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Mindscapes | Curated by Dagmar Carnevale Lavezzoli
HOFA GALLERY LONDON AND VIRTUAL EXHIBITION -
The landscape painting tradition is one of the most venerated art forms in China, and still maintains a relevant position in today’s world. Shan Shui,meaning “Mountains and Water", is the Chinese term for “landscape” and underpins a connection with the ancient Taoist philosophy, whose key principle emphasises harmony with the natural world. This exhibition brings together an eclectic selection of artworks by both emerging and well-established contemporary artists from China - Yao Jui-Chung, Pan Jian, He Sen, Cynthia Sah, Chen Che, Le Guo, Wang Ziling and Gao Xintong. Spanning different generations, from the 1950s to the 1990s, and living in different countries, the artists intertwine personal and collective memories to re-interpret this ancient pictorial language through fresh forms and concepts. The featured artworks range from figuration to abstraction, including different types of media - oil on canvas, ink on paper, acrylic on wood panels and marble sculptures.
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VIRTUAL TOUR
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Captured by Tatiana Farcas
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Dagmar Carnevale Lavezzoli 梦兰 is an art curator, consultant and contemporary Chinese art specialist with over a decade of experience in the field. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Dagmar lived in China for several years where she connected with artists of international reputation.
Dagmar is the founder of Crysalis, a bespoke art consultancy specialised in curating and organising exhibitions for galleries, museums and institutions. Crysalis also promotes the development of digital and crypto art through research and educational material.
Dagmar is also co-owner and director of Hua, a platform championing the best in contemporary Chinese art.
She has been invited to deliver lectures in venues such as Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and has been featured in articles published on the Independent, Wall Street International, the BBC, Vogue Italia and Vanity Fair Italia.
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Yao Jui-Chung, Nature plus: Holding Hands, 2021
Internationally recognised Yao Jui-Chung has exhibited worldwide including at the Venice Biennale. In his natural sceneries, Yao Jui-Chung combines elements of traditional Chinese landscape paintings infused with a modern and vibrant energy, often inserting witty daily details or Westerns symbols. While generating a visual experience for the spectator that is aesthetically beautiful and intellectually stimulating, his work also addresses main social issues - it presents golden water, air and trees as a way to highlight the preciousness of nature in our contemporary society.
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THE COMPLETE BODY OF WORKS
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Gao Xintong
Gao Xintong, Cyberbambù 3, 2020Young emerging artist Gao Xintong graduated from the National Academy of
Fine Arts in Carrara, Italy, and he’s now rapidly gaining international attention due to his bold and innovative compositions. Gao Xintong’s artistic practice focuses on deconstructing and reconstructing visual elements through the use of vivid colours. His work can be perceived as a “Portrait Shan-Shui” where the emphasis is on the subjectivity of the painted object and empty spaces play a significant role in the composition. Like in the ancient Taoist philosophy, emptiness in his work is conceived as a dynamic force, which enables each depicted element to emerge and gain vitality. -
Gao Xintong
Cyberbambù 2, 2020 -
Pan Jian, Lightening's Edge 20200103
Internationally recognised Pan Jian has been acquired by major collectors such as Uli Sigg and DSL Collection. Pan Jian conjures up elements from the tradition of Chinese landscape painting with reminiscences of Rothko’s meditative quality, Yves Klein’s deep blue and Zao Wou-Ki’s flowing energy. By painting chaotic silhouettes of leaves and branches, Pan Jian explores uninhabited deep forests through an electrifying and intense colour palette, creating landscapes that are both symbolic and real at once.
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Pan Jian
Lightening's Edge 20200104, 2020“The mystery, complexity and composition of forests are in line with my views on life. They seem to subtly reflect the enigma, intricacy and unpredictability of this world. I re-connect with the ancient understanding of landscapes as “images of the mind” to capture glimpses of the human soul.”
- Pan Jian
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He Sen, Alone Tree in the Landscape, 2020
Well established artist He Sen is renowned for his iconic landscape compositions merging traditional features with a wide range of contemporary elements and meditative shades, conveying vibrancy and new perspectives. His artworks evoke a sense of musicality; they seem to follow a rhythm and a natural development of a lyrical composition.
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Cynthia Sah, Calla, 2018
Hong Kong-born Cynthia Sah is an internationally acclaimed artist, known for her smooth, minimalist and organic marble sculptures. Cynthia Sah’s sculptures explore the relationship between nature and all beings. Nature is the initial inspiration of the artist as she starts to investigate the potentiality of every block of marble from its natural and pure form. Her sculptures embody the Chinese philosophy of essential equilibrium, manifesting itself as lightness and fluidity in space. Whether they are flowing and smooth, or rounded mass with a sense of volume, Sah’s works always exude a lively rhythm and spiritual resonance.
- Chen Che, Dream Jungle, 2019
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Le Guo, Black Light, 2019
Le Guo is a well respected artist with international achievements. He has been invited to deliver lectures at The British Museum, Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Xi’An University, amongst different venues. Le Guo’s paintings present intense visions of colour, organic forms and undefined shapes. His inner abstract landscapes bear influences by both Western Expressionism and Surrealism, as well as by Chinese philosophies and classical art. They are triggered by a continuous dialogue between physical and emotional, conscious and unconscious, internal and external.
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Wang Ziling, Rebirth, 2021
Wang Ziling is a young talented artist with a distinctive and unique style. She creates astonishing sculptural paintings in which she explores our perception of external surroundings by reforming the structure of how we see and perceive. While delving into the relationship between colours and their abstract manifestations, Wang Ziling’s works attempt to break with convention, and to overturn the traditional way of viewing landscapes. Colours in her works are boldly flying outside the boundaries of conventional pantings, providing the viewer with a three-dimensional visual challenge.
Mindscapes: Contemporary Chinese Art
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