2009: Meng-shu You @ White Heat Exhibition. Manly Art Gallery & Museum. Australian Ceramic Triennale Sydney
Meng-shu You’s installation Coca-colonisation part of the White Heat exhibition at Manly Art Gallery & Museum, features blue and white stoneware replicas of soft drink bottles displayed en-masse as merchandise on an industrial grocery shelf. Painted on in a calligraphic style are bamboos and fishes and are reminiscent of the traditional blue and white porcelain wares which are mass produced as kitschy replicas , sold the world over. The installation seems to act as a marker for both American popular culture which has embedded itself in an intractable position of influence globally and recent shifts in economic centres with the rise of China. Made in 2006, it is interesting to reflect on the installation in the midst of a global economic recession as issues of cultural imperialism have become even more complicated.