Byond Boundaries. Special Art Project

The exhibition will open on July 18 at 5Senses Wukang Garden. Bringing together four artists—Wu Ziyang, Jin Han, He Chenhao and Laurent Lettrée—the project steps outside conventional exhibition venues, with No. 100 Wukang Road serving as the residency site for creative development.

Built in 1918, No. 100 Wukang Road is a British-style garden villa that bears witness to residential culture in the former French Concession after a century of transformations. Today, 5Senses has renovated the property into a multifunctional venue weaving art, dining and daily life together. Lines dividing food and art, architecture and vegetation, restaurants and gardens, history and modernity are all blurred and reinterpreted here. The allure of Wukang Road lies precisely in the interweaving of eras. Age-old plane trees, vintage garden villas stand alongside cafés, designer boutiques and art spaces to shape a vibrant streetscape, constantly embracing new cultural practices within ordinary daily life.

This residency project carries forward such openness. Artworks by the three participating artists evolve dynamically alongside the garden’s natural scenery, audience engagement and technological media. Together with permanent sculptures in the garden by Takashi Murakami, James Jean, Lu Pingyuan, Zhou Song and He Miao, they build a fluid artistic ecosystem. Sightseeing, dining and garden strolling merge into an interconnected experience, leading viewers toward the vistas embodied by the title "Out of Bounds".

In "Ring of Stars", Jin Han and He Chenhao build on explorations from their Celebration series. With fluid brushstrokes and bold, vivid hues, they freeze the dazzling burst of fireworks onto two century-old stone slabs within Wukang Garden. Multiple contrasts converge here: transience versus eternity, tranquility versus fervor, man-made creation versus nature. Tensions across diverse humanistic themes give rise to a glowing romantic aura.

The work also echoes the layered character of Wukang Garden: urban bustle coexists subtly with the garden’s seclusion, and the gravity of the century-old architecture balances the vitality of contemporary art. Through the striking contrast between vivid color application and solid stone texture, Stellar Ring taps into the venue’s blend of retro charm and modern trends, mirroring the multifaceted identity of Wukang Garden.