The core power of art lies in transformation and empowerment. Everyday functional objects are reborn as monumental presences within cultural spaces. Art transforms the ordinary into the sublime, difference into understanding, and within the flow of time, it continuously emits an eternal energy that illuminates the soul and connects the world.

Star Space | Qin Guanwei: Endless_01

Galleria Continua Beijing | 20th Anniversary Special Exhibition: Time Knows the Answer of Art_02

Without any prior context, stepping into Qin Guanwei’s Endless feels like entering a winter forest or wandering into some ancient ruins. The wooden fences that once defined boundaries at the horse training ground now stand upright in the center of the exhibition space, arranged like a forest. They no longer form barriers but become the very essence of the space itself. Curator Chen Junyao frames the exhibition around the core theme of “Boundaries and Resistance,” establishing a spatial narrative imbued with a sense of bodily oppression. The original physical function and symbolic meaning of the wooden fences are completely detached and reinterpreted.

Qin Guanwei: Timeless exhibition, Star Space, Beijing

As stated in the curatorial essay, adult horses could easily step over the fences that are below their shoulder height, yet they repeatedly gnaw at them — this act of resistance ultimately confirms their identity as captive animals. This seemingly simple exhibition raises a compelling question: Do boundaries exist because of physical barriers, or because of the subject’s recognition of them? When these wooden fences are granted the dignity of sculpture within the gallery, their surface scars — left by teeth, time, and weather — become a text for viewers to read.

Qin Guanwei holding a wooden fence from the horse training ground in his studio, 2025. Photo by Chen Junyao.

Qin Guanwei did not choose to fill the space with imposed meaning but instead used minimal intervention to amplify the material’s history. By turning the fence from a horizontal position to a vertical one, he transformed a functional object into a monumental presence. This shift is not only structural but also a reversal of meaning. Originally a tool for confinement, the fence is now suspended within a cultural space, bearing multiple responsibilities—viewing, symbolism, and historical resonance.

Qin Guanwei: Endless exhibition, Star Space, Beijing

“秦观伟：无尽”展览现场，星空间，北京

(Leftmost and rightmost) Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mirror Multiplication and Division series, 1975–2023  Photography: Dong Lin  © Artist and Galleria Continua

(Center) Anish Kapoor, Blue-Violet with Violet Pearl, 2013  Photography: Dong Lin  © Artist and Galleria Continua

In 2005, Galleria Continua opened its first overseas space outside its founding city of San Gimignano, Italy, located in 798.  This was both a tribute to the late artist Chen Zhen and marked Galleria Continua as one of the earliest international galleries to establish a presence in China. At the exhibition, Chen Zhen’s installation Foundations of History uses burnt newspapers and other materials to metaphorically explore historical traces, delving into profound questions regarding the development of civilization.