Tang Contemporary Art is honored to announce the opening of the group exhibition “Dream Bird” on July 29 at the Hong Kong Wong Chuk Hang Space. Curated by Fiona Lu, the exhibition will feature the latest paintings by six young artists: Fang Xianchen, Kong Huidong, Sun Yu, Wen Jue, Wei Minghui, and Yesiyu Zhao.
“Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience.” - Walter Benjamin
“If sleep is the apogee of physical relaxation, boredom is the apogee of mental relaxation.” This apogee changes the status of time and questions the meaning entangled in everyday life, thus connecting to the continuous contemplation of the “self”. Benjamin mentioned that the nest of the dream bird, built by rest and time, is disappearing in modern society, and there is no longer any activity of “weaving and netting”. In this exhibition, the artists provide us with some heterogeneous life experiences that cannot be inhibited by established rules, possessing characteristics of anti-time and anti-routine. This also connects to the essence of their “self” in creation, shifting the focus of creation from specific things, events, and people, to fiction, relaxation, black humor, and surrealism – cancelling the boundaries governed by the state of being awake and rational, and revealing truths through these vibrant and creative “dreams” belonging to the subconscious. At this apogee of relaxation, everything touched upon is opened to deeper exploration – and the artists are guiding us to embark on this voyage.
Sun Yu's creative gaze is directed towards the everyday scenes and human sentiments. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean he submits to the monotonic every-day; rather, he often uses the aggregation of the everyday to counter the routine. In his paintings, dull expressions and dense contours, which represent repetition and confusion in reality, become a form of resolution and liberation in the painting. The static figures and objects in the paintings, like entities from the void, are meanwhile accompanied by the faint noise of life, especially with the addition of humorous connotations and thick yet detailed contours. Yu’s paintings become profound but not heavy, achieving a tranquil yet intriguing atmosphere.
Such an atmosphere is also evident in Wei Minghui's works, which evoke a sense of meaningless confrontation against unconventional narratives. Using surrealistic techniques, he portrays absurd and dull everyday scenes to reflect his own mental state. Many actions in the images are not purposeful but rather spontaneous acts of thought – precisely elaborating the artist’s state of purposelessness and concept-free approach.
Fang Xianchen's paintings present a seemingly meaningless scene to in turn create a sense of detachment from space. Surreal techniques produce a sense of suspense and dream-like instability in the images, where all objects are suspended and ethereal; yet their contents and the volume of space they occupy are perceptible, guiding consciousness effortlessly towards the distance.
Kong Huidong's works are closely related to life experiences but are not presented in real-time; they are often retrospective. The temporal order is reshaped in the paintings, slowing down the pace, and enabling viewers to feel the impact of the past on the present and the emotions that have accumulated in the liminal space.
Yesiyu Zhao's works explore the fluidity between gender, cultural identity, and the inner spiritual world. His works often juxtapose or conceal a series of symbolic elements. As seen in this exhibition, traditional customs and rituals are reinterpreted. Here, the definitions of gender and identity are merged and blurred, forming an undulating whole that evolves with interweaving movements. The weariness of these identities and desires is intensified by the artist's vibrant color schemes, infusing the scenes with inner turbulence. A complex system composed of symbols, images, and Chinese characters is embedded in the dreamy and mysterious world of the artwork.
Wen Jue views all visual images as sources of energy for infinite “self-evolution”. He places “self-awareness” above everything else, with each fictitious and individualized superbeing overflowing with energy to realize its standards of value judgment. Therefore, his paintings resemble a self-dividing skin that symbolizes the constant splitting of cultures. As a means of self-definition in social life, Wen encourages the audience to seek a distinct “self” and continuously question their relationship with their own existence.
Artist
Artists
KONG HUIDONG
b. 1995, Hebei, China
On one hand, Kong Huidong's works focus on the most personal side of his past life experiences and its subsequent feedback and influence on the present – an approach that would help his works travel beyond our timeline, enabling a duality of both the past and the present. Like those round eyes with petite pupils, it is a combination of multiple, complex expressions that have been blended over time and do not precisely point to a single emotion. On the other hand, Kong has begun to focus again on ancient religious paintings, but from a different perspective – he wants to question the hidden class structures as well as the so-called absolute truth of the contemporary world, by giving these concepts which have already been illustrate enough an exit for conveyance.
Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome, Kong Huidong has presented in many exhibitions around the world, including: "Mille Cortex", Tang Contemporary Art, (Hong Kong, 2023); "New Sound of Art", BAIwork, (China, 2022); "Hope You Not Feel the Same", Payne Y.Loh Art Space, (China 2022) and "Genesis, Galleria Vittoria", Galleria Vittoria, (Italy, 2021) etc.
WEN JUE
b. 2001, Beijing, China
Wen Jue’s creation revolves around his interest in the material of oil paint. While he follows the traditional themes, compositions and rhythms associated with oil painting, he also carries out experimentation on the material and texture, recording each work’s drying process and attributing them with a unique temporal element.
Wen Jue's French art journey began in 2015, with studying at L'Académie de la Grande Chaumière and Studio François Legrand, as well as becoming a lifelong member of the Fondation Taylor in France in 2019.His recent solo shows include: Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousism and The Horn of Plenty (BANK, Shanghai, 2023), Flamenco Summer (hiart space, Shenzhen, 2021), Me and My... (Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art, Beijing, 2020). Recent group shows include Youth Paradise: A Case Study of Chinese New Painting I, (Cycle Space, Beijing, 2023), I Waited For You (Nothing Happened Gallery, Shanghai, 2023), Spring Blooming, (BLANKgallery, Shanghai, 2022), Magician and Hound, (HALF IMAGE, Shanghai, 2022), and TEXTRONIC, (Atmosphere Space, Nanjing, 2022).
ZHAO YESIYU
b. 1991, Zhejiang, China
Currently lives and works in New York, USA
The ever-shifting nature of identity, gender, and spirituality lies at the heart of Yesiyu Zhao’s practice. Drawing from personal experiences of migration, the artist’s visual language foregrounds the liberating capacities of art to overturn conventions diffused in American and Chinese histories. Through a highly symbolic, painterly vocabulary, Zhao creates scenes where archetypal figures—soldiers, lovers, high heels—embody intimate and surreal allegories of living in the world as someone who is positioned as Other. The artist humanizes the multitude of selves that one person can contain, acknowledging the desire to be seen and understood.
Graduated from the School of Visual Arts and Purchase College of SUNY, Yesiyu Zhao has presented in many exhibitions, including: “Journey to the West”, David Castillo, (USA, 2022); “Together, at the Same Time”, de la Cruz Museum, (USA, 2022); “Split, DC Triangle”, David Castillo, (USA, 2021) and “Shadow For Sale”, Essex Flowers Gallery, (USA, 2020) etc.
SUN YU
b. 1982, Jilin, China
Through years of academic training, Sun Yu has developed a unique approach to creation, allowing him to engage with a blank canvas like no other. Rather than predefining the image at the outset, he begins by freely smearing the canvas until vague forms emerge. This process triggers specific emotions and recalls intricate details from his memories, which he then embodies in his artwork. Thus, his creative process does not stem from a focus on painting per se, but rather from the formation of compositions that organically evolve during the course of creation. When Sun Yu establishes a new foundation for narrative, transcending the confines of conventional frameworks, the "canvas" ceases to be a mere vehicle for painting elements alone. It becomes a boundless expanse that carries the untapped depths of submerged icebergs, the most primal thoughts yearning for expression. Sun Yu seeks to uncover inevitable outcomes through fortuitous exploration.
Graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Sun Yu has presented in many exhibitions around the world, including: " Dark Cuisine ", Hiart Space 798, (China, 2023); "Inspiration", Linda Gallery, (China, 2022); "Newly Told Stories", HUA International, (China, 2021) and " Don’t Look Back Galerie Paris-Beijing, (Belgium, 2014) etc.
FANG XIANCHEN
b. 1994, Xin Jiang, China
Fang Xianchen's works present non-reticent images that bite back their locutions. The works depicting 'scenes' are about spatial structure, and the images are scenes from the artist's everyday life, where he immediately incorporates things that are close to him into his paintings. Here, Fang Xianchen does not enjoy the craftsman’s ambition of depicting the details of a fixed scene but rather explores the creation rooted in everyday life. He creates a sense of detachment and tension from space, and his surreal approach creates a sense of uneasiness, suspension, metaphor, and dream-like instability in the images, giving them an ineffable atmosphere. This space contains no documented reality, for it is more occupied by the imagination and resonant gaze of time. Fang Xianchen's works have subtle metaphors and equally straightforward language, reflecting on and examining oneself through spiritual refraction in order to find a new self, a new identity.
Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Fang Chenxian has exhibited his works in many key galleries, his latest exhibitions include: “Dream Bird”, Tang Contemporary Art, (Hong Kong, 2023); “Animal Manor”, SENSESPACE, (Beijing, 2023); “Animal Manor”, SENSESPACE, (Beijing, 2022); “Pigeon Superstitions”, O2art, (Beijing, 2019) and “Blue is Greater than Blue”, White Noise Space, (Beijing, 2021).
WEI MINGHUI
b. 2000, Henan, China
Wei Minghui engages surrealist painting as the core of his creative language to salvage plenty of transient and paradoxical axes of time. The subjects of his images oscillate between nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, resulting in a form of humour derived from living mechanically. In this structure, all the common states are transformed into delusions that Minghui has to dispel to restore the original motive for being alive.
Graduated from the Department of Oil Painting, Henan Normal University, Wei Minghui’s latest exhibitions include: "Dream Bird", Tang Contemporary Art, (Hong Kong, 2023) and " The crack will show up on time ", OUTSIDER Gallery, (China, 2023).