Become a My Ocula member for exclusive access to contemporary art and personalised artist recommendations.
Join Us Sign In
The Art World in Focus
Clear
Chen Ruo Bing

CHEN RUO BING

What we cannot speak about Galerie Albrecht 11 September–14 November 2020 Berlin
Overview Artworks Location
Request Prices & Availability
Press Release

‘What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.’ This is how Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus logico-philosophicus ends. ‘What we cannot speak about is the basis of my paintings’ is how Chen Ruo Bing would end this sentence. Either remain silent, or try to say it without words, speak silently, and yet that is merely an attempt, because what-we-cannot-speak-about remains outside the sphere of what can be said. Can we speak of light? In many ways. It appears in all religions, it is explained by physics, and it is the subject of many myths. Without light no life, no vision, no shadow, no contrasts, no space, no world. For a painter, light is essential. It can be experienced while looking at the sky, and its reflection on a surface of water.

Chen Ruo Bing does not use it as an aid, he turns it into the subject of his paintings, without however turning it into a symbol, or speaking about it, and without any formula from physics. With him, light is created with a brush and acrylics on canvas. He does not use luminous paint. With these simple means, he creates paintings that seem to shine, as if they had a source of light built into them. But the simpler the means that are openly revealed to the beholder, the more mysterious the result seems—like something about which we cannot speak, where words fail, and painting wins.

Most of the paintings by Chen Ruo Bing shown in the exhibition were completed either this year or at the end of last year in his studio in Düsseldorf.

Chen Ruo Bing (born in 1970 in China) studied at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, and with Gotthard Graubner at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He as received numerous prizes and fellowships, including residencies from the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation (2000) and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung (2014). In recent years, he had solo exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Bochum (2016) and the Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju (2013). As a representative of China’s abstract art, he has been shown numerous times in museums in China and Germany.

Read More

Installation Views

About the Artist

Chen Ruo Bing’s theme is the void ‘In the emptiness of the image lies the source of its meaning’ serves him as a motto. That is, he deliberately does not give meaning to the picture, but he does not go so far as to present a blank canvas. On the contrary, his pictures turn into coloured light spaces. He banishes the immaterial light, the seeming nothingness, in colours painted thinly on the rough canvas, which, on closer inspection, dematerialise again. They seem to become pure light once more.

View Artist Profile

Also Exhibiting at Galerie Albrecht

All Exhibitions
Group Exhibition
GROUP EXHIBITION Sachlichkeit Galerie Albrecht 2 May–27 June 2026 Berlin
About the Gallery

Established by Susanne Albrecht in 1986 off the heels of her studies in philosophy, art history, and Italian philology at Freie Universität Berlin and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Galerie Albrecht represents young European and Asian artists as well as influential established European and American post-War and contemporary artists.

View Gallery Profile
Address
Bleibtreustr. 48
Berlin
Germany
Opening Hours
Tuesday–Saturday, 12pm–6pm
(1)
Berlin Bleibtreustr. 48
Galerie Albrecht contemporary art gallery in Berlin Germany
Galerie Albrecht
Bleibtreustr. 48, Berlin, Germany
+49 302 060 5442
http://galeriesusannealbrecht.de

Opening hours
Tuesday–Saturday, 12pm–6pm
Magazine Gallery Platform Advisory
Ocula Magazine

A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.

Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.

 Learn more about Ocula Magazine Learn more about Ocula Magazine Ocula Gallery Platform

Showcasing the best of the art world.

Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.

 Learn more about Ocula Membership Learn more about Ocula Membership Ocula Advisory

Specialises in the sale of major artworks.

Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.

 Learn more about our team and services Learn more about Ocula Advisory
The art world in focus