Whitebox Art Center presents Inspiration by Observation of Forms–Gu Xiaoping’s solo exhibition in Beijing. This exhibition, which features more than ten recent works of Guxiaoping’s after 2016, was chaired by Wang Min’an. It is the artist’s second solo exhibition at Whitebox Art Center after the 2016 spring exhibition ‘Ink Lines in Motion’.
In 2013, Gu Xiaoping began the creation of the series "Ink Lines in Motion". He uses chalk line made by traditional Chinese woodware to draw regularly and repeatedly balanced ink lines on rice paper, cloth, etc., strictly following the standard and precise labor method. These ink lines extend infinitely in the longitudinal or lateral direction without limit, forming images of "ink lines" that are densely or sparsely spaced or even stacked to black. This kind of laborious and repetitive process of manual labor and visual complex effects form a seemingly different image of each other and transform them into art. It is a personal feeling about the real-life survival and real attributes, a challenge, subversion and melt of the painting art itself and an attempt at his daily ‘Sādhanā’.
From image to image processing, there is not only the subversion and fragmentation of past aesthetic tastes and styles, but also the attempt of collage and construction, resulting in a new visual tension. This tension comes from the rebellion and challenge to cognitive styles and narrative rules formed by art works and art history. Gu Xiaoping questions this kind of illogical and unreasonable absurdity and highlights its absurd ending, which is the dismantlement of the original creative consciousness and expression in the relationship of “mutual image”, or a kind of counterquestion ‘makes the absurdity absurd’. Thus, he deconstructs the boundaries of the so-called artistic concept stipulated in the history of painting. Compared to the artist’s ancient exhibition, there are advancements. He uses an intuitive visual tension to transform this external body plucking action into an image. Here, painting has become a measure, a patient and meticulous deliberation. For instance, the square painting in this exhibition, its length of 176cm is the artist’s height and the length of two ribbons running through the image is his shoulder width. He uses more methods of measuring, marking and cutting the canvas to continue strengthening this standardized and complex language, embodying an absurd inertia in a painting that is not like painting, leaving his art traces on various medium.
Inspiration by Observation of Forms is the exploration and construction of the deeper spirit and existence behind the visual tension of Gu Xiaoping's works. It is also a kind of reconstruction and realization of his artistic experiment in the context of contemporary culture. This exhibition will remain on view till May 26th.
About the exhibition
Dates: Apr 27, 2019 - May 26, 2019
Venue: Whitebox Art Center
Courtesy of the artist and Whitebox Art Center.
