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April 17, 2008- May 17, 2008
Reception: April 17, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Feng Shuo
Marlborough Chelsea
545 W 25th St Feng Shuo Guilty Angel (2) (2007) |
Born in Beijing in 1970, Feng graduated from the affiliate school of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Beijing, China in 1990. Four years later, he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in the oil painting department. Since 1995, the artist has held the position of Assistant Professor in the stage design department of the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing.
This exhibition will feature oils on canvas ranging from Incubus, 2005 (53 x 61 in., 134.6 x 154.9 cm), in which a contorted nude female is depicted with an evil spirit personified by a pig, to Lean Meal, 2007 (61 x 106 in., 154.9 x 269.2 cm), in which donkeys gather over the broken body parts of a doll, to a series of five paintings entitled Guilty Angel, each making their journey in a dark world. Feng Shuo’s new expression and language are pushing the boundaries of the Chinese contemporay art scene.
At first glance, one may feel that Feng’s works are too soft or too graphic, too elementary or even too cute, but upon closer examination this first impression quickly gives way to solemn realizations of grave irony, and sometimes even distress and despair. He is not a slave to novelty or gimmick; he rejects the “culture of reaction” as well as the homogenizing effects of mass technology. One can recognize in him the thought expressed by Roland Barthes: “Suddenly, I became indifferent to not being modern.” The strength of Feng Shuo rests in his absolute sincerity as an artist. His calligraphic brush strokes slide and cut freely and fluidly across the canvas. The empty space surrounding his subjects creates a window allowing us to peer deeply into his universe, where eerie flashbacks of his dreams and nightmares reveal recurring themes of sadness, alienation, and anger.
Feng Shuo contrasts and mixes references in order to express his feelings. Ideas come to him both while dreaming or just walking down the street. He is a dreamer who keeps his eyes open and focused on reality: watching the world, his own self, and the relationship between “Everyday I see beauty and happiness, everyday I see anger and sadness. I just want to show that. How it comes and how it goes,” says Feng.
Feng’s three self-portraits Flash of Thought, 2007, (61 x 53 1/8 in.,155 x 135 cm), Memories, 2007 (61 x 53 1/8 in., 155 x 135 cm) and Yoga, 2007, (74 3/4 x 63 in., 190 x 160 cm) provide us with clues and insights about his temperament and his perspective. We see the artist always still, immersed in a pond or hidden in a shell, the world stirring around him. His position is that of the observer, the rebel, and the hermit. The suggestion is not to recluse yourself in a cave, but rather to witness the theater of life, while not getting involved in its dramas; Feng steps to one side in order to put himself in an oblique, free and responsible position as observer.
Feng’s universe comes to life and entices us: like a mirror revealing every flaw, or like a tale, telling us a story that perhaps we do not want to hear. Feng Shuo’s subjects and concerns are worthy of Daumier and his “Comédie Humaine.” But his fresh and daring approach also relates to Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) the 17th century Chinese painter whose work reveals a strong sense of dissatisfaction, loneliness, and protest against an illegitimate power.
Feng Shuo emulates the unrestrained individualism of Bada by freely exposing his feelings through his paintings. He reaches past the present conformity and redundancy dominating much of contemporary Chinese art and invents his own language in painting which places him squarely in a unique category.
An illustrated catalogue, featuring a conversation with the artist, will be available at the time of the exhibition.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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