Fences of Enchantment

EY PROJECTS is proud to present Fences of Enchantment, a solo exhibition by Kangjun Zhong (钟康君, b. 1984) at our Shanghai gallery, opening concurrently with ART021 Shanghai 2026.

Through a sculptural and architectural intervention, the exhibition investigates the mechanics of institutional authority, spatial control, and bodily discipline. At the center of the show stands a striking, semi-collapsed architectural structure constructed from hundreds of hand-woven "medicine packaging bricks." Disinfecting, soaking, and softening discarded pharmaceutical boxes, Zhong shreds the material into strips, reweaving them into volumetric bricks using traditional grass-mat techniques inherited from his mother. He then lays these woven units with a bricklayer's precision—a nod to his father's craft. As pharmaceutical objects epitomize modern medicalization and institutional control over the body, Zhong reimagines these everyday remnants into a "monument of authority" suspended between construction and ruin, exposing the fragile nature of systemic power.

Surrounding this architectural ruin is a network of visual symbols charged with power and control: tiger stripes suggest tamed wildness and the performative display of territory; dense, spear-tipped fences materializes rigid institutional segregation; while accents of golden ink lends an alluring glow, masking control under the seductive guise of authority.

Fences of Enchantment lays bare the absurd paradox of contemporary life: authority asserts control under the guise of protection, healing, and order, leaving individuals to seek safety within the very boundaries that confine them. Channeling intense physical labor into critical commentary, Zhong delivers a compelling meditation on modern governance, territorial anxiety, and the boundaries of compliance.