Inna Art Space is proud to announce the joint exhibitions “Backlit” and “The Blue Curtain Represents Author’s Melancholy” by artists Wang Ke and Pan Wangshu, open from September 21st through October 20th. The exhibitions display paintings made using an iPad over recent years by Wang Ke, alongside Pan Wangshu’s ceramic installation work.
Since making the series of paintings on canvas “Big Face”, Wang Ke has shifted to using an iPad to make work. Albeit in terms both of material and form this is a considerable transformation, what remains unchanged is that the paintings are a way for her to reflect on life’s visual aspects. Of the two series from which works have been selected for the present exhibition, “Days” takes the greyscale of clouds as its tonal basis, clouds beneath which metallic objects appear, everyday utensils for eating and drinking, domestic electrical appliances and other objects, all assuming a pronounced, symbolic quality. These everyday objects seem to possess a loneliness akin to that of solitary persons, resolute, yet also expectant in their expressions. In another series, “Pool”, the tone is rather more blithe, brimming with the jubilance of surveying flowing waters; figures swimming or at play there. A cool, pleasant sensation ripples along with the flowing and surging of the water. The imagery in this series has a distinct painterliness to it, one not marred by the painting materials themselves having been digitized, virtualized completely — This contented manner of viewing and enjoying water and the joy of taking a brush to paint seem almost identical in their savor.
Pan Wangshu’s ceramic sculptures of figures are bright yet ambiguous in palette; their forms enigmatically “amiable”. One might well smile seeing these representations of human form at first glance, however, as it happens their subject matter isn’t quite so lighthearted, as the artist states: “My work isn’t actually all that happy.” The artist says the subject matter of her current work centers on the analysis and research of “relationships”, taking an understanding of this as her point of departure and proceeding to search out all manifestations of human interaction; with the series itself assembling a state of “community”. What the poses and expressions of these ceramic figures express isn’t a happy, cartoonish gloss, but is rather extremely ambiguous: mingling expectation, patience, affectation, flattery, contentedness, fear, self satisfaction, indecision… The qualities of each figure originate in the expectations and regulations of the other; of the collective on and of an individual’s role and duties. The figures appear to be in close interaction; yet at the same time seem as if compounded in their isolation, a collective that is amiable and harmonious, but also tense and divided.
These two artists are both in their own way seeking means to “be with & be”, the works they make also possessing a sort of “indirect” similitude between them. From behind a glass screen, Wang Ke engages in sensitive exploration of the world. The title of the exhibition “Shining Interior” implies the difference between painting on screen and painting in the traditional sense, but it also implies how attempting to depict (or illuminate via observation) images of the outside world might also in turn offer a means to be — the digital painting itself imparting warmth. The glazes of Pan Wangshu’s ceramic works reflect light, resist water, insulate and preserve, imparting the viewer with a sense of a distance at once both resolute and fragile. Taking external observation as her point of departure, the title “The Blue Curtain Represents Author’s Melancholy” comes from a Chinese urban meme that language class teacher’s excessive explanation of texts； his having taken this phrase as his standard response when remonstrating his students to learn to remember. Such relations of authority manifest in various forms throughout society.
The present exhibition will be Inna Art Space’s fourth to show the work of two artists jointly, displaying their discourses and establishing dialogue.
About Artists
Wang Ke
Born in Shenyang, Wang Ke graduated from the attached high school of China Academy of Art in 2001, got her BFA degree from China Academy of Art in 2007. She works for the imagokinetics project during 2012-2015. Wang Ke currently lives in Hangzhou.
Exhibitions:
2019 “Inspiration+ Artists’ Drafts”, imagokinetics project, Hangzhou
2019 “Inspiration Artists’ Drafts”, OWSpace, Hangzhou
2018 “THE POST SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY”, KWM Art Center, Beijing
2017 “No Material”, imagokinetics project, Hangzhou
2017 “Place to Hide”, MGB
2016 “Duel at Liuxia”, Inna Art Space, Hangzhou
2015 “Soft Opening”, LBX GALLERY, Hangzhou
2015 “Story of kitsch and emptiness”, 22Gallery, Shanghai
2014 “imagokinetics Grand Opening”, imagokinetics project, Hangzhou
2012 “Carnival Breaze”, MICartsy. X KOO In Dongliang, Shanghai
2009 “Hangzhou New Generation”, F2 Gallery, Beijing
2009 “Expressions”, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, Beijing
2008 “Cartoon 2”, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, New York, U.S.
2008 Asian Arts Council of Phoenix Art Museum, special presentation, Phoenix, U.S.
2008 “Cartoon”, Thomas Cohn Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil
2008 Solo Exhibition “You’ve to listen to me”, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, Beijing
2007 Solo Exhibition “Big Face”, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, Beijing
2007 “Cartoon”, Chinese Contemporary Gallery, New York, U.S.
2006 “New Interface, the Landing of the Up-Generation”, Liu Haishu Art Museum, Shanghai
2006 “New Interface, the Super Beat and Cool Generation”, Red Bridge Gallery, Shanghai
1996 “City Construction Painting Competition”, China Construction News
Pan Wangshu
Born in 1987, the artist got her MFA degree in 2013 from the visual design department of China Academy of Art. She currently lives and works in Hangzhou.
Exhibition experience
2019 "GROW IN ART", Times Art Museum, Beijing
2019 "Tong Gallery+project", ART Chengdu, Chengdu
2019 "B-hopping", Boers-Li Gallery, Beijing
2019 "3cm Museum", K11 Art Space, Shenyang
2018 "Naive Party", Cheng ji Art Museum, Wuxi
2018 "Desktop Art Fair", M Woods Art Museum, Beijing
2018 "Pineapple Tyrannosaurus Crocodile Kitten", Tong Gallery+project, Beijing
2018 "Better than nothing", dreamsCo.-, Beijing
2017 "The Place to Hide", Martingoya Business, Hangzhou
2017 "WAKOYI", Tasteroom, double exhibition, Hangzhou
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