【Exhibition Going on!】Multiplicity:Fung Lik-yan Kevin+Affairs Going On! Ji Wenyu & Zhu Weibing
Duration: 2019.6.9 - 2019.8.17
Exhibition Going On, Leo Gallery, Shanghai
Exhibition View: "Multiplicity"Fung Lik-yan Kevin Solo Exhibition
Leo Gallery Shanghai is delighted to present a duo exhibition this June: Kevin Fung Lik-yan’s solo exhibition “Multiplicity” and Ji Wenyu & Zhu Weibing’s exhibition “Affairs Going On!”
In the first-floor space of Leo Gallery Shanghai, the seven sculptures by artist Kevin Fung Lik-yan creates a calming, warm and restrained field of “Multiplicity” amidst the white-box pace in the Western-style Ferguson Lane in the Former French Concession.
"Summation of Choices" /Painted Bronze/Edition of 2/2011
Kevin Fung Lik-yan has his own understanding of the living conditions of modern urban citizens. His art represents the daily routines of the middle class, as well as the challenges and pressures they face. With his own personal experience and feelings integrated into the work, Kevin Fung depicts the living conditions of human beings in general and evoke resonance among the audience.
In his iconic woodcarvings, the warm texture of wood and the delicate feeling of hand-crafting form a strong contrast with the artificial characteristics of cement that is solid and industrial. The work reminds people of Hong Kong where Kevin Fung resides as well as many other cities where the natural environment is gradually taken over by sky-scrappers.In recent years, he has tried using different medium to create more imaginative space in observing the society. Just as the exhibition theme “Multiplicity” indicated, the exhibition shows the artist’s multi-dimensional perspective on the contemporary urban and social system.
"Cell"/ Wall mount/painted bronze-2018
For the viewer, “popular” and “absurd”, “ironic” and “delightful” are the characteristics of Ji Wenyu & Zhu Weibing’s works of art. These characteristics are not only seen in Ji Wenyu’s paintings, but also in the soft sculptures co-created with Ji’s wife Zhu Weibing by cloth.
From painting to soft sculpture, Ji Wenyu used "cloth" to find the challenge and breakthrough: "The cloth has its flawed side, but it also has charming features - casual, easygoing, warm, but not easy to be manipulated. It has its temperament and personality. It mixes all kinds of things together and offers infinite possibilities."
Exhibition View: Affairs Going On! Ji Wenyu & Zhu Weibing Solo Exhibition
Groups of “humanoid puppets” are the common artistic images of Ji Wenyu and Zhu Weibing’s soft sculptures. The memory of the special era of China is reproduced through these ordinary or dramatic scenes. The memory images of the special era continue to this day. In the second-floor space of Leo Gallery, the “humanoid puppets” offer the perspective of an ordinary person as well as the reflection of groups of people in the current society.
"The Sacred Mountain Is not Far Away"/wood ,cloth, Copper wire/ Variable size - 2015
Art critic and curator Feng Boyi once stated that the works of Ji Wenyu and Zhu Weibing let us feel direct visual pleasure. However, whenever we are immersed in the absurd scenes, we feel vividly the eccentricity of humanity, the ambiguity of living, and the questioning attitude of social reality: "The absurd way is that they set the context of their work in a dramatic structure and form, expressing The game0like and virtual reality of the rapidly changing Chinese society, while reflecting on the ideological background of 'whatever exists is absurd'."
"Compromise failed"/Cloth, wadding/227x108x84 cm - 2018
Opening review
*All interpretation, right of final explanation belongs to Leo Gallery