Tong Gallery is honored to announce that the first solo show of Zhang Ai-li -- Hypothetical Imperative will inaugurate on 14 December 2019. The exhibition will feature the creative works by the artist since 2017. We cordially invite you to join us!

“Hypothetical Imperative” is originally introduced in Kant’s writing on three moral propositions with the preposition that moral behavior of human kind is free. Be it “Hypothetical” or “Categorical”, an imperative is more like an opportunity for asking a simple question “why”. The artist attempts to evoke the reflection upon values and the motivation of artistic practice.

The exhibition presents oil paintings with metal and hose. They originate from artist’s experience of creating wall painting on a construction site, in which her hands and eyes could only begin with parts. During the process of uninterruptedly work, the body seems to connect with something, and it looks like the results are not that important. The materials on the construction site and the extremely absorptive behavior much inspired and fulfilled a return to painting itself. 

“She piles up and crisscrosses objects together to absorb the power of self-focus in painting.” – One could say that this is the motivation of the artist in creating these exhibits. Only the cold and unconscious metal and hose appear repeatedly in her painting. She tries to make the forms abstract but meanwhile they are depiction of real object. For instance, the way she deals with metal tangent in the scenes increases the conceived tension and confusion; the interwoven hoses seem to be both object and figure. She erases the original attribute and meaning by piling up figurative objects. She presents a pure and real watching experience by bringing in the non-single point perspective and by investing in the details.

The process of concentration renders her much satisfaction in painting. These repeatedly intertwined metal and hose are then endowed with new meanings.