| Artist Wang Lifeng will exhibit his new show, The Great Ming Dynasty, at Red Gate Gallery’s Watchtower location from September 1 – 29, 2007. His latest work debuts his new, innovative medium that both demonstrates his connection to traditional Chinese visual expression as well as his boundless imagination in searching for new vehicles for contemporary self-expression. |
|
Wang Lifeng’s Great Ming Dynasty at Red Gate Gallery, Beijing – Tally Beck
Artist Wang Lifeng will exhibit his new show, The Great Ming Dynasty, at Red Gate Gallery’s Watchtower location from September 1 – 29, 2007. His latest work debuts his new, innovative medium that both demonstrates his connection to traditional Chinese visual expression as well as his boundless imagination in searching for new vehicles for contemporary self-expression.
Wang Lifeng has added new dimension and sensory ambiance to his Great Ming Dynasty series by incorporating mò (墨), or Chinese ink, in solid form, imbuing his mixed media pieces with a mysterious, sculptural quality. Wang makes the ink himself; in a laborious process, he blends the traditional ingredients: lampblack, gelatine, cloves and Borneol (a rare variety of camphor). He then casts the pungent mixture into moulds, combining this medium with bronze. The ink solidifies to produce high-reliefs of his imagined Ming Dynasty furnishings. The resulting creations extend into the viewers’ space, and the unique scent of the ink is palpable.
Wang Lifeng has worked with Red Gate for over 16 years and has a stylistic trajectory all his own. Eschewing Pop Art derivatives, he has successfully translated his personal, fragmented impressions of classical Chinese visual expression into his signature postmodern idiom.
