Chambers Fine Art Beijing is pleased to announce the opening of Seen in Passing: New Works by Shi Jing.
Shi Jing is an artist who is fascinated with the idea of questioning the way we see the world around us. He explores the process through which the human mind creates shifting images using the visual information gathered by the eye. The ordering of this information is a subliminal process and can result in a strange moment when perception shifts from one understanding to another – when one discovers something is not what it appeared.
In the enigmatic works presented in Seen in Passing the artist conjures entire landscapes, portraits and even night time galaxies from an apparently blank monochrome canvas. He achieves this effect through stippling the surface of the paint so that the image appears only when light passes across it from specific directions.
In some works Shi Jing works with playful intent – his dark green landscapes for instance depict tranquil and somehow unsettling tree-lined waterscapes.
In other paintings Shi Jing adds the element of the passing of time to his work; in a series of circular deep blue ‘star map’ works the viewer is invited to focus on one of the stars of the Big Dipper – the Delta Ursa Majoris which is the star of good fortune and achievement in traditional Chinese astronomy. Through walking around the canvas the star shifts its position through its spring, summer and fall placements and so suggests a lifetime of achievement and happiness.
In a third series of small white-on-white paintings Shi Jing explores the territory of philosophical paradox – a dialectical tradition which is the basis of much Taoist and Buddhist teaching. In these paintings a series of objects appear which can never fulfill the function for which they were apparently designed - bladeless woodworking tools, unusable glass tableware, closed jugs incapable of being filled with liquid and so on. Through this choice of subject matter the artist introduces a metaphysical element to his work; the sensation one feels with a shift in visual perception acts as a metaphor for moments of sudden spiritual insight.
Shi Jing has produced a special LED lighting system that is attached to each piece as the direction and source of the light is of crucial importance in his work.
Shi Jing was born in Dehongzhou,Yunnan, province in 1971. He lives and works between Beijing and Yunnan. Chambers Fine Art has been working with the artist for the past three years with works included Blog It: New Wave of New Wave (2008 Chambers Beijing, Chambers New York) and Dream Or Reality-Chinese Art Today(2008 Amsterdam). Shi Jing has been widely exhibited in China including a solo show in the Today Art Museum (2009) and the Nanjing and the Guizhou Triennials (both 2008). Internationally his work appeared in China Now, ESSL COLLECTION, Vienna (2006), Grounding Reality, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea (2005) and Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum Bern, Cologne, Germany
北京前波画廊荣幸的推出名为《心像—史晶新作》的展览。
作为一位艺术家，史晶特别专注于探寻人们看待周围世界的方式。他致力于研究大脑利用肉眼收集信息，再将其排列形成各种变换图片的过程。这些信息所发出的指令，是一种潜意识的过程，并且会导致某种特殊时刻的出现。有意思的是，这一时刻往往发生在人们从一种认识转移到另一种认识，以及当人们发现某些东西并非从前所认识的那个样子的时候。
在这些被称为“心像”的近乎神秘的作品中，艺术家像只魔术手一样，在一张张空空如也的黑白色帆布上，描画出一整幅风景、人物，甚至夜晚浩瀚的星空。他通过点彩的手法，只有当光线从某些特定的角度照射过来的时候，图像才会显现。在某些作品中，史晶甚至刻意营造玩味色彩。例如在一暗绿色的画布上，画上河岸和不规则树木，使恬静的水景隐秘其中。
在其他的作品中，史晶加入了时光流逝的元素。在一系列深蓝色环形“星空图”的作品中，艺术家将观者的注意力集中到北斗七星之一，中国传统星象中智慧化身的文曲星身上。当围绕画布移动，以不同角度观看，人们会发现画布上的文曲星正如星空中的星星一样，随着四季的变换改变着自己的位置，暗示着人生的成功与喜悦。
在白色系列的绘画作品中，史晶涉及到哲学悖论的领域，这也是很多道家和佛家教义的基础辩证法。这些作品呈现一系列物品，但看起来似乎永远都不可能实现其本身应该具有的功能——没有锯齿的木锯、派不上用场的玻璃餐具、装不了水的密封水壶等等。通过选择这些物品，艺术家在作品中引入了一种形而上学的元素；同时视觉感知的变化，又象征着内在精神世界的撞击。
对于史晶的作品来说，光线的位置和来源极其重要。因此，艺术家特地为这次“心像 ”的展览设计制作了LED灯光系统，并加装在每幅作品之上。
史晶于1971年出生于云南德宏，现生活工作于北京、云南两地。近三年来，他和前波画廊的合作项目包括“Blog It: New Wave of New Wave”（2008前波北京，前波纽约）、“Dream Or Reality-Chinese Art Today”（2008阿姆斯特丹）。史晶也参加了国内很多展览参展，包括今日美术馆的个展（2009）、南京三年展和贵州美术三年展（均在2008）。同样，他的作品还在国际上大放光彩：2006在维也纳ESSL COLLECTION的“今日中国”艺术展参展；2005年在韩国汉城艺术中心的“着陆现实”中国当代艺术展展出；以及在德国科隆Bern美术馆 “Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection”展出。