Liane CHU, He Enjoyed the Night Scenery Alone, 2024. Oil on canvas, 154x153.5cm.
DUMONTEIL Shanghai presents It's Chilly Yet Warm, the first solo exhibition of emerging artist Liane CHU, who recently graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts at the gallery. Featuring her latest paintings, the exhibition reflects the artist's introspective journey into her past experiences and her forward-looking exploration of uncharted paths. By portraying nature as an organic whole intimately connected to human emotions, Chu invites the audience to traverse her conscious landscapes and witness her growth and transformation within surrealist settings where memory and imagination intertwine.
As a member of Generation Z, Liane Chu's paintings exhibit a natural affinity with digital aesthetics. Each piece, framed by vivid colors reminiscent of screen tones, serves as a portal into a unique world, inviting viewers to follow the characters on a journey of exploration. Her imagery alternates between an instant, glitch-like movement and a fluidity of unconventional natural landscapes. This vibrant and deeply personal universe reflects Chu's journey living with Tourette's syndrome—starting from attempts to conceal her involuntary behavior, to conveying the experiences of Tourette's sufferers through her work, and ultimately transforming sudden tics and their visual distortions into dynamic expressions brimming with energy and vitality. Her creative process serves as both a path to self-discovery and a method of pushing boundaries.
Liane CHU, Look! Look! It's the Rainbow, 2024. Oil on canvas, 64x52cm.
Liane CHU, It's Chilly Yet Warm, 2024. Oil on canvas, 44x49.5cm.
In It's Chilly Yet Warm, Chu's perspective broadens as she draws inspiration from nature's resilience and inclusiveness. Over the past two years, the artist has traveled alone through China's renowned moutains, deserts, and other unique terrains, gaining strength from the natural world. This expanded outlook infuses her visions with softer tones and lines. The vibrant dynamism that characterized her earlier works has evolved into a contemplation of the flow of time and the rhythm of life—capturing moments like the wind stirring through the mountains, setting leaves into motion, or winter sunlight casting lengthened shadows.
Reflecting on her past, Chu cherishes the childlike innocence present in works like I Have Many, Many Wishes and Mom Says You Can Do Whatever You Want When You Grow Up. This purity also shines through in pieces such as the Wishing Tree and Searching for the Bundle. Standing at the crossroads of life with the little 'her' as a companion, Chu hopes to answer the question: should she bravely embark on a journey of discovery into the unknown, or continue to walk the way she came?
Liane CHU, Searching for That Beam of Light, 2024. Oil on canvas, 153.5x154cm.
Liane CHU, The Song "Moonlight", Took Me to a Mysterious Place, 2024. Oil on canvas, 156.5x133cm.
The recurring protagonist in Chu's paintings appears from behind or in profile, maintaining a certain distance from the viewer, as if leading us into a fantasy world. This compositional choice, reminiscent of Daniel Arasse's insights in Take a Closer Look1, which suggests that artworks are not merely static visual objects but active invitations for viewers to engage, interpret, and construct meaning. By involving the viewer in this way, Chu's works transform the visual experience into an interactive dialogue, where the viewer's own position—both physically and metaphorically—becomes integral to the narrative, rendering them an essential element of the exhibition.
Through her vibrant and fluid landscapes, Liane Chu also delves into our symbiotic relationship with digital media, exploring how image-dominated information consumption shapes perception and thought. Amid the fleeting and fragmented stimuli of endless visuals, Chu raises critical questions: Can we still differentiate between artistic creation, natural wonder, and AI-generated content? More importantly, do we retain the capacity to marvel at the 'wonders' of our daily lives? As far back as the television era, Neil Postman voiced concerns about the redefinition of cultural life as a perpetual round of entertainments.2 For Chu, a 'digital native', still maintaining this level of alertness reflects the artist's innate sensitivity. Her resolve to nurture childlike curiosity and delight may explain why the protagonists in her works often take the form of a child.
It's Chilly Yet Warm reflects Chu's optimism and her determination to preserve her authentic self amidst life's storms. Through her childlike figures, the exhibition invites viewers to reconnect with their own youthful innocence—finding hope, growing with resilience, and discovering the strength and warmth we need in today's post-pandemic world.
Notes:
1. Daniel Arasse, Take a Closer Look, in French On N'y Voit Rien, (DENOEL, 2000)
2. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Viking Penguin, 1985)
About the Artist
Liane Chu (b. 1997, Hong Kong) graduated from the Communication and New Media program at City University of Hong Kong and the Experimental and Technological Art Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. She currently lives and works in Shanghai.
Chu's works have been featured in exhibitions at prominent institutions, including K11 Art Space, Guangzhou (2024); Aurora Museum, Shanghai (2023); Shining Art Gallery, Guangzhou (2022); K11 Art and Culture Center, Hong Kong (2022); and Madein Art Center, Shanghai (2021), among others. Her works are part of notable collections such as the Aurora Museum, Næra Hotel, and Cathay Pacific.
Liane Chu's art is both deeply personal and socially reflective, presenting a narrative rooted in her experience with Tourette's syndrome while challenging societal perceptions of "normal" and "abnormal." Each brushstroke serves as an act of catharsis, embodying her commitment to self-healing and self-expression. By transcending binary divisions, Chu seeks moments of hope and tranquility amidst life's inherent chaos.
In her surrealist landscapes, Chu draws parallels between humans and trees, emphasising how both are profoundly shaped by their consumption. While nutrients nourish life, toxic influences can lead to decay. Her work underscores the pervasive role of media in urban life, illustrating how technology subtly but powerfully shapes human existence.
About the Exhibition
Dates: 7 December 2024 – 8 February 2025
Venue: DUMONTEIL Shanghai
Courtesy of the Artist and DUMONTEIL Shanghai.
