmental challenges, conflicts, and inequalities, responding through artistic practice and personal reflection on the present moment.

A project in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing