
Sur-Naturalism
Zhou Song Solo Exhibition
22 August - 21 September, 2025
Aurora Museum (Shanghai, China)
Curator
Fritz Huang
Academic Moderator
Gražina Subelyte
Deconstruction and Reconstruction: The Multidimensional Narrative and Philosophical Inquiry in Song Zhou’s “Sur-Naturalism” What nature desires of humanity resides within every individual, within the hearts of each of us. It is present in Jesus, and it is present in Nietzsche. — Hermann Hesse Nietzsche proposed his philosophy of the Übermensch (Overman), a philosophy concerning the construction of an ideal life. The Übermensch symbolizes the ideal of human existence, embodying Nietzsche’s aspirational goal and the highest state of being. The Übermensch is not a concrete individual but a conceptual figure, possessing the grandeur and force of the earth, the sea, and lightning. It does not yet exist in reality but represents the ideal of future humanity, offering a value-laden goal for present existence. The Aurora Art Museum’s exhibition in Shanghai, centered on “Sur-Naturalism,” creates a universe of philosophical reflection and imagination, reinterpreting art and curatorial critique through religious history, art history, and the emerging history of AI and algorithms. The Narrative of a “New Nature” under the Interweaving of Multiple Civilizations From a religious historical perspective, the concepts of entropy upsurge and reduction are parallel to humanity’s quest to understand the cosmos, life, and consciousness. In the exhibition, symbols such as “trees,” “pencils,” and “human figures” form a metaphorical ecosystem, serving as totems that encapsulate humanity’s contemplation of its relationship with nature and technology. Paradigm Breakthrough and Future Possibilities of Hyperrealism Zhou’s hyperrealistic technique emerges from traditional photorealism yet transcends its limitations to become a vehicle for conceptual expression. In the exhibition, works like Secret Realm employ deconstructive reassembly, merging the poetic essence of traditional landscapes with mechanical textures- a revolutionary reinvention of realism. This artistic breakthrough also engages with philosophical inquiries into “reality” and “illusion,” akin to religious quests for the essence of existence. Ecological Fables and Religious Revelations in the Posthuman Era The ultimate concern for human destiny in Zhou Song's works has a profound origin in the history of religion. Religious doctrines often contain answers and guidance to human survival dilemmas and future trends. In New Genesis, Zhou Song combines classic compositions with nuclear crisis scenes and replaces humans with robots. This reflection on “technological utopia” is like a religious warning about the possible disasters caused by humans’ excessive dependence on material and technology. Zhou’s works transform scientific concepts such as quantum mechanics and string theory into artistic language for interdisciplinary dialogue, revealing the function of art in undertaking philosophical thinking in contemporary society and exploring issues like human existence and technological development.With the development of silicon-based life, the relationship between humans and AI, and the definition of human value will become key issues in future society. The Tension Between Tradition and Future: A Dialogue of Civilizations Zhou’s consciousness of local culture in his creation aims to align with cultural roots and spiritual beliefs. He juxtaposes traditional landscape painting images with futuristic technological elements, preserving the mindset of “observing things to obtain images” in Chinese art. Under the rapid pace of globalization and technological advancement, cultural art faces the looming threat of decline. Yet Zhou’s creations, rooted in local culture, offer a valuable reference for future cultural development. By integrating emerging technologies such as AI and algorithms while preserving distinct cultural characteristics, he achieves a balanced interplay between tradition and modernity, the local and the global. Nietzsche’s philosophy of the will carries a dual value, reflecting the awakening of modern consciousness and the criticism of instrumental rationality and industrial civilization. It is also a critique of reason—a key aspect appreciated by postmodernism. The exhibition “Sur-Naturalism,” through the artist’s elaborate conception and unique creation, reminds us of the importance of art—it is not only a reflection of reality but also a tool of criticism and imagination, helping humans explore the spiritual secrets beyond material constraints and think about their own value and future direction in the process of deconstruction and reconstruction. “All that humans do has only one purpose which is to integrate with nature and coexist in harmony.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Installation Views

Essay
Sur-Naturalism – Zhou Song’s Solo Exhibition
Text by Grazina Subelyte, PhD, Associate Curator at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Through over forty paintings and installations, Sur-Naturalism presents Zhou Song’s hybrid visual worldview—where the real and the natural transform into the surreal, giving rise to a new, unsettled reality. In this imagined world, organic life fuses with mechanical forms, and spirituality confronts artificial intelligence and virtual reality, prompting a deep reflection on the evolving relationship between humanity, nature, and technology. Following in the footsteps of the early Surrealists who responded to global upheaval with visionary and transformative art, Zhou engages with the urgent issues of our time—technological acceleration, ecological collapse, and the algorithmic shaping of identity. Informed by art history, religious narratives, and the future of AI, his works blur the boundaries between the body, machine, and environment, becoming symbols for constant metamorphosis and interconnectedness—a worldview aligned with the European Surrealists’ belief in the “correspondences” between and the unity of body, cosmos, and consciousness. Zhou’s art alludes to the birth of a new cosmological order and novel species, a world where creation and progress unfold alongside destruction and collapse. Like his Surrealists predecessors, he champions the realm of imagination. As a contemporary artist-seer, he conjures speculative futures that are both uncanny and strangely familiar, blending dreamlike distortion and surreal juxtaposition with hyperreal precision. His approach echoes the French writer André Breton’s vision of Surrealism as the merging of dream and reality—but reimagined for the digital age. In Zhou’s works, inspired by traditional Chinese landscapes, bodies morph, trees mutate, and pencils become totems, invoking a future shaped by data, biotechnology, and digital spectacle—where identity may be reconfigured, nature simulated, and reality rewritten by algorithms. In Zhou’s hands, the surreal becomes a form of confrontation: a mirror held up to a world where dreams, nightmares, and simulated realities collapse into one. Yet his works do not offer fixed answers. Instead, they pose pressing questions. How is nature being redefined by machines? Can spiritual meaning endure in a post-biological world? What does it mean to be human today and what might it mean tomorrow? How might art help us navigate the sweeping changes reshaping humanity across the globe? In Sur-Naturalism, Zhou invites us to reconsider not only the future of art, but the future of existence itself.













