Exhibition
18th December 2022 – 10th March 2023
Venue
SGA Three on the Bund, 3F, No.3 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Road, Shanghai
Artist
Luo Min
Curator
Wang Yu
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Space & Gallery Association is pleased to present the inaugural solo exhibition of Luo Min: Dreams Beyond the Fences, at our Shanghai gallery, on view from 18 December 2022 through 10 March 2023. Named after a final phrase from the ancient poem “Azure Jade Table– Lantern festival”, written by Southern Song scholar Xin Qiji, the exhibition embodies the artist’s promise of hope and future through a passage of memories as beautiful as dreams. And encourages us as a collective to believe, we will move past such dreadful times in anticipation of better days to come. The exhibition will comprise some of her most representational works from the series “Female Soldiers”, “Flowers Collection”, as well as new works from 2022, “27 Breathes”, “Spring Outing 2” and “Dream beyond the fences”.
The series title “Flowers Collection” is based on Luo Min's feelings about the context of her paintings, where flowers and birds act as her recurring motifs. For the artist, flowers have always been a source of emotions. Whether it is the splendour of a flower in bloom or the melancholy of a flower in decline, it translates into a different emotional experience for each onlooker. Well-versed in both the realism style of Western painting and the delicateness of traditional Chinese painting techniques (gongbi and mogu), this gives Luo Min great versatility in her artistic expression. Embracing her era and multiple identities— a soldier, an artist and a teacher–– , her works combines subject matters drawn from her childhood memories, personal writings and scriptures from poetic sources she admires, all in relevance to her surrounding environments onto the depth of a canvas. They allude to a sense of sincerity and emotionalism that is captured more because of how she sees than of her gifted skills. On a thematic level, her emotionally charged paintings gain energy from the frictional contrast they stand in relation to the contemporary art scene and the crumbling world we live in. Luo’s works brim with humanity and comfort our anxiety with the familiar.
As the fences open, these Pinocchio dreams of hers, of ours, may just come true. So, why don’t we dream more fearlessly?
Please join us at the opening reception on Saturday, 17 December 2022, from 4-6 pm.
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About the series
Dreams beyond the fences
In the current exhibition, her most recent work, “Dreams beyond the fences” (2022), created at her New York residence during the peak of China’s pandemic lockdown, debuts at the gallery’s atrium. Measuring up to 10 metres long, the paper accordion comprises ten works filled with delicate brushwork and written texts gathered from popular culture and poetic sources. Luo titles the piece after the last verse from the ancient poem “Azure jade table– Lantern festival”, written by Southern Song scholar Xin Qiji. The work recalls an autobiographical dream diary constructed by hand, filled with a rich matrix of uplifting emotions rendered via song lyrics, ancient Chinese poems (such as Ming dynasty calligrapher Wang Chong’s “Poems on baoshan mountain in regular script”, 1527), pop singers from the 80s (such as Teresa Teng, The Carpenters, Momoe Yamaguchi; and more), happy crowds, flowery shrubs and mischievous birds. While alluding to the historicity of the poem––the romantic poem about finding a loved one at a festival was written during the glided age of the Southern capital, Lin’an, before the fall of the dynasty––Luo references her own personal memories, as beautiful as dreams, in the foreground of our desolating times. Why shy away from happiness? Do not be too hard on sadness, for without it, joy would lose its meaning too.
Leisure amid flowers
The category title "Leisure amid flowers" is based on Luo Min's feelings about the context of her paintings, where flowers and birds act as her recurring motifs. For the artist, flowers have always been a source of emotions. Whether it is the splendour of a flower in bloom or the melancholy of a flower in decline, it translates into a different emotional experience for each onlooker. The "Flowers Collection" (2017-) paintings are a symphony of dashing reds and emerald greens painted in impressionistic fervour. While birds are like Easter eggs that the artist hid in scattered corners, they appear just as themselves: nosy, curious and playful. "Early Summer" (2020) is a synthesis of memory and symbolism about family relationships, which Luo Min reflects by referencing her relationship with her mother, and her bond with her sister. At the top corner, a child looks rigid, shouldering the weight of her mother's hand. Here, we sense the building tension between the two's relationship, perhaps relatable to all who had a dominating parent. On the right, the mood brightens with creamy yellow and both sisters smiling, portraying a closer, much tighter they share. In "Hidden time and clues", specific numerical dates can be seen inlaid at different portions of the paintings. For instance, the dates '2021.1.6' to '2022.1.7' index a timeline of the artist's creative process in "Hidden time and clues no. 8"(2021). Much like how a mother keeps track of her child's growth each step of the way, Luo min carries that tenderness into her creation as well.
Female Soldiers
Drawing inspiration from her own life, Luo Min’s female soldiers paintings remain perhaps one of her most complex subject to date. This can be traced to her former roots in the military, where she studied at the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art in 2008 and was a backstage costume designer for the military art troupe for years. Debunking society’s preconception of mundane, strident army life, she captures the playful, youthful and vivid side through an insider’s perspective. Still, to address her military paintings merely as “realistic” or “a fondness for military life” –– is to trivialize them. Whether it be “Little Girls in New Barracks” (2009), “Day in New Barracks” (2011), or the “Portraits of Female Soldiers” (2011) series, each sharply depicts these soldiers as distinct, particular individuals with inner lives. Luo intentionally leaves her canvas background muted, guiding our eyes to her painted soldiers. Their body gestures bespeak their innocent minds––standing on tiptoe to observe a hair trim, playing mischief with her friends in line or looking at the audience with a toothy grin–– indicating that Luo’s paintings of them are soul portraits. In a broader sense, her portrayal of female soldiers is not admiration for their sacrifice as the ‘other’ gender. Instead, it is to address their integral role as an equitable force in the military–– and the country. Luo Min is a “soldier in art”; in other words, she confronts the austere subject matter by approaching it forthright, unequivocal–– summoning her viewers to do the same.
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About the artist
Luo Min
(b.1968, Sichuan, China) Graduated from the China Southwest Normal University, and received MA from the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art. Luo Min is a first-class national artist, a committee member of the China Oil Painting Society, and a professional painter at the Beijing Fine Art Academy. She has held exhibitions across Asia and Europe. She currently works in Beijing.
Luo Min’s work is a synthesis of reality, memory and symbolism. Well-versed in Western realism painting and traditional Chinese gongbi and mogu techniques, this gives Luo Min great versatility in her artistic expression. The artist adopts a traditional yet creative painting language and retains the traces of time through elegant inscriptions. Family albums and childhood memories provide the subjects for her works. On the basis of this, she uses flowers and birds as her ideal motifs to create an artistic language that is compatible with the East and the West. They allude to a sense of sincerity and emotionalism that is captured more because of how she sees than of her gifted skills. On a thematic level, her emotionally charged paintings gain energy from the frictional contrast they stand in relation to the contemporary art scene and the crumbling world we live in.
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Gallery
