Teramachi, Nomachi, Izumi area
GE Yulu
葛宇路／GE YU LU, 2013 – 2017, © Ge Yulu, Courtesy of the artist
Artist Statement
My work always intends to challenge our stereotypes. In a very personal way, I interfere with and parasitize the general system of reality, from which I draw conclusions regarding its embedded, specious logic and conduct some delicate provocation and critique of its power structure and the public sphere.
This time, I present “GE YU LU,” the work bearing the same name as me. I made a road sign of my name and put it up on an anonymous road (“LU” means “Road” in Chinese). The road name was soon collected into the traffic system and frequently used by multiple online maps and even by official departments. When the work was exposed by the media in 2017, it soon became a public event. The meaning of “GE YU LU (Road),” a nominal sign that is basically a readymade for the artist, is gradually expanded by this artistic creation.
Ge Yulu
Born in 1990 in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and lives and works in Beijing and Wuhan. He received his master’s degree in Experimental Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, China. His art works mainly point to the individual’s resistance in the public space. By methods such as extreme performance, his work aims to stimulate discussion and produce forms of inter ference with the intention to stimulate the public’s sense of participation and to change people’s aesthetic notions. Recently he has participated in exhibitions at Central Art Center Academy of Arts (Beijing, 2017), Luo Zhongli Art Museum (Chongqing, 2017), and Hubei Museum of Art (2017).