BIO
island6六岛 (pinyin: Liùdǎo) is a Shanghai-based art collective of tech-geeks and creative talents.
The collective produces cutting edge art that constantly contemplates the future of Asia, engages sights and scenes from old and new China and elevates the skills of new talents by working from a communal forum.
Since Liu Dao's beginning, painters, sculptors, photographers, filmmakers, new media artists, software and digital imaging artists, dancers, writers, engineers, guest artists and curators have worked together to produce original, intriguing shows.
The island6 art collective has appeared in acclaimed art fairs around the world, including Art Paris, Slick Paris, the Hong Kong Art Fair, SHContemporary, Scope New York, Miami & Basel, Art Asia Miami, Los Angeles Art Show, Art Stage Singapore, Art Dubai, Istanbul Contemporary, KIAF Seoul, and many more…
Special invitations for solo and group shows include Louis Vuitton Cultural Space in Taipei and Macao, Chivas Collection and Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, Opposite House and Green T. House in Beijing, Chongqing Museum of Contemporary Art, Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in Washington D.C. and Art Seasons Singapore.
In recent years, Liu Dao has also forged partnerships with acclaimed galleries in China and around the world. Apart from long-time partners Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, and former Studio Rouge in Shanghai, Liu Dao is also represented by Art Seasons Gallery in Singapore , Gallery Etemad in Dubai and Tally Beck Contemporary in Bangkok and New York. In 2013, Liu Dao also established exciting new collaborations with Bath Street Gallery of Auckland, NZ and Conny Dietzschold Gallery in Sydney, Australia.
Liu Dao is exclusively represented in Hong Kong at island6’s second space in the art district of Sheung Wan.
In the Fall of 2013, Liu Dao welcomed two new members to their Shanghai family, a second space in the m50 compound - island6 ShGarden- as well as island6 Bund on the historic Shanghai Bund riverfront.
In March of 2014, the Collective welcomed its newest member to the family, island6 Marina, located in the Royal Phuket Marina in Thailand.
Philosophy: Liu Dao works on a collaborative platform in making multimedia and interactive artwork, while utilizing the skills of videographers, photographers, curators, choreographers, and writers. The digital artworks also use post-production editors, such as After Effects experts or sound designers. Each artwork and exhibition has a cast with credits for people of different skills.
Production Process: All the work exhibited is made on site and specifically for the theme of a show. The collective works on a flexible open platform between multiple collaborators. After curators conceptualize a theme, the artists create pieces specific to the theme of the exhibition. Through this close collaborative process there is an ongoing dialogue between curator, art director and artist.
People: The island6 team consists of artists, art directors, curators and guest curators as well as a technical team. When the collective is not making art, each individual helps in running the exhibition space.
The collective regularly invites performers and guest curators to come onboard for individual artworks or themed shows. The collective has ranged from 6 to 22 people since its inception in 2006.
The collective produces cutting edge art that constantly contemplates the future of Asia, engages sights and scenes from old and new China and elevates the skills of new talents by working from a communal forum.
Since Liu Dao's beginning, painters, sculptors, photographers, filmmakers, new media artists, software and digital imaging artists, dancers, writers, engineers, guest artists and curators have worked together to produce original, intriguing shows.
The island6 art collective has appeared in acclaimed art fairs around the world, including Art Paris, Slick Paris, the Hong Kong Art Fair, SHContemporary, Scope New York, Miami & Basel, Art Asia Miami, Los Angeles Art Show, Art Stage Singapore, Art Dubai, Istanbul Contemporary, KIAF Seoul, and many more…
Special invitations for solo and group shows include Louis Vuitton Cultural Space in Taipei and Macao, Chivas Collection and Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, Opposite House and Green T. House in Beijing, Chongqing Museum of Contemporary Art, Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in Washington D.C. and Art Seasons Singapore.
In recent years, Liu Dao has also forged partnerships with acclaimed galleries in China and around the world. Apart from long-time partners Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, and former Studio Rouge in Shanghai, Liu Dao is also represented by Art Seasons Gallery in Singapore , Gallery Etemad in Dubai and Tally Beck Contemporary in Bangkok and New York. In 2013, Liu Dao also established exciting new collaborations with Bath Street Gallery of Auckland, NZ and Conny Dietzschold Gallery in Sydney, Australia.
Liu Dao is exclusively represented in Hong Kong at island6’s second space in the art district of Sheung Wan.
In the Fall of 2013, Liu Dao welcomed two new members to their Shanghai family, a second space in the m50 compound - island6 ShGarden- as well as island6 Bund on the historic Shanghai Bund riverfront.
In March of 2014, the Collective welcomed its newest member to the family, island6 Marina, located in the Royal Phuket Marina in Thailand.
Philosophy: Liu Dao works on a collaborative platform in making multimedia and interactive artwork, while utilizing the skills of videographers, photographers, curators, choreographers, and writers. The digital artworks also use post-production editors, such as After Effects experts or sound designers. Each artwork and exhibition has a cast with credits for people of different skills.
Production Process: All the work exhibited is made on site and specifically for the theme of a show. The collective works on a flexible open platform between multiple collaborators. After curators conceptualize a theme, the artists create pieces specific to the theme of the exhibition. Through this close collaborative process there is an ongoing dialogue between curator, art director and artist.
People: The island6 team consists of artists, art directors, curators and guest curators as well as a technical team. When the collective is not making art, each individual helps in running the exhibition space.
The collective regularly invites performers and guest curators to come onboard for individual artworks or themed shows. The collective has ranged from 6 to 22 people since its inception in 2006.
Through the Wormhole
Deadline:
Fri Oct 18, 2013 18:00
Location:
Shanghai,
China
island6 Arts Center is proud to present “Through the Wormhole”, a continuation of the show “Temporal Visions”. Going beyond notions of temporality and timelessness, Liu Dao has set out to find the wormhole that connects the many lives of a Shanghai past. As you saunter through the latest exhibition at island6, one will be transported back to the far-off and away days of a Shanghai glitzy golden era. A period that Liu Dao no doubt draws considerable inspiration from, the 1920’s and 30’s provide a myriad of decadent imagery and sensuous charm. Smitten by the opulence and indulgence of the time, the island6 creative portal is transformed into a picture of the past, recreating the bold, unique beauty of a long from forgotten era.
The exhibition opens on October 18th and lasts until the 11th of December, 7 days a week, 10-7 pm.
Join us from 6 to 9 pm on October 18th and be transported back in time- put on your felt hat and your glitzy qipao and let us lead you into a den of debaucherous pleasure, swinging jazz and Shanghai-style indulgence.
The exhibition opens on October 18th and lasts until the 11th of December, 7 days a week, 10-7 pm.
Join us from 6 to 9 pm on October 18th and be transported back in time- put on your felt hat and your glitzy qipao and let us lead you into a den of debaucherous pleasure, swinging jazz and Shanghai-style indulgence.
Need. Want. Hunt in Hong Kong
Dates:
Thu Mar 28, 2013 18:00 - Sun May 19, 2013
Location:
Hong Kong,
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
Need. Want. Hunt"
March 28th- May 19th
Opening Party-March28th 6pm
After the exciting and provocative opening of our first show of 2013, Need. Want. Hunt, in Shanghai, we are excited to extend the exhibition to our Hong Kong home for its opening on March 28th! Please join us as we bring in the year of the snake with a tantalizing new show celebrating intuition, impulse and survival.
Instincts and hunches drive and propel us to interact with and fight our surroundings, yet our modern etiquettes have clouded these impulses in favor of a more ‘refined’ and calculated approach. As Freud noted in his essays entitled On Instinct and Morality ‘It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct’.1 Our chaotic and frenetically growing cities, the fervor of the Hong Kong streets, philosophical dilemmas, social and romantic obligations are all impacted one way or another with an instinctual urge to chase, to fight and to defeat that which is causing our stress. Even Tristan Tzara speaks about such concerns in his 1922 Lecture on Dada that expresses his disgust with ‘a false form of domination and restriction that dissuades rather than appeases man’s instinct of domination’.2
At Island6 we have certainly not abjured from our primal urges, in fact we are celebrating and reveling in our desire to NEED to WANT and to HUNT. We are after all, genetically hard-wired to breed and succeed in our modern Stone (or Concrete) Age environment. However, is there an illusion or prejudice that we possess a more complete intuition of reality than we really do? Intuition is crucial to artistic creation. It is something that should be encouraged, powered and harnessed. Even Nietzsche regarded instinct as ‘the most intelligent type of intelligence discovered so far.’3 It is possessed and honored by our greatest artists, musicians, soldiers and statesmen. Need. Want. Hunt is a celebration of these individuals and their actions. Nonetheless, many of us choose to ignore these Pavlovian responses and impulses. Why do we stifle those gut-wrenching urges and tingling inclinations? Have we been forced to forget the ways of our ancestors and delve into a world of superstition, devotion and materialistic hoarding?
Strip away all the myths and the human mind is still driven by the impulsive need to survive and to engage in pleasurable activities. We are all a chaotic medley of instinctual drives, culturally acquired instructions and individual experiences. Where do you fit in? Are you swayed and encouraged by the siren song of your gut and the free flight of imagination or do you filter your impulses in favor of a more “civilized’ reaction? You know where we stand on the issue.
The pieces selected for Need. Want. Hunt encapsulate the fervor, change and tension of the bustling ‘Pearl of the Orient’ in a myriad of new works that will hopefully inspire you to unleash and value your own primal inclinations. By exploring these themes in through photography, video, animation, sculpture, LED, and neon art works, Lu Dao presents our take on modern survival in a world oversaturated with facts, figures and pretension, a place where our senses have been malnourished and undervalued. Please join us on March 28th to celebrate the inaugural show of 2013 and inspire your senses to set themselves free!
March 28th- May 19th
Opening Party-March28th 6pm
After the exciting and provocative opening of our first show of 2013, Need. Want. Hunt, in Shanghai, we are excited to extend the exhibition to our Hong Kong home for its opening on March 28th! Please join us as we bring in the year of the snake with a tantalizing new show celebrating intuition, impulse and survival.
Instincts and hunches drive and propel us to interact with and fight our surroundings, yet our modern etiquettes have clouded these impulses in favor of a more ‘refined’ and calculated approach. As Freud noted in his essays entitled On Instinct and Morality ‘It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct’.1 Our chaotic and frenetically growing cities, the fervor of the Hong Kong streets, philosophical dilemmas, social and romantic obligations are all impacted one way or another with an instinctual urge to chase, to fight and to defeat that which is causing our stress. Even Tristan Tzara speaks about such concerns in his 1922 Lecture on Dada that expresses his disgust with ‘a false form of domination and restriction that dissuades rather than appeases man’s instinct of domination’.2
At Island6 we have certainly not abjured from our primal urges, in fact we are celebrating and reveling in our desire to NEED to WANT and to HUNT. We are after all, genetically hard-wired to breed and succeed in our modern Stone (or Concrete) Age environment. However, is there an illusion or prejudice that we possess a more complete intuition of reality than we really do? Intuition is crucial to artistic creation. It is something that should be encouraged, powered and harnessed. Even Nietzsche regarded instinct as ‘the most intelligent type of intelligence discovered so far.’3 It is possessed and honored by our greatest artists, musicians, soldiers and statesmen. Need. Want. Hunt is a celebration of these individuals and their actions. Nonetheless, many of us choose to ignore these Pavlovian responses and impulses. Why do we stifle those gut-wrenching urges and tingling inclinations? Have we been forced to forget the ways of our ancestors and delve into a world of superstition, devotion and materialistic hoarding?
Strip away all the myths and the human mind is still driven by the impulsive need to survive and to engage in pleasurable activities. We are all a chaotic medley of instinctual drives, culturally acquired instructions and individual experiences. Where do you fit in? Are you swayed and encouraged by the siren song of your gut and the free flight of imagination or do you filter your impulses in favor of a more “civilized’ reaction? You know where we stand on the issue.
The pieces selected for Need. Want. Hunt encapsulate the fervor, change and tension of the bustling ‘Pearl of the Orient’ in a myriad of new works that will hopefully inspire you to unleash and value your own primal inclinations. By exploring these themes in through photography, video, animation, sculpture, LED, and neon art works, Lu Dao presents our take on modern survival in a world oversaturated with facts, figures and pretension, a place where our senses have been malnourished and undervalued. Please join us on March 28th to celebrate the inaugural show of 2013 and inspire your senses to set themselves free!
Need. Want. Hunt.
Dates:
Thu Jan 24, 2013 18:00 - Sun Mar 24, 2013
Location:
Shanghai,
China
The artists of Liu Dao tempt you to tease the triggers of your instinct in island6's first exhibition for 2013: Need. Want. Hunt.
On island6 we relish the chase and the fight. When it comes to survival in the rugged terrain of the Big City, two clans have evolved: those that listen to instinct and have the courage to saddle up with it, and those who tether it to the wagon of “shoulds” and “musts” behind them. At a time when many people are putting down their bows and following the passive path of the herbivore - driven by the rational and traditional, we dare you to draw your bow taught, send instinct’s arrow flying and sink your teeth into a hunk of raw impulse and intuition, we think you’ll be well nourished by it!
As members of the instinctive clan (some would say savages, but we’re just misunderstood), Liu Dao’s artists invite you to roam with us on a safari through our directional drivers to explore what aspects of the modern eco-system are endangering this precious species, instinct. Attacked by the wildebeests of government and legal regulation, poached for its tusks by tradition and customs, scorched by the rays of religion and proliferating ideologies and drowned in the flood of information and knowledge that has swelled over centuries, it is increasingly rare to catch a glimpse of this creature that could once be found in abundance at our core. So many “good” reasons to tame our instincts that we find people shackled by inertia when instinct tells them to run, to taste, to try.
In Need. Want. Hunt. we see following instinct as a vital sign. In a creative sphere, it is the inspiration to take a different turn, with fresh potential as explosive as the first burst of paint spattered from a Paleolithic artist’s full mouth onto rock. On a daily basis, instinct offers cut-through, the ultimate filter in an oversaturated environment of mixed messages, infinite choice and vast amounts of gathered intelligence. It offers clear direction from an honest source. And more, instinct is our interface with the tangible; it connects us to the immediacy of the moment, not “the plan” or the outdated edition of “the facts”.
It is moments, plucked from the crests and crooked cracks of Shanghai, that Liu Dao’s interactive artworks capture and twist. Through its signature blend of video, animation, photography, sculpture, neon and LED art, the collective breaks the static and plays with the endings of everyday tales. From the top storeys of skyscrapers to the rubble of construction zones, Liu Dao’s characters are given their own volition to move where they will within the settings of new and old town, beckoning the viewer to create their own connection that crosses the brush steel frame’s divide.
In our first exhibition for 2013, the Liu Dao collective tempts you to tease the triggers of your instinct. And there is no better testing ground than Shanghai, a city that forces you to switch on and sharpen up. Thrown into the commotion of every kind of engine and local caterwauling, dodging obstacles hurtling at you from every direction and competing with heaving masses of people scaling the spectrum of subsistence to opulence, you need to be alert to thrive on these streets. In a place fuelled by people “getting away with it”, we scour the teeming landscapes for tracks, signals, flashing sirens that give us hints: Where’s the flare set off high above the “next right” we are supposed to take? Where’s the road marking that keeps us from the curb?
Drop by island6, see where your instincts tell you to run.
On island6 we relish the chase and the fight. When it comes to survival in the rugged terrain of the Big City, two clans have evolved: those that listen to instinct and have the courage to saddle up with it, and those who tether it to the wagon of “shoulds” and “musts” behind them. At a time when many people are putting down their bows and following the passive path of the herbivore - driven by the rational and traditional, we dare you to draw your bow taught, send instinct’s arrow flying and sink your teeth into a hunk of raw impulse and intuition, we think you’ll be well nourished by it!
As members of the instinctive clan (some would say savages, but we’re just misunderstood), Liu Dao’s artists invite you to roam with us on a safari through our directional drivers to explore what aspects of the modern eco-system are endangering this precious species, instinct. Attacked by the wildebeests of government and legal regulation, poached for its tusks by tradition and customs, scorched by the rays of religion and proliferating ideologies and drowned in the flood of information and knowledge that has swelled over centuries, it is increasingly rare to catch a glimpse of this creature that could once be found in abundance at our core. So many “good” reasons to tame our instincts that we find people shackled by inertia when instinct tells them to run, to taste, to try.
In Need. Want. Hunt. we see following instinct as a vital sign. In a creative sphere, it is the inspiration to take a different turn, with fresh potential as explosive as the first burst of paint spattered from a Paleolithic artist’s full mouth onto rock. On a daily basis, instinct offers cut-through, the ultimate filter in an oversaturated environment of mixed messages, infinite choice and vast amounts of gathered intelligence. It offers clear direction from an honest source. And more, instinct is our interface with the tangible; it connects us to the immediacy of the moment, not “the plan” or the outdated edition of “the facts”.
It is moments, plucked from the crests and crooked cracks of Shanghai, that Liu Dao’s interactive artworks capture and twist. Through its signature blend of video, animation, photography, sculpture, neon and LED art, the collective breaks the static and plays with the endings of everyday tales. From the top storeys of skyscrapers to the rubble of construction zones, Liu Dao’s characters are given their own volition to move where they will within the settings of new and old town, beckoning the viewer to create their own connection that crosses the brush steel frame’s divide.
In our first exhibition for 2013, the Liu Dao collective tempts you to tease the triggers of your instinct. And there is no better testing ground than Shanghai, a city that forces you to switch on and sharpen up. Thrown into the commotion of every kind of engine and local caterwauling, dodging obstacles hurtling at you from every direction and competing with heaving masses of people scaling the spectrum of subsistence to opulence, you need to be alert to thrive on these streets. In a place fuelled by people “getting away with it”, we scour the teeming landscapes for tracks, signals, flashing sirens that give us hints: Where’s the flare set off high above the “next right” we are supposed to take? Where’s the road marking that keeps us from the curb?
Drop by island6, see where your instincts tell you to run.
"The Secret Collection of Yüan Meng Ch'ien"
Dates:
Wed Sep 05, 2012 00:00 - Wed Oct 31, 2012
Location:
Shanghai,
China
“I see… a cage. There is life, but it is trapped, trapped in a dark enclosure… It tries, but cannot escape...”
“I see a howling dog that becomes king. I see a doll that dances with broken limbs. I see countless staring eyes. I see clouds of ravenous butterflies of a thousand colors. I see pulsating lights. I see fear. I see pain, strife and yearning as deep as an abyss.”
40 years on, Yüan Meng Ch'ien, the sole heir to his family’s vast fortune, is still haunted by his ill-fated sojourn to the spirit world. Terrified of losing his life and wealth to unnamed, unseen forces of evil, he surrounds himself with the most bizarre talismans, trinkets and thingamajigs. Curios, knick-knacks, gadgets and gizmos, specimens of flora and fauna both alive and dead, crowd the rooms of his mansion and spill into the hallways and living room.
In 2012, through a peculiar fluke of fate, the island6 art collective inherited Yüan Meng Ch'ien’s breath-taking, jaw-dropping collection of oddities. In a never-before-exhibited display, island6 made plans to present "island of Oddities: The Yüan Meng Ch'ien Collection" in July.
However, just before the "island of Oddities" show was due to launch on Friday, 13th July 2012, the island6 art collective was faced with strange and never-before-encountered problems. Two crates of the collection were inexplicably held up at customs. Once-sturdy frames cracked. A trusty computer crashed. Two artworks fell off the wall. An important supplier fell ill.
Is it pure coincidence or something foreboding?
Modern, progressive-minded people - an electronic art collective, no less - should not believe in jinxes, hexes and the like. And yet...
Still, a series of events have led the collective to give the semi-aborted show a second go. The chief event being the unearthing of another chest of oddities in the attic of Yüan's brooding mansion by a member of the City Council. This latest collection, containing all manner of depravities, gives us yet another glimpse into the twisted mind of an extremely disturbed individual.
And so, in the darker sequel to "island of Oddities", island6 presents "The Secret Collection of Yüan Meng Ch'ien", where Liu Dao continues to showcase its signature fusion of traditional Chinese paper cutting, state-of-the-art LEDs, photography and video, as well as brand-new sculptural pieces. Behind whispers, closed doors and shuttered windows, we are collectively invited to plumb the depths of our perversions, obsessions and hidden desires.
“I see a howling dog that becomes king. I see a doll that dances with broken limbs. I see countless staring eyes. I see clouds of ravenous butterflies of a thousand colors. I see pulsating lights. I see fear. I see pain, strife and yearning as deep as an abyss.”
40 years on, Yüan Meng Ch'ien, the sole heir to his family’s vast fortune, is still haunted by his ill-fated sojourn to the spirit world. Terrified of losing his life and wealth to unnamed, unseen forces of evil, he surrounds himself with the most bizarre talismans, trinkets and thingamajigs. Curios, knick-knacks, gadgets and gizmos, specimens of flora and fauna both alive and dead, crowd the rooms of his mansion and spill into the hallways and living room.
In 2012, through a peculiar fluke of fate, the island6 art collective inherited Yüan Meng Ch'ien’s breath-taking, jaw-dropping collection of oddities. In a never-before-exhibited display, island6 made plans to present "island of Oddities: The Yüan Meng Ch'ien Collection" in July.
However, just before the "island of Oddities" show was due to launch on Friday, 13th July 2012, the island6 art collective was faced with strange and never-before-encountered problems. Two crates of the collection were inexplicably held up at customs. Once-sturdy frames cracked. A trusty computer crashed. Two artworks fell off the wall. An important supplier fell ill.
Is it pure coincidence or something foreboding?
Modern, progressive-minded people - an electronic art collective, no less - should not believe in jinxes, hexes and the like. And yet...
Still, a series of events have led the collective to give the semi-aborted show a second go. The chief event being the unearthing of another chest of oddities in the attic of Yüan's brooding mansion by a member of the City Council. This latest collection, containing all manner of depravities, gives us yet another glimpse into the twisted mind of an extremely disturbed individual.
And so, in the darker sequel to "island of Oddities", island6 presents "The Secret Collection of Yüan Meng Ch'ien", where Liu Dao continues to showcase its signature fusion of traditional Chinese paper cutting, state-of-the-art LEDs, photography and video, as well as brand-new sculptural pieces. Behind whispers, closed doors and shuttered windows, we are collectively invited to plumb the depths of our perversions, obsessions and hidden desires.
“Pi”
Dates:
Fri May 15, 2009 00:00 - Wed Apr 22, 2009
Location:
China


Island6 is proud to announce the opening of “Pi” on 03/21/2009 featuring conceptual artist Danamza (France) in an open collaboration with the Liu Dao Cooperative.
Danamza’s artistic creation encapsulates a magnification of principles grounded in a metaphysical investigation. For this exhibition, he has sought to investigate the parameters of sensorial perception and graphic dimensions in the creation of eighteen unique site-specific artworks intended for the Shanghai audience. Pi: Infinitude is a definition in terms of the artists’ obsessive passion and unrelenting pursuit of perfection.
Art Director: Danamza / Zane Mellupe
©photo:Zane Mellupe
Venue: http://www.island6.org/-island6-ifa Gallery - 50 Moganshan Road, bld #6, 2F, Shanghai
CURATED EXHIBITIONS (1)