GROUP EXHIBITION

The exhibition, Breath and Crystal, invites five contemporary Chinese artists to explore the essence of art and life. Each artist presents their understanding of the flow of life through sincere creation. For them, art is both breath and crystal. The exhibition is divided into five rooms, each featuring a distinct theme corresponding to different rhythms of breath, allowing the artists’ works to engage in meaningful dialogue. The five themes are: Breath, Seasons, A Day and Eternity, Tides, and Crystal. The breath of the sea is the tide. The breath of time is crystal. Poetry, in German, is Gedicht (the woven object). Creative works are thus Das Gedichtete — crystallised objects.

Everything has its breath and within these artworks lies the essence of sincere spirit. The artists in front of the canvas immerse themselves repeatedly in the sea of brushstrokes, like the daily ebb and flow of tides, like silkworms tirelessly spinning their silk. Simultaneously, what condenses and dissipates is the consciousness within time, the breaths of you and me, and the life found within crystallisation.

Shi Zhiying’s (b. 1979, Shanghai) latest “Sea” series reflects her understanding of worldly matters. In shifting times and varying lights, the sea mirrors the ceaseless transformations of existence, yet, in its depths, finds a serene stillness. For Shi, painting is not merely about creating visual images; it breathes and flows through the interaction between the audience and artwork. She condenses herself and the world onto the canvas, translating her unique understanding and feelings into her work, forming an existence in consciousness. Her paintings possess a tangible body, a tactile quality, and a materiality that connects with the audience through this shared breath. In Latin, “breath” is “spiritus” — the breath of wind and whisper of the divine. The word “spirit” also derives from this breath of life. The sea in Shi’s painting follows the dance of breath and the hidden rhythms of the cosmos. It reveals a secret shared between the boundless ocean and the humble silkworms, a delicate harmony of existence.

Liang Shaoji (b. 1945, Shanghai) is renowned for his unique medium: silkworms. Time and life are the eternal themes of his practice. As silkworms spin their threads on leaves, the soft rustling creates a symphony of nature’s destiny. The silk — delicate as clouds — writes the poetry of nature (in the work “Black”, 2022). The silk, also like a gentle whisper, envelops history and ruins — “Broken Landscape” (2013) engages in a dialogue with traditional landscape painting while offering a profound reflection on modernity. In the rustling sound of silkworms, life breathes and flows, with fate alternating between joy and sorrow. The universe is vast, and the void is infinite, yet an invisible order provides hope within the emptiness.

Shen Chen’s painting process (b. 1955, Shanghai) resembles Zen meditation. Each stroke engages in a dialogue with the previous one, altering the overall sensation of the canvas as if constructing an infinitely vast space with nothingness itself. On the canvas, Shen embodies both tranquility and passion, crystallising life through immense patience and the passage of time. This process defines the essence of his artistic creation. Like the silk-spinning process of the silkworms in an ”∞” form, Shen resolutely masters each stroke on the canvas, until colour and spirit simultaneously dissolve into the void. In that moment, he reaches the essence of order, or rather, the order becomes him.

Chen Yan (b. 1970, Hangzhou)‘s strikes and sweeping movements on silver gelatin film carve traces of life in the darkness. Her love for hiking allows her to measure the historical dimensions of her body, engage in dialogues with landscapes and historical figures, and capture these unique experiences within her works. Her silver gelatin pieces merge physical action with painting techniques, fusing her acute sensations from traversing the mountains with her deep artistic foundation. In the exhibition space, her work resonates with Liang Shaoji’s silk, echoing “traces of life.” These traces manifest as white voids etched on black film and as black marks formed on white cloth. Time is irreversible; the silk spun cannot be retracted, and the scratches on the film are memorable. Time and life intertwine in the rhythm of breath, in the expanse of emptiness, and in the connection between thought and thread — each step leaves its mark.

Zhang Jianjun (b. 1955, Shanghai) tirelessly pursues the eternal dialogue between “existence” and “trace.” For him, rubbing is not just a creative method; it is the essence of creation itself. At the seaside, he captures the void through time in the work “Rubbing Sun” (2011). As the sun rises and falls, he rubs fire with water, making the impossible possible. In the “Rubbing Planet” series, he reveals the mysteries of the human mind through the infinite sky. In “Rubbing Rain”, he captures the fleeting moments on canvas and cotton, capturing the essence of transience. What captivates him are those intangible elements — the very nature of life and time. The act of rubbing becomes a deeply meaningful endeavour, embodying the artist’s repeated moments of enlightenment, where joy and sorrow converge in profound reflection.