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Incredible

宫 鹤 GONG He

李 允馥 Yunbok LEE

安 盛圭 Sungkyu AHN

松枝 悠希 Yuki MATSUEDA

上根 拓馬 Takuma KAMINE

岛内 美佳 Mika SHIMAUCHI

2021.6.5 – 7.25

Shanghai

India facing great challenges at the moment, before the COVID ,we never thought something like this would happen . People will select the memory , because of the flowing time river, we just focus on present . But if just viewing one angle , focus one period of time…… we should try to extend our viewing , stretch the time to 100 year before ,200 year before …… Look back at history ,we will realize that human history is constantly coming again and again .Time will make the all the event transform into an history , just like the pandemic of 1918 and the twice World War . Let‘s switch the perspective to the future , pay attention to tomorrow , thinking where will time flow.

At the scene of Shun Art gallery’s first show of 15th anniversary “healing”, one guest who work on urban design expressed gratitude to us because we don’t install spotlight in the exhibition hall which will breake the atmosphere of vintage house ; and also a artist friend graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts acclaimed us as the only gallery where exhibition hall and art works do not steal the spotlight from each other ; some guests come and feel the delighted atmosphere ,and express how more they got in communications …… Actually , we are “healing”indeed in the show“healing” by guests . Shun Art gallery is different from other gallery , unconsciously become a persevering and warm place.

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About the artist

宫鹤

GONG He (b.1982)

1982 Born in Xiuyan Country Liaoning Province, Manchu.

2004 Graduated from the Second Studio of the Oil Painting Department of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts.

Now lives and works in Beijing China.

 

Amazing handsome guy–About Gong He

Yumi Yamaguchi

I met Gong He at his 2011 solo exhibition for the first time at the Art Composition Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. He sat in a chair in the corner, giving people a taciturn impression. He rarely spoke and even never made eye contact with others at the exhibition. There are generally two types of artists: either they are sociable or they are shy and reticent. Needless to say, Gong He belongs to the latter. And from his artworks, we can easily see not only the proficiency and delicacy of his painting techniques, but also his strong critical spirit and a modest sense of humor. “What an outstanding young man!” I spoke to myself, looking back at Gong He again, who still sat in the chair silently, with his head down, in seemingly deep thought.

 

Speaking of Gong He, I would like to first talk about his series of “Unreasonable Panda”. The panda playing with pet turtle and pet bird thoughtfully, the panda riding in a bike which never works, the panda playing the guitar enjoyably by itself, the panda smoking and drinking in low spirits, the panda selling himself out with no expression, the panda exclaiming the swift internet connection speed at night, the panda facing the music due to its fault, the panda hiding himself in the ruins…Though cute these pandas look, they have surprised us to some extent . All kinds of bizarre behaviors of the pandas remind us of innocence and cruelty, development and recession, hilarious worship and loneliness after show. It’s easy to see that these cute pandas are supposed to be the self-portrait of Gong He himself. Maybe no one could understand the world of pandas, because the existence itself is worth being cherished, we can hardly understand what pandas have done. No matter who we are, we all are exploring the meaning of existence after birth. In the panda series, most of us only see the cuteness of pandas, but these pandas are actually explorations of survival value of human beings.

 

Gong He made small objects and gadgets out of paper money and newspaper, and then painted them on the canvas which became the “Money with Flames” and “Newspaper” series. These artworks are tell us more than “Unreasonable Panda”. We can get a glimpse of news from the clipped text in which the protagonists are a man and a woman, portraying a weak yet very strong female image. I wonder if it is because of the color, the whole scenes look just like a set of situations in an old French short film. For example, there is a scene with a money gun and a extinct cigarette. It can be interpreted in various perspectives, from functionality color perspective to the political one. The artists Gong He seems to imply that all artists’ works can be interpreted from not only functionality color perspective but also political one.

 

Concerning an artist like Gong He, I would emphasize his speciality and personality in the Chinese contemporary art world rather than introduce the works piece by piece. There are photo-realistic works of art, meanwhile, there are also works of abstract expressionism without the objective reality, which lays great emphasis on the conceptuality. And Gong He works  portrays both providing a brand new perspective for the art criticism. Viewers can find themselves in his artworks, because that’s the common thing of human nature. However, we can also conclude that is the original sin which people are born with, as all kinds of karma. In the depth of Gong He’s shy eyes, we can see the spirit of praising the society and tolerance of human folly.

 

I have already begun to look forward to seeing Gong He’s more and more new artworks.

Scars of Mr. Potato

Shun

 

The sun far existed than human beings, but what about potatoes? I always believe that potatoes would exist earlier than human beings even though there is no scientific proof yet.

 

It was at the previous 10 young artists exhibition held by Shun Art Gallery that I saw the artworks of Gong He for the first time. I saw a row of potatoes works in the studio of his friend, a postgraduate of the China Academy of Fine Arts then. Those potatoes looked like the tragic protagonists beyond description. Asked about what the title of this series of artworks was, Gong He answered: “Scars of Mr. Potato”. The original plan was to select three pieces of artworks from each artist to be exhibited, but the moment I saw Gong He’s works, I said without hesitation: “Bring all the works to the exhibition!” The staff, the artist and even myself were kind of stunned with these words.

 

So this is how I get to know the artist Gong He. The personified Mr. Potato is just like a vulnerable modern man with band-aid or on a drip. Yet sometimes those potatoes are just like us, our neighbors, our beloved ones or sexy guys. They are lonely in the boundless world just like one boat floating in this endless sea, and meanwhile seem to enjoy the fun of being alone. It is the artists’ self-analysis. It is also similar to our sleep talking. It is the artist’s past but also like our future. It is the unsocial and biased children or stubborn old men in this fast-changing society.

 

Mr. Potato is like the hunchback of Notre Dame, who plays the tragic hero. There is the presence of divinity where non-reality exists. There he sounds the heavy alarm diligently for everyone, whether people listen to it or not.

 

The series of “Unreasonable Panda” was originally a birthday gift to the artist’s girlfriend, painted by the artist himself. There was a birthday cake in front of that panda, which was so cute. So I suggested to Gong He to paint the panda series. He nodded to agree with me, feeling somewhat puzzled though. Somehow many high-profile people in the entertainment circle or other fields like collecting this series of works.

 

The series of “Money with Flames” reminds me of the movies directed by the Korean director Ki-Duk Kim. Money can not only breed everything, but also can destroy all living creatures. Money is the beginning but also the end of everything. It allures you to die for it, lures you to live for it, and finally brings about various scenes occurring in the society. And the money with traces of burning aches gives us a feeling of dry blood on the skin. This is a manifestation of the artist’s careful and meticulous painting soul

 

Look at the city scene in the wake of the tornado! Gong He exactly defines loneliness in his paintings like a philosopher. In such a city, Mr. Potato, rebellious panda, cute panda, righteous panda…are they happy here? I feel stifled without reason, trying my utmost to escape from here, but I cannot help but stand here helplessly, looking far into the horizon. And just at this moment I imagine that one day, the sad Mr. Potato will be an unrivalled hero incarnate in the Greek myth.

李 允馥 Yunbok LEE 이윤복

Yunbok LEE (b.1970)

Born in Seoul, Korea in 1970, Lee’s work is based on the fundamental core of human body and humanity.  Since his return from Japan in 2003 after finishing his research-student program in metal sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts, he has been working almost exclusively in stainless steel for his creation.  He creates work from hard stainless steel that feels heavy and is light, looks firm and yet soft, with essential elements and simplicity. 
 
The creation of his work begins with damaging a pure metal through hammering, bending, cutting and grinding, and then attaching the damaged metal pieces by welding and then finely polished to create a new life.  Likewise, the core of our body and soul are damaged and hurt as well, and they are similarly mended, comforted and purified over time.  
 
Although his work process requires a tremendous amount of time and labor, he believes that his work evolves through the process of making, i.e. it is spontaneously generated in the process of making.  As the artist says “Artwork is made on the border between mind and body.  We go to sleep feeling the pain of our body, and so we awake.” And again, “…to me the process is a part of the artwork itself and it is where its soul emerges”.  With a mirror-liked body, the evolution of his work never stops as it mutates into new forms with its ever changing surroundings.  Its soul speaks to the hearts of those who look upon it.
安盛圭Portrait

Sungkyu AHN (b.1966)

1966 Born in Korea

1993 BFA, Seoul National University, Major in Painting, Seoul Korea

2000 MFA, Seoul National University, Major in Painting, Seoul Korea

 

Impression

Thoughts on Urban Landscapes

——Ahn, Sung-Kyu

 

My work has always been an expression of interest for my surrounding environment, which I belong to and where I live, and an encounter with the images around me. Scenes of run-down neighborhood allies in the city or buildings I see as I drive by, urban flower beds or flowers blooming freely in small empty lots, and the colossal nature (sky or field) that include all such objects, have always been familiar but also awesome to me.

 

The urban landscapes I dealt with in the past were narrow allies in the increasingly disappearing hillside neighborhoods with gigantic fields in the background. While such works were about the sense of loss and nostalgia for the things we forget as we live our lives, my recent works dealt with our surrounding environment now, and the spaces I live in today. It is a transition from the past to present, and represents a change of interest.

 

The images of the city appearing in my recent paintings are positioned low in the picture-plane, too low to refer to as the center. (The buildings hang on the very edge of the picture-plane only suggesting their overall form, while the sky takes up most of the space.) What I intend to show here is not the buildings or the sky, but rather the border where the sky and buildings meet. The urban landscapes in the painting, shown through the borders of encounter, are representations of objects, but are new images created by relationships established through my world of experience in the painting, and not mere depictions of actual subjects. The sky, a landscape of emptiness revealing the exterior of the city, which reveals itself through its encounter with the city, exists as a painterly space outside the city, as if to overwhelm it. The sky is not bright or clear, nor is it dramatic or fantastic. It is just an empty sky painted in flat and subtle brush strokes, which makes the space called the city look ever more void and lonesome.

 

Why do I try to reveal such emptiness or voidness?

 

Perhaps I am looking for the unknown loneliness and emptiness of the modern human in the appearances of the city.

 

The grey sky of the late afternoon, right before the sun sinks in the west, and the images of the buildings, which seem to hold their heads up to the sky in a contrast, seem similar to the human race, which lives enduring the heavy burdens of life’s weight. The reason we feel a certain heart ache when we gaze at the city from its outskirts a couple hours before sunset is because in the images of the buildings, barely managing to hold their heads up to the gigantic and empty sky, we see the images of the lonely modern person, living amidst the complex relationships with others in a heartless reality, and because we see ourselves, who want to face the world boldly, but for some reason have lost our confidence.

SONY DSC

Yuki MATSUEDA (b.1980)

 

It’s one thing to conform to boring, one-dimensional street signs, but one gets a whole different feeling when obeying the incredible 3D art sings by Japanese artist Yuki Matsueda. These artworks are definitely attractive and easy to pay attention to. The series is fun, creative and unique—the pieces certainly break the mold.

 

Matsueda’s work consists of signs, ordinary elements and abstract images trying to escape the plastic frame they’re put into. The artist creates a 3D piece by giving the impression that the subject of the image has come to life and is trying to escape its constraints. My favorite has to be the exit man trying to actually exit—it’s extremely ironic and eye-catching.
Yuki Matsueda is a young artist whose intentions were to express through art the need to break with everyday rules and boundaries.

 

Matsueda completed his PHD in crafts at Tokyo University of the Arts and has since been active as a 3D artist. Although Matsueda’s parents run a printing company in Japan, his interest has been in printing equipment and 3-dimensional solids rather than 2-dimensional prints. Nevertheless, his childhood memories and aesthetic senses still retain a natural affinity for his parents’ printed products. Matsueda’s recent work express motifs from 2-dimensional planes that protrude and encompass 3-dimensional spaces. The author seeks to overcome the limitations of the printing industry and its products — planar objects.

 

“The subject is literally trying to get out of the picture! How awesome are these 3D artworks by Japanese artist Yuki Matsueda. The desire to escape from the constraints, the standard of the ordinary is what has animated Matsueda for this series of works in 3D. I would love to get my hands on couple of these!”

 

“While most designers are busying adding more and more elements into their artworks, Japan-based Yuki Matsueda has, however, managed to let some elements escape from his art pieces. The result seems quite amazing… A vivid 3D image is successfully created and all the elements are believed to be more shocking than those stay still on paper.”

 

From Yuki

One of the themes of the Matsueda work is to shape an “impossible moment.” To illustrate this theme, his works consist of 3-dimensional solids born from motifs protruding from 2-dimensional planes.

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Takuma KAMINE

Takuma KAMINE (b.1978)

Born in Osaka in 1978 and now active in Tokyo, Takuma Kamine graduated with a BA of Fine Arts from the Painting Department at Tokyo Zokei University. He currently holds a position there as a part-time instructor of Fine Art.

 

Artist creates installations based on interpretations of gods and spirits that appear in the traditional Buddhist world. He breathes new life into archaic figures and brings them in line with the contemporary by recreating them as three-dimensional “guardian” figures that encompass spirituality. Takuma Kamine imbibes his figurines with an energy similar to that harbored by Buddha statues, combining this with his aesthetic interest in science fiction. He uses elements such as space suits and robotics to evolve new types of statue and create guardians that consist of modern parts but are settled with the presence of Buddha.

 

When Takuma Kamine first encountered the images of Buddhist guardian deities as a child, he was filled with awe and fear. As a working artist now, he has crystallized those initial emotions into figures which borrow elements from Japanese animation and comics. They are not devotional pieces, nor are they facsimiles of extant Buddhist iconography; rather, Kamine’s exhaustive studies of Buddhist scriptures and fascination with robotic protectors, such as gundams, informed these deeply personal iterations.

 

Kamine has shown his art in solo exhibitions in Japan, the United States, and group exhibitions in China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. His artistic practice won him the Hirake Goma! Vol. 2 Birth Art Award in 2004 and the 4th MOVE Art Management Jury Prize in 2006.

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岛内 美佳 Mika SHIMAUCHI

Mika SHIMAUCHI (b.1987)

Mika Shimauchi is eager to touch the reality of this world and wants to leave a trace that can be touched. As artists’ most commonly used material, clay can be directly touched with hands, evoking childhood memories and touching real sense. In particular, the exploration of life and death is one of the themes that the artist cares most about. She believes that this is very important to understand who we are and how we should live. Unfortunately, even without such thinking, we still live in this world.

 

The artist develops motifs from her own landscapes and exhibits them as sculptures and various works. The imperfections visible within the works are a motion to humorously represent the irony of the over-efficiency of our lifestyles under the weight of globalization created by mankind, and yet how we are unable to fully adapt.

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