Folded Voices: Zhang Xiaodong and Matija Čop

Upsilon Gallery London is pleased to present Folded Voices, a duo exhibition by Zhang Xiaodong and Matija Čop. Bringing together two artists whose practices are rooted in materiality, structure and transformation, the exhibition explores the poetic tension between language, form and gesture.

Uniting Zhang’s sculptural book works and Čop’s ethereal assemblages, Folded Voices reflects on the ways in which material can hold, conceal and translate meaning. Through folding, layering and binding, both artists reimagine paper as a site of dialogue, where rhythm, movement and emotion are articulated through touch rather than text.

Zhang Xiaodong, a contemporary Chinese artist and recognised cultural heritage inheritor, is internationally known for his mastery of Dragon Scale Binding, a rare and intricate book art form that dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). Since revitalising the technique in 2010 through his Diamond Sutra project, Zhang has developed a distinctive practice that bridges traditional craftsmanship with contemporary conceptual approaches. His works transform books into sculptural objects of spatial and temporal resonance. Pages hand-bound with custom-dyed Xuan paper are rolled, rested and fixed to form painterly surfaces that pulse with rhythm and architectural presence.

A 2025 Finalist for the LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize, Zhang was also a featured artist at the China Pavilion during London Craft Week. His works are held in prominent private collections across Asia and Europe, and he has collaborated with global luxury houses including Givenchy and La Mer, introducing the Dragon Scale Binding technique to new audiences.

Matija Čop, a Croatian-born multidisciplinary artist, works across sculpture, painting and printmaking. His practice examines translation - between languages, identities and materials. Working primarily with ethylene-vinyl acetate, a lightweight, paper-like material, Čop creates sculptural compositions that fold, interlock and bind into modular structures. These works evoke both fragility and resilience, reflecting his ongoing inquiry into systems of belonging, transformation and visibility. Raised during the political turbulence of 1990s Croatia, and informed by his training in philology and athletics, Čop’s visual language draws on rhythm, repetition and adaptation as methods of construction.

Čop’s works are held in major institutional and private collections including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb and the Neal Baer Collection in New York. Alongside his studio practice, he teaches at the London College of Contemporary Arts and has lectured at the Royal College of Art and Harvard University.

Together, Zhang and Čop bring forward a conversation about structure, sensitivity and the silent language of making. Folded Voices unfolds as a meditation on the act of creation itself — a museum-quality presentation that bridges heritage and experimentation, intimacy and architecture.