Group Exhibition
The Paradox of Pleasure
The Paradox of Pleasure
Artist: Dongze Huo, Michael Krasowitz, Yimiao Liu, Zhangbolong Liu, Joslyn Moore, Renqian Yang
April 30 - May 5, 2019
Venue: The Maverick Expo
Curator: Lynn Hai, Wenlu Bao
Featuring Contributions from: Gallery Sensei, Bitforms Gallery
The Paradox of Pleasure is a group exhibition featuring six contemporary artists curated by Liang Hai and Wenlu Bao. It aims to draw the attention on a specific mental state, which is concealing complex negative emotions under pleasant appearance in the contemporary society among individuals, especially in urban life. The exhibition attempts to discover spontaneous attitudes when individuals place themselves in high-pressure situations, and questions the inter-relationship between individuals’ external and internal selves. The artists include Dongze Huo, Michael Krasowitz, Yimiao Liu, Zhangbolong Liu, Joslyn Moore, and Renqian Yang. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all the selected works focus on questioning the truth of pleasure.
The presented artworks are visually pleasing, with bright vivid colors and soft delightful forms. However, they express lost and insecure in multiple ways, such as depicting the sense of solitude, tracking the clues of disappearance, being immersed by helpless, or struggling for mental escape. The contrast of visual expression and spiritual connotation in this exhibition is an authentic reflection of people hiding negative emotions behind peaceful or joyful faces, either consciously or unconsciously.
As a deep-rooted thought in cultures, the stigma of defections exists among the society. People are shameful to reveal their weakness and negativeness, for the fear of being considered unfortunate and miserable. Most of the times, people’s e assume those who look perfect and sufficient for life are decent and can be respected. This phenomenon causes stresses or even mental problems when the external pressure reaches a high level, and a worst result could be depressive disorder or debilitating anxiety.
Through the selected artworks, by sharing each artist’s perspectives and experiences, the exhibition hopes to open a platform to question the state of pleasure, and to discuss the paradox of always being delightful.
Text / Lynn Hai, Wenlu Bao
Artists
Dongze Huo (b. 1985) draws on his own experience of acclimation to new environments. He interprets uncertainty and changes with his reflections on realistic living environment to graceful paintings. Huo’s works, such as Escape series, are influenced by the Chinese philosophy of allowing things to happen naturally so that to let his mediums to “take their own course.”
Michael Krasowitz (b. 1958) depicts the complexity of human emotions through his fantastical and intricate compositions. He connects abstraction and amorphous shapes to his personal meditations from his experiences. Michael is interested in the idea of Synchronicity described by Carl Jung, which indicates happenings in life are meaningful, but cannot be predicted from cause and effect. He is seeking to tap into a state of consciousness to express the compound of the multiple dimensions of substances.
Yimiao Liu (b. 1993), as a female artist, intends to explore the relationship between women and the external world by reflecting on the pervasive cultures of female oppression and the ways women are rising above.
Zhangbolong Liu (b. 1989) attempts to document objects that have already disappeared completely from view, or, rather, his subject matter is to capture the “existence of non-existent things.” Through missing objects in a museum showcase, leftover pinholes on isolated wallpaper and wrinkled bed sheets that have not yet been flattened out, the so-called “non-existent objects” are able to declare their existence after all.
Joslyn Moore (b. 1993)’s body of work involves processes of Automatism in the digital age, applying the juxtaposition of natural phenomena in flora and fauna to express her objection to the metropolitan atmosphere and her struggles between social identities. Moore’s conceptual narratives are formed with elements of storytelling, communication, and art historical influence.
Renqian Yang (b.1987) is interested in the concept of binaries. Her work addresses the unity and the contradiction of dichotomies: restriction and freedom; pessimism and optimism; complexity and simplicity; representation and abstraction; the man-made world and the natural world. Yang combines both traditional and nontraditional methods in her practices.