| As the theme of this exhibition, No
Fun without You has two layers of meanings. First, the
participating artists create playful and joyful scenes:
Liu Ruizhao's
youths are in a state of absent-mindedness, and are painted
with rich, exaggerated color in dramatic lighting. Huang
Kai's paintings recall the childhood playmates
in the old, demolished Hutong (alleyways).
Wang Yanbin depicts naughty chafferers in grey robes
and red shoes who are forcing a crane to drink Coca Cola....
This group of young and vigorous artists come together to present
a lively and entertaining party, adding humor and fun into the
contemporary art scene.
However, there is heavy melancholy behind the playfulness.
People in the paintings seem to be lost in their own thoughts,
preoccupied with a state of loneliness. Liu Ruizhao's images
have a signature frozen atmosphere. Riding on a wooden camel
or holding a swimming ring, his youths are looking at the
viewer in hesitation; they seem to be magically conjured,
frozen on the canvas, expecting something to happen. Liu effectively
creates timeless illusions in his paintings. Huang Kai integrates
woodblock printmaking style into acrylic paintings; the result
is a unique, semi-abstract effects. He exactingly paints in
the punctilious outlines with areas of flat tone to depict
the lively expressions on the children's faces. He uses what
seems like black iron wire to draw the outlines of the shapes
from memory. Vivid expressions become unreal, these serious-looking
children appear heavyhearted, and their games turn into a
crucial battle. Other artists Cheng
Qintao and Wang Xiaoou's canvas display a similar spiritual
expectation. Here, the title "No Fun without You"
hints at something else: the people in the paintings cannot
enjoy themselves; they seem to be awaiting someone absent,
maybe a lost friend or something crucially significant; without
which, the happy carrousel of life halt in time.
Ultimately, without you, the participants, engaging spiritually,
everything would be in vain. The curator welcomes visitors
to come to the show to play a Frozen in Place
act randomly. Maybe when the people in the paintings see you
frozen, they will burst into sound.
Artists: Liu RuiZhao, Huang Kai,Wang
YanBin, Zhang Ying,Cheng QinTao,Liu MaoMao, Wang XiaoOu
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