A+ Contemporary is pleased to present artist Zheng Wenxin’s second solo exhibition at our gallery, “L’Étranger”, opening on May 25, 2019. The exhibition consists of the artist’s latest experiment in the medium of scroll painting, along with a series of recent practice in oil painting which derives from her previous creative concept about social media.
Scroll painting is the artist’s recent achievement in exploration of mediums, providing a panoramic experience that differs from conventional painting scale. Grasped from WeChat, past moments and events are presented on the scroll as a linear flow. Following the viewer’s eye, they are constantly under or about to move. This linear arrangement of narratives, on one hand, conforms to the characteristics of long scroll and breaks through the single perspective of paintings. On the other hand, the segmented images on the scroll reflects its making process, in which the artist’s focus is on the temporary sensation of the present moment rather than aesthetic composition. Instead of an overall consideration of the whole picture in her previous painting practice, such as deliberate shaping of form and light, the narrative on the scroll highlights temporality and fluidity.
The exhibition title “L’Étranger” comes from the title of the novel by French philosopher and writer Albert Camus in which he reveals the nature of the world’s absurdity. When all the spectacles, whether of absurdity or of happiness, are exhibited in a flat and vast virtual information space, people start to generate intricate perceptions or misconceptions of others, society, and nature. In an attempt to positon herself as “L’Étranger”, artist transfers part of the initiative in her artistic creation and dissociate herself from the absurdity. She integrates painting activities into daily routine. Through the action of painting she gathers human emotions that are not yet shadowed by this absurdity. In this way, artist transfers the energy and restores her true feelings about the world. Her continuous superimposing of the time dimension on the painting is as well the process in which self-awareness and sensibility are constantly being stimulated, awakened and infiltrated.
The exhibition will be on view until July 6, 2019.