Zhulong Gallery will present the group exhibition, Systema. A systema is a complex of anatomical structures functionally related; a system. The international group show will feature video, new media, sculpture and two-dimensional work by Hiba Ali (Chicago), Tega Brain (Sydney and New York), Erika Blumenfeld (US), Varvara Guljajeva & Mar Canet (Estonia and Spain), Vesna Pavlovic, (b. Yugoslavia, r. Memphis, TN) and Patricia Reed (Berlin). These artists elucidate and play with socio-political, economic, information, environmental, communications and coding systems and explore how this mesh of layered structures informs our contemporary experience.

Taking on a dark quality formally, the works in the exhibition call attention to the omnipresence of data, the need for systematic organization, and their creative potential. Using social media sites like Flikr and Twitter, Tega Brain, and artist duo Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet tap into this rich informational and image field as medium. In line with these artists, Vesna Pavlovic’ examines the archive from a personal perspective, delving into her participatory experiences in socialist Yugoslavia. In this series, she employs the Museum of Yugoslav History in Belgrade, and Filmske Novosti, Serbia. Hiba Ali’s works, along with Patricia Reed’s, tease out more rigid systems such as the economy and the political sector. Erika Blumenfeld and Tega Brain examine energy through environmental studies and the latter through site-specific data fed to her work through the gallery’s electrical usage.

The group of artists presented in Systema have shown work internationally within museums and institutions, as well as gallery spaces. The group ranges from emerging to mid-career artists.

Following the opening reception, the exhibit will run through November 29.