Curated by Yan Wu

February 8–April 2, 2022

Art Museum at the University of Toronto

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

7 Hart House Circle

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Works by:

Miao Ying

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About the Exhibition:

Miao Ying: A Field Guide to Ideology (苗颖: 精神实用宝典) is the first presentation of Shanghai/New York-based artist Miao Ying in Canada. This exhibition features new iterations of her two recent projects Chinternet Plus (亲特网+, 2016) and Hardcore Digital Detox (硬核数据排毒, 2018). A first-generation internet artist in China and a dual netizen of the Chinternet and the World Wide Web, Miao Ying examines official and popular Chinese internet culture thriving behind the so-called Great Firewall.

Commenting on a recent Chinese economic strategy Internet Plus—involving the rebooting of traditional industries through cloud computing, big data, and lifestyle branding—Miao Ying’s Chinternet Plus is a parodic and critical take on the cultivation of a new, counterfeit ideology complete with promotional videos, seductive imagery, logo designs, wallpaper, and concept slogan. Its companion work Hardcore Digital Detox—a caricature of #spiritualretreatinchinternet—turns focus to the proliferation of experience economy and commodification of lifestyle in a post-materialist society.

Miao Ying: A Field Guide to Ideology is a Core Exhibition of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

Read more: artmuseum.utoronto.ca/exhibition/miao-ying-a-field-guide-to-ideology/

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Public Programs:

Curatorial Tour with Yan Wu

Saturday, February 19, 2pm

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

Artist Talk with Miao Ying (in-person and online)

Tuesday, March 8, 6pm ET

Daniels Building (DA170), University of Toronto

1 Spadina Crescent

Presented in partnership with the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

Gallery Tour with Miao Ying and Yan Wu

Wednesday, March 9, 2pm

Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

All programs are free with registration! To register: artmuseum.utoronto.ca/programs/

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Our Supporters:

The Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council, with additional project support from the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Special thanks to the MadeIn Gallery in Shanghai for their support in the realization of this exhibition, and to Trinity Square Video and Gallery 44 for supporting the equipment.

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Image: Miao Ying, Happily Contained, 2018. VR still image; element from Hardcore Digital Detox, Courtesy of the artist and MadeIn Gallery.