Press Release

Arario Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Han Jiaquan | Ornaments on May 26, 2018. By featuring Han Jiaquan’s major creations in the past three years, the subject of painting involves everyday objects, life scenes, characters, etc., presenting the artist’s self-perception and self-discovery. As a neutral vocabulary, ’Ornaments’ reflects in Han’s painting in a calm and objective way. Through different objects, scenes, and figures, Ornaments has been embodied in Han’s work by displaying, presenting, putting and piling up. The objective neutrality of the artist has not weakened the attractiveness of the work, instead, it matches well with Han Jiaquan’s basic approach to his painting: less technological, more physical and more intuitive.

Han Jiaquan’s creation alway presents a neutral status via his primary expression of tents, trees, street lights, beach, and human face. Without pre-reconciliation and pre-reduction, the artist puts the visual features in his painting in an adversarial way: the objects are not over-emphasized and the artist smartly hided his subjective treatment in a subtle way. Han Jiaquan is expert in utilizing thin and liquid paint and small-scale frames to deal with everyday objects—from the intimate and secretive Tent series to the ‘peeping’ viewed Kindergarten series and Rear Window series; through _Ligh_t series without a strong light and shadow effect to the fragmented Branches or Place scenery—the drawing perspective is not quite strong and the visual figures has an intuitive feeling. After several times of pre-processing of the priming paint, the white paint spilled over the canvas to form a dense and irregular edge and the canvas achieves a relatively flat surface. The diluted color flows quickly on the surface, and smooth strokes reveal the artist’s familiarity with his creative techniques. Meticulously or casually explaining the state of things, Han Jiaquan’s daily Ornaments in his works makes it easy for viewers to resonate and find a joint point of their visual memory, while the collocation of a strong self and the inertia on the outside leads to plain pictures concealing Han’s innermost being.

This time in ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI, A2 space, Ornaments presents Han Jiaquan’s main pieces within three years. Along with different subjects and themes, works are located orderly by several units combining rarefaction and density. By following the moving flow of the exhibition, viewers could walk around freely in a group of Ornaments. While the artist seems intendedly stays detached with all the objects he created, and interacts with audiences in a subtle but cunning way. In the meantime, the exhibition does not deliberately distinguish still life paintings with figurative paintings in the space, which also reveals the artist’s creative direction in the next stage — the concept of objective things is more prominent, and the content of characters would be increased.

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About the Gallery
ARARIO GALLERY opened its first Chinese branch in 2005 in the Jiu Chang Art District, Beijing. The Beijing space, which operated successfully for over seven years, closed its doors in 2012. In 2014, ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI opened in Xujiahui, Shanghai, operating until June 2017. It then relocated to West Bund, Shanghai, from July 2017 to August 2020, and once again within the West Bund from October 2022 to April 2024. The gallery has played a significant role in introducing the works of not only Korean artists but also a diverse range of Asian artists from Japan, India, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia to the Chinese art scene. Building on decades of experience and expertise, ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI reopens its new space in Jing’an District, Shanghai, in March 2025. As the oldest Korean gallery in China, ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI is firmly established and continues to provide a sustainable foundation for Asian artists through the continuous discovery of emerging talents and the creation of advanced exhibition opportunities.
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Shanghai 2F-205, 30 Wen'an Road
Arario Gallery
2F-205, 30 Wen'an Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, China
+86 21 5424 9220
http://www.arariogallery.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
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