It is Leo Gallery’s honour to hold in Shanghai the solo exhibition of highly celebrated Chinese abstract art master Tan Ping. Compared to the solo exhibition presented in Leo Gallery Hong Kong earlier, this would be an integrated manifestation of art and space in a new form.
“Form-forces” directly infuses specific site and space with the artist’s vision. From the perspective of art, Tan Ping sees the architectural space, public environment and living space as an organic unity, based on which principle he has chosen to align abstract paintings with the visual structure of their location rather than to isolate the two or treat them as separate elements. In an exhibition space, only one large painting (3m x 4m) is showcased, such that the co-dependence and interaction between the space and art piece can highlight the artist’s conception behind the work. The upper portion of the painting juxtaposes substantial green and pink while the lower portion shows a combination of light blue and pale blue in small patches. The winding and indefinite lines over the colour zones create connection between them and engender the sense the pictorial space overflowing out of the frame. This constructive relation and narrative between the painting and space allow a vast room for imagination for the audience.
In the space 374 of Leo Gallery, Tan Ping’s analysis of the utility and function of space is revealed. He incorporated sketching and oil painting into living space, so the former can exist in parallel with the space and furniture. This naturally constitutes the interrelation among all units, thus effectively redefines site-space-furniture-condition relation. Encountering this novel “condition” which echoes with the performance in his painting process, Tan Ping found the aesthetic meeting point between man and each of the elements: daily life, space, furniture and art pieces. Art as a pivotal device, he has redefined the“site-space-work”complex.
Tan Ping continues to extend the pictorial boundary and, with articulation through the frame, the wall and the space, ceaselessly creates and enriches spatial-visual experiences that challenge ordinary understanding, and this gives birth to a hybrid spatial language unlike any of its kind.
—Curator : Huang Du
