"Allegorical?Aftermath" is the title of an exhibition featuring the work of six artists which is on display at Three on the Bund through to the end of this month.

"Many of the works use ancient stories to describe new phenomena, or the waning potency of tradition in the face of an incessant information age, while others remind us how, as some things change, others remain the same," says Mathieu Boryservicz, curator of the exhibition.

In Guan Wei's epic painting, "The Consolation of Constellation," a dragon endowed with varied symbolic meanings across different cultures sticks its fiery head through a cloud as Buddhist figures levitate upward. Constellation maps and drawings entwine in the heaven together with human figures.

According to the artist: "The images resonate of medieval times and the Bible's last judgment, which expresses my soft symbol of hope for a world that may be heading long for destruction."

In Wang Lang's kaleidoscopic photographic collages, pre-Renaissance paintings are paired together with modern Chinese real estate advertisements. The combination of these drastically different elements reaps humorous, often absurd results.

In the video "Faint with Oxygen," Gao Shiqiang poetically retells the age-old story of the battle between the old and the new. Shot 5,000 meters above sea level in Qinghai's Tibetan autonomous prefecture, this mesmerizing video depicts a young Tibetan herder obsessed with his only link to the modern world below, a radio.

The radio becomes a metaphor for not only modern civilization, but also for transcendence and the ultimately unattainable.

The artist couple Zhang Hui and Dan Er bring an installation titled "Yuanyang" to the exhibition.

Yuanyang, or Mandarin ducks, are inseparable partners, mated for life.

The artists here have shaped yuanyang into extra large stainless steel toys, reminiscent of amusement park rides.

They even make a sound when they are rocked. But the sound emitted is a piercing alarm.

The artists seem to reiterate the paradox of being in love, that something can be cute and cuddly while at the same time menacing and perilous.

Date: through August 31, 11am-9pm

Address: 3 Zhongshan Rd E1

Tel: 6321-5757

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