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Artists blurring lines between true and false in new exhibition
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THE newly opened exhibition “In Between Days VI” at the Art+ Shanghai Gallery crafts a medley of different artistic styles and philosophies, not adhering to a coherent theme, but rather an undertone of deception. It features nine artists — Seungmo Park, TAMEN, Chen Linggang, Cindy Ng, Shen Hua, Lin Weixiang, Zhang Wen, Ma Yongqiang, and Luo Dan.
Whether it is Chen’s distorted literature, or Park’s wire portraits, the audience is reminded that seeing is not believing.
Park, a South Korean artist, fashions illusory wire mesh sculptures, which portray scenes of intimacy.
However, his masterful works are only visible from a specific standing perceptive, deluding the art to a jumbled state of disarray when the viewer gets too close.
Both of Park’s pieces in this show portray an enigmatical woman whose face is obscured by physical shrouds such as sunglasses or fingers. Nonetheless, there is something a little voyeuristic about the pieces. Each sculpture is like a porthole into the girl’s life. The viewer is introduced to her intimate moments and most innate desires, making it easy to fall in love with a figment of imagination.
This concept stems from earlier days in his career, when Park went to India for five years, where he meditated. “One day he was dreaming of one girl, and the morning when he woke up, he wanted to find this girl ... So there’s this concept of Maya ... In Sanskrit, it means ‘illusion.’ Something that you’re not sure exists or not, like the woman from his dream,” says Jelena Tamindzija, media director of the gallery.
Nevertheless, he managed to manifest his dreams into reality. In New York, he invited 1,000 women to a casting and picked the one who most resembled the woman from his dream. He then photographed her in a swimming pool, which led to Park’s series of sculptures that depict a beautiful girl floating in an underwater reverie.
Deception
Paying homage to the theme of deception, artist Lin Weixiang presents a striking single painting “Island” at the exhibition. The piece utilizes acrylic on green fabric, and it readily renders a likeness to the humid tropical climate of his hometown: Guangdong.
However, as the viewer’s eyes trail across the piece, they glimpse an open door at the corner, indicating that the exuberant rain forest is merely a facade, a trick of the wallpaper.
On impact, onlookers are stunned by the vast expanse of the landscape crumpling into an empty room where numerous unusual objects reside.
Slyly, the artist interjects the still tail of an animal exiting the room, and a striking add-on of himself, pale and naked, lying in a land-bound boat fast asleep.
These miniscule additions are a trend. “He always presents himself in the artwork, and he always has a dog or cat,” says Tamindzija.
This not only incorporates a humorous element, but also provides a personal quality to his work.
“The symbol of a boat in a lot of his paintings ... is always in a dry place. He feels like he lives in a boat and the boat represents art. As a boat should be moving or taking us somewhere, in his situation however, he feels stuck on a boat in a dry place,” Tamindzija interprets.
Although the initial landscape is vast and uncompromising, the feelings of being stifled and claustrophobic are still accurately represented.
“In Between Days VI” blurs the lines between true or false, yet the artworks represented are honest and personal. It is as if the artists themselves glued fragments of their souls to the blank white walls of the gallery. Whether they are detailing social injustices or reflecting upon himself or herself, the art in Art+ Shanghai’s new show is fascinating to look at.
“In Between Days VI”
Date: Through August 30 (closed on Mondays), 10am-7pm
Address: 191 South Suzhou Rd
Tel: 6333-7223
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