Zou Jianping is a significant artist who stands as a pivotal force in the development of modern and contemporary art in China. His persona seamlessly fuses the realms of publication and creation, navigating interdisciplinary spaces with a nuanced and multifaceted approach.

Evidently, in the historical development of contemporary Chinese art and the associated events linking art and the market, Zou Jianping's narrative seems to have been overlooked. The Tang Contemporary Art space in Bangkok is organizing this exhibition in the hope of acknowledging and highlighting the richness of his later artistic endeavors. After reaching the age of sixty, Zou Jianping embarked on a journey from the ancient city of Changsha, passing through the Maiji Mountain toward the distant horizon of Kashmir. His essence radiates a sublime nobility, adorned with an exceptionally heroic demeanour. Several years later, Zou Jianping's artistic series exploring the western frontiers was presented in the poetic form of mud and sand.

Mud and sand are often metaphorically used to refer to the vast grasslands and wilderness, but in Zou Jianping's art, they transcend mere symbolism. Beyond the mainstream discourse of art, his works unravel a vast world, tearing through the essence of the brutal wild, particularly in the visual reinterpretation of the Western region. Zou Jianping's works do not indulge in superficial admiration of Western customs; instead, he penetrates the Zen image, soaring through the heavens, cultivating the barren in the sands of time and cultural currents, contemplating in silence, resulting in a series of intricately patterned and vibrant hues of red. In his works, these mud and sands become the soul of the Western region, the dust of history, a reshaping of Eastern vitality, and the burial ground of civilization. The earth is a romantic symbol of primal essence in his works, and mud and sand serve as the constituent materials of the earth. As a substrate of the Earth's surface, mud and sand form the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems. Zou Jianping's Desert series delves into contemplation, dissolving the materialized significance of mud and sand as soil. They seamlessly merge with the natural life of falling leaves, entwined roots, flying moths, chirping insects， and the artificial constructs of books, gloves, and motorcycle gear. In his creations, everything becomes a poignant note in the meticulous reconstruction of meaning.

The Bangkok exhibition primarily showcases Zou Jianping's scale and depth of experience in the desert, tracing his journey through the vast wilderness. In his recent work, he pays poignant homage to family, particularly his elderly mother, wife, and children, while reflecting on the significance of seeds and rice. Over these years, Zou Jianping's trajectory has shifted from the bustling urban landscape to the serene vastness of the desert, a return from the untamed wilderness to a reconnection with life. In the presence of each meticulously crafted mud and sand painting and the Han spirit painting, Zou Jianping's exploration of spiritual landscapes, though firmly grounded in the present, seems to transcend earthly constraints. Beneath the wings of time, his creations take flight into the boundless expanse of the sky.

Press release courtesy Tang Contemporary Art.