Artist's series reflects time spent with her father
Sketch of My Father No.4
Artist Chen Ke’s solo exhibition “The Real Deal is Talking with Dad” is on display at Yuz Museum till March 24, 2019.
Through a series of mixed media paintings and installations that were inspired by her talks with her father, the artist deals with topics such as youth, family, aging, relationship, her personal experience and the country’s evolution.
Born in the late 1970s, Chen is among the generation of artists who witnessed China’s rapid development and the clash between Chinese traditions and western ideology.
The cultural conflicts deeply influenced her work. Chen’s father was a traditional Chinese painter who taught in a middle school, but the daughter didn’t follow her father’s path. She chose to learn oil painting and become a contemporary artist.
“The series began with a simple wish of talking to my father, because we haven’t had a heart-to-heart conversation for years,” Chen says.
“He is my model, assistant and the first one to see my artwork.”
Window No.2
The art project went on and off for two years, usually during dinner time when they talked about trivia matters such as weather and food prices. Chen’s father was a man of few words, but he gradually opened up when recalling the past. “It was the first time I was discovering stories about my father’s youth and early days,” Chen says.
In the mixed media painting “Dajin,” made of oil, acrylic, wood and iron on canvas, Chen retold her father’s early experience on farm during the cultural revolution (1966-76). Trees, rocks and shades of blue skies suggested happy memories, while the mechanical tools and a tinge of scarlet red in the center of the canvas somehow implied the cruelty of the stories of those times.
“The interesting part of one’s memory is that only good things are remembered and the hardships are often skipped,” the artist says.
In another piece “A House with Blue Roof,” which pieces an oil painting and a sculpture together, Chen discussed about what family was. The painting was done several years ago when she was an exchange painter in Australia. The house on a ranch in the golden sunset glow was the first thing Chen would see when she returned from work everyday, which made her feel safe and at home.
However, the marble-and-wood sculpture of the blue-roof house that was finished this year showed the deeper thinking of the artist. The sculpture had a large breach on the back, which suggested the hurt families can cause to their members.
“Home is often regarded as a harbor of soul and love, but it’s sometimes a place where one can get hurt deeply and it can be hard to heal. The intimate relationship is always the most difficult to deal with,” Chen says.
Fallen Petals
When she turned 40, Chen started to ponder over her real identity and found the answer in traditional Chinese art that she once abandoned. The artist tried to put the Chinese elements such as bamboo and mountains into her oil painting.
“My father doesn’t understand my works quite well, but he supports me,” she says. “The works reflect my life moments, my thoughts on youth, maturity, family and the role of fate as the country marched toward progress.”
Info
Date: Through March 24, 2019 (closed on Mondays), 10am-9pm
Venue: Yuz Museum Shanghai
Address: 35 Fenggu Rd
