Presented by the Spring Center of Art and curated by Shu Kewen, Fang Lijun Art Exhibition will open on October 10th, 2015 at 4:00pm. This exhibition will comprise of the artist’s works from ink painting, oil painting, ceramics to prints from the last two years, and the exhibition will continue until November 30th.

Fang Lijun’s ink paintings are smaller in dimensions and diverse in subject matter, in addition, most of these works were completed during his travels. This is not only based on the advantage in the nature of the painting materials, but also the traditional aesthetic mood conveyed through the expressions of ink painting.

These two characteristics of ink painting provide the artist with great freedom of expression. During his travels, his encounters with friends, his thoughts and imaginations were immediately documented, revealing drastic and apparent textural differences from planning a work of art in the medium of oil paintings; it creates a time-lapse type of difference. On the one hand, the oil painting and prints produced in his studio are planned in details over an extended period of time; on the other hand, he presents his daily ideas and sentiments through ink painting.

Although among his artworks, whether his use of saturated colors and or cynical expressions of his figures may have left viewers deep impressions, yet they were unable to provoke similar sentiments intended by the artist. This contrast is perhaps exactly the intension of his artworks, yet he is not satisfied with adopting line drawing or realistic modes of expression to convey his concerns in reality. In other words, he wishes to touch upon the continuously sensitive aspects of everyday sentiments.

In the interview they have conducted for this exhibition, he spoke of his continuous focus has not been any particular issue in reality or social phenomenon – although there is often a strong sense of reality in his works, but the sensation of pain, in particular, on a psychological level. The sensation and the response of pain are shown as the indices demonstrating the fullness of life that is being constantly tested and explored by the artist, and through expressing his understanding of life to gain a sense of history. The reaction to pain is definitely not limited to laughter and cries. For Fang Lijun, specific ways of coping with pain vary from one person to the next. Meanwhile our sensation of pain is to a large extend, our commonality. Moreover, his emphasis on commonality outweighs his obsession with individuality, and this has been a direction of understanding contemporary art that Fang Lijun has established a long time ago.

About the exhibition

Dates: Oct 10, 2015 - Nov 30, 2015

Opening: Oct 10, 2015, 16:00, Saturday

Venue: Springs Center of Art

Courtesy of the artist and Springs Center of Art, for further information please visit www.springsart.com.