Relaxation often emphasizes the spontaneity and natural state of the subject. The works in this exhibition showcase a pursuit of tranquillity through the artificial amplification of “inaction”. To some extent, the artists have projected and reprocessed their diluted personal emotions and existential confusions onto the canvas. These silent games comprised of visual compositions set subtle puzzles that penetrate the surface of simple or contradictory narratives, allowing the viewers to slowly uncover the hidden emotions and implied clues of the creator.

Zhang Hui’s works are often described as novel-like for their richness in narrative power. The four pieces in this exhibition transcend surreal dreams, embodying realistic photography that intricately weaves memories into multi-dimensional narratives. The stories, metaphors, and reflections in the paintings become insignificant with the dilution of historical references in brighter colours. What remains is the pure tranquillity and vitality the artist sought to explore over the past eight years.

The varying and complex human nature is often treated as the subject of representation. Liu Bin attempts to vividly showcase the simple, yet often recomposed figures by guiding the viewer into an absurd and nihilistic emotional world, encompassing horror, madness, innocence, and warmth. On the other hand, Liu Ye draws inspiration from biblical stories and Dante's Divine Comedy. The characters in his paintings transcend simple physical structures while always maintaining a sense of balanced sequence. The flower of sin seems hidden in this divine tranquility, with a faint melancholic classical temperament, directly and subtly reflecting the purity, greed, vanity, indifference, and other contradictory and chaotic feelings of human nature.

Wang You more often collects inspirational objects from daily life, reconstructing the stories of people, objects, and scenes from different times and spaces in life, forming an expression distinct from conventional visual compositions. Her lively and vibrant technique is smooth and unobtrusive, imbuing the whole work with a unique and delicate emotion. The dancers with varied expressions, the luxurious and realistic swans, the inwardly confused boy — these vivid images blur the boundaries between creating and viewing, narrative is, in itself, a space left for the audience.

Shi Yanliang reflects upon the urban landscapes and expresses his concerns about the puzzles of the times through a state of stillness. The bright, slightly cartoonish colors are complementary to the emotionally significant moments in people’s lives. While time passes in reality, memories are retained on the canvas, this sense of peace reveals the confusion and disorientation that most people feel in contemporary society.

Zhu Zi (Wu Jian’an) constructs a surreal world full of innocent elements through the subjective reconstruction of natural landscapes. Unlike the rigid characteristics of flat painting, his adept use of basic painting components composites a dynamic rhythm through the structured yet fluid harmony between the pigment with points, lines, and planes.

Yu Xuan has focused on exploring the relationship between nature and artificial objects. Imagery like the three white sheep standing against a monotonous gray-blue backdrop with a barbershop sign in the upper right corner, and the four pandas quietly resting before a striking red background, aims to create a strong sense of intrusion and emotional contrast within the tranquil scenes. The accumulation of oil paint fades away from view, while the cold yet vibrant scenes reflect the artist’s contradictory understanding and response to contemporary social landscapes.

These works are not just merely realistic depictions, but an artificially relaxed tranquility. The artists do not directly depict specific themes but intentionally and subtly express different concepts and various landscapes. Through reprocessing objects with a strong lens of subjectivity, a theatric scenic variation is established. This unnatural relaxation is another form of the true state of creation, and a unique kind of struggle.

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