A collective insight into China's art scene
A retrospective exhibition "Traveling Toward A Perpetual Present" is in full swing in the Space & Gallery Association at Three on the Bund, featuring a wide selection of paintings, moving images, sculptures and installations by established Chinese artists, whose names can almost piece together the country's contemporary art evolution.
Feng Mengbo's painting "JTTW2010H02" is his unique interpretation and adaptation of the traditional Chinese brush painting. He uses and reorganizes the patterns of rocks that used to appear a lot in ancient paintings to form new mountains, and splashes black tea intentionally to leave stains on the rice paper, making it look old and weathered, while the dark green dots by inkjet printing in the valleys looks abrupt yet familiar, reminding viewers of the turquoise color often seen in traditional ink works.
Zhang Enli's oil painting "Two Bundles of Stuff" is one of his signature works featuring green ropes. The artist documents the more prosaic aspects of modern life by regularly working with everyday objects, such as a piece of string, a hose or even a marble ball, as if they are enlarged and magnified through a camera's viewfinder.
Painter Zhou Chunya's most famed series "Green Dog" and "Dusk in Peach" are also on display, which were both created in the 2000s, when Zhou was rising to his stardom. With bold bright colors, high contrast and a loose, expressionistic style, the works are very personal and individual in direct, strong expression of emotion.
The silica gel installation "Spilling Out" by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu presents the messy scene with a big pot of sweet congee toppled over and all the pink-colored sticky porridge flowing out everywhere on the ground. The simulated food looks so real it's almost as if you can even smell the cloying sweet scent and feel the hot steam.
"The exhibition showcases the gallery's collective insights into the Chinese art scene and the global context," said the academic moderator Du Xiyun.
For Du, it's an opportunity to be teleported in a time machine and take a retrospective look at the gallery's trajectory over the past 17 years.
"Indeed, after a depressing and chaotic 2020, people look forward to a refreshing new start in this season of blossoming flowers," he said.
The exhibition features a wide selection of works by established Chinese artists.
Exhibition info
Dates: Through June 16 (closed on Mondays), 10am-6pm
Venue: Space & Gallery Association
Address: 3F, 3 Zhongshan Road E1
