LIU Ren: Spring, River, Flowers, Moon, Night: Solo Exhibition
Past exhibition
Installation Views
Overview
LIU Ren
Consumption 消耗, 2016
mixed media 综合材料
Dimensions variable尺寸可变
spring river tidal water running level with the sea
on the sea the bright moon rising with the tide
Don Gallery is delighted to announce that the solo exhibition of Liu Ren, Spring, River, Flowers, Moon, Night, will open on 4th September 2016 at the gallery. It is the artist’s second solo exhibition at Don Gallery. With the same title as the peerless masterpiece written by the Tang dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu (660-720AD), the exhibition implies a realm connected to the spirit of the poem, revealing the artist’sconsistent reflection on time and condition of the human in his own artistic creations. A number of paintings and installations newly created by Liu Ren will be presented at the exhibition.
on these banks what people first saw the moon
river moon in what year
did you first shine on men
Time, as the ultimate and everlasting topic, has been embraced splendidly in Liu Ren’s different artworks. In recent years, he has focused on a particular type of raw material for his visual creative output, low-quality tissue paper. Made of recycled prints, this extremely low-cost kind of paper embodies the essence of his painting. Considerable time was spent by Liu Ren on cascading, drying and solidifying this thin material, layer by layer, to produce his ‘canvas’ in different sizes and thicknesses, on which images of social significance and historical sources have then been expressed. From the explosion of the first atomic bomb to Einstein's portrait, from the catastropic aftershock of an aeroplane crash to the cover of Time Magazine……these heartfilled artworks, somewhere in between
painting and sculpture, will be experienced head-on by the audience in the gallery.
life of man age on age
unexhausted
river moon year by year
looking at each other
As for time, as people are powerless to stop its continual passing, might living for the moment become a solution? In contemplating this present moment, Liu Ren has revisited the artistic movement of conceptualism, and the practice of its leading representative On Kawara. The late Japanese artist based in New York had started a half-century daily creation, Today, to record every single day vividly
from January 4, 1966 (also the name of his first artwork in this series). In the eyes of Liu Ren, this kind of record is an expression of the consumption of the human being in line with the non-recoverable states of the body, its energy and vitality, with the passing of time. With this, two paintings were created by Liu Ren in his own style to memorize and respond to On Kawara, labelling the dates of this
conceptualist’s birth and death missed in his original work. These paintings are also featured in the exhibition.
Liu Ren, born in Shanghai in 1983, has been in constant search of the nature of time and life, exploring the transformation between
vision and conception. He is always seeking inspiration among the materials found around him in daily life, using ‘objects’ to express the
duality of life, i.e. simultaneously heavy and empty. His works have been presented in many art spaces, including Mingsheng Art
Museum (2016), chi K11 Art Museum (2016), CAFA Art Museum (2015), 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum (2015), Mercator
Foundation (Essen, Germany, 2011), Italian Pavilion of Shanghai Expo (Shanghai, 2010), and Chongqing Art Museum (Chongqing,
2007). His solo exhibitions include FILTRATE (White Space, Beijing, 2013), 2008102020091112..8:35... (Don Gallery, Shanghai, 2009),
and Deep Practice (am art space, Shanghai, 2008).
Liu Ren has been nominated for the John Moores Painting Prize (China) twice, and was rewarded the silver medal for the M50 Creative
Leading-edge Artists (2008), as well as a Luo Zhongli Scholarship (2008). He graduated from Shangai Arts & Crafts College (2003) and
the Fine Arts College of Shanghai University, majoring in Printmaking (2007). He lives and works in Shanghai.
on the sea the bright moon rising with the tide
Don Gallery is delighted to announce that the solo exhibition of Liu Ren, Spring, River, Flowers, Moon, Night, will open on 4th September 2016 at the gallery. It is the artist’s second solo exhibition at Don Gallery. With the same title as the peerless masterpiece written by the Tang dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu (660-720AD), the exhibition implies a realm connected to the spirit of the poem, revealing the artist’sconsistent reflection on time and condition of the human in his own artistic creations. A number of paintings and installations newly created by Liu Ren will be presented at the exhibition.
on these banks what people first saw the moon
river moon in what year
did you first shine on men
Time, as the ultimate and everlasting topic, has been embraced splendidly in Liu Ren’s different artworks. In recent years, he has focused on a particular type of raw material for his visual creative output, low-quality tissue paper. Made of recycled prints, this extremely low-cost kind of paper embodies the essence of his painting. Considerable time was spent by Liu Ren on cascading, drying and solidifying this thin material, layer by layer, to produce his ‘canvas’ in different sizes and thicknesses, on which images of social significance and historical sources have then been expressed. From the explosion of the first atomic bomb to Einstein's portrait, from the catastropic aftershock of an aeroplane crash to the cover of Time Magazine……these heartfilled artworks, somewhere in between
painting and sculpture, will be experienced head-on by the audience in the gallery.
life of man age on age
unexhausted
river moon year by year
looking at each other
As for time, as people are powerless to stop its continual passing, might living for the moment become a solution? In contemplating this present moment, Liu Ren has revisited the artistic movement of conceptualism, and the practice of its leading representative On Kawara. The late Japanese artist based in New York had started a half-century daily creation, Today, to record every single day vividly
from January 4, 1966 (also the name of his first artwork in this series). In the eyes of Liu Ren, this kind of record is an expression of the consumption of the human being in line with the non-recoverable states of the body, its energy and vitality, with the passing of time. With this, two paintings were created by Liu Ren in his own style to memorize and respond to On Kawara, labelling the dates of this
conceptualist’s birth and death missed in his original work. These paintings are also featured in the exhibition.
Liu Ren, born in Shanghai in 1983, has been in constant search of the nature of time and life, exploring the transformation between
vision and conception. He is always seeking inspiration among the materials found around him in daily life, using ‘objects’ to express the
duality of life, i.e. simultaneously heavy and empty. His works have been presented in many art spaces, including Mingsheng Art
Museum (2016), chi K11 Art Museum (2016), CAFA Art Museum (2015), 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum (2015), Mercator
Foundation (Essen, Germany, 2011), Italian Pavilion of Shanghai Expo (Shanghai, 2010), and Chongqing Art Museum (Chongqing,
2007). His solo exhibitions include FILTRATE (White Space, Beijing, 2013), 2008102020091112..8:35... (Don Gallery, Shanghai, 2009),
and Deep Practice (am art space, Shanghai, 2008).
Liu Ren has been nominated for the John Moores Painting Prize (China) twice, and was rewarded the silver medal for the M50 Creative
Leading-edge Artists (2008), as well as a Luo Zhongli Scholarship (2008). He graduated from Shangai Arts & Crafts College (2003) and
the Fine Arts College of Shanghai University, majoring in Printmaking (2007). He lives and works in Shanghai.
Works
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LIU RenConsumption 消耗, 2016mixed media 综合材料Dimensions variable尺寸可变 -
LIU RenBear 承受, 2016Eggs and mixed media 鸡蛋和综合材料80 x 80 x 43 cm
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LIU Ren, 6 Feet 6英尺, 2016
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LIU RenSpring,River,Flowers,Moon,Night 春江花月夜, 2016Oil and mixed media 油彩和综合材料67 x 51 x 4.5 cm
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LIU RenOn Kawara 1932.12.24一2014.07.10 河原温 1932.12.24一2014.07.10, 2016Acrylic and mixed media 丙烯和综合材料63 x 62 x 6 cm x 2
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LIU RenMissing 失踪, 20140il and mixed media 油彩和综合材料29.5 x 17 x 10.5 cm Wall dimensions variable 29.5 x 17 x 10.5 cm 墙面尺寸可变
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LIU RenMoon Landing 登月, 2016Oil and mixed media 油彩和综合材料30 x 18 x 10.5 cm
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LIU RenEinstein and Little Boy 爱因斯坦和小男孩, 2016Oil and mixed media 油彩和综合材料27 x 18 x 24 cm
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LIU RenPain . Itch 痛 . 痒, 2016Oil and mixed media 油彩和综合材料29 x 18 x 33 cm
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LIU RenEquipment 装备, 2016Oil and mixed media 油彩和综合材料30 x 18 x 9.5 cm
