This month,
four artists come together to participate in the latest group show New Acquaintances—works by GAMA, Fu
Xiaotong, Wang Fengge, and Chen Baoyang. These artists come from different
backgrounds and have different styles, but all of their work centers upon the
history of Chinese art.
One of the
artists known as “GAMA,” is from Mongolia and is influenced by shamanism, which
is the study of understanding human consciousness. After studying painting at
the Karlsruhe Academy of Art, and the New Leipzig School both in Germany, he
became familiar with the works of well-known contemporary artists such as
Gustav Kluge, Gehrard Richter, and Georg Baselitz.
One of GAMA’s paintings in
this show is Gemach II (Chamber II)
featuring a bed with several colorful sheets and mattress stacked on top with
items such as postcards, stockings, or a toy elf hanging from the edges.
Another intriguing work by GAMA is Seltene
Erde II (Rare Earth II which illustrates a keyboard with splotches of dirt
on top from which several mushrooms, both small and large, have grown. A group
of wolves are gathered by the trunks and on top of the tallest mushroom, a
monkey can be seen feeding a bird.
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| "Seltene Earth II (Rare Earth II)" by GAMA |
Wang Fengge is
from Shanxi and a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. For
this show, she offers paintings on a monochromatic canvas that show obscured
images of buildings and landscapes. Like Fengge,
Fu Xiatong is also from Shanxi and also studied at Central Academy of Fine Arts
and the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts. She works with handmade paper and then
engages in the rigorous process of digging into the paper with a needle to make
marks ranging from pin-pricks to directional slashes to emphasize the details
of vast mountain ranges.
Chen Baoyang is the youngest artist of the group from
Hangzhou, who studied photography, video, and related media at the School of
Visual Arts in New York City. His father is a painter and has therefore, been
exposed to the continuity of the Chinese visual culture. His works in this show
include The Spring of Su Di, and Coming Home, which are inkjet on Chinese
silk images of haphazard design patterns.
About his work, Baoyang says, “I convert the brushwork to create new arrangements of
pixels and color information based upon the original Shan Shui (Chinese
landscape) paintings. . . my digital methodologies provide me working
techniques of universalism, repetition, randomness and effortless-action.”
At Chambers Fine Art, 522 W. 19th
St., through Aug. 16. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 10 a.m.—6 p.m. There
will be an opening reception Jul. 10 from 6—8 p.m.
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