— Lan Zhaoxing: Arcadia 2019.5.25 - 7.07 Tong Gallery+Projects Venue: D06, Middle 2nd St., 798 Art Zone, No. 2 Jiuxianqiao Rd, BJ —
Arcadia
Arcadia is an isolated poetic place in ancient Greece and an idealized pastoral paradise. I was deeply touched by the phrase “Et in Arcadia ego” (“Even in Arcadia, there am I”, “I” refers to Death)when I encountered Poussin’s work The Shepherds of Arcadia many years ago. It conveys the necessity and universality of mortality, the unavoidable mortality wherever you are. Decease works as a destroyer as well as a conserver, informing an unlimited cycle of succession. During this process, each phase contemporarily presents the attributes of its own solid value in accordance with nature and virtue. Since then, I have been fond of Poussin. His silence and rationality, his transparency, which is as clear as crystal, and his poetic rhythm are what I have been searching for.
Painting is my “Arcadia”, bringing me the meaning and pleasure of living as well as the pain of life, which is the inevitable “Et in Arcadia ego”. The opposites always coexist. When one pole spins away, I will have to or need to pull back the other pole to attain a balance. The balance is presented in visuality and innermost being, the unobstructed freedom of which can reach the depth as well as the peak of innermost being, enabling me to create scenes that are loyal to myself. Everything envisioned can be deconstructed and reconstructed. The color and structure can work as language in poem or as a note in music and I accordingly become the “poet” and “composer” integrating each section. Those unconnected parts are constantly closely linked and endowed with new life, through which I create and win over time. When the scene becomes mute, the sound echoes and everything presents clearly and orderly. I categorize the vague objects and enhance the categorization; I present and construct the atmosphere with subjective colors and figures. For instance, in Arcadia, I mainly apply purple and black; various shapes of plants in In Tahiti; pink and blue trees in Day and Night etc. I use black as a means of pursuing the pure, plain and night-like contemplation, implying the dignity of life and reflection upon death. The irregular blocks also arise several times, such as the blue beyond the ashes in Night Fire 1, the rock in Mountain Cabin, and the bare land in Winter 1. These remind me of the white sheep scattered on the endless grassland, the plants and rocks across the dessert. Basically, they balance the color, shape and structure, like holes in the heart, which require filling up one by one to reduce any imbalance when the self is confronted by world suffering and predicament.
It has been 2 years since the solo show "Wildfire" in 2017. I keep on working and learning from my favorite artists. I have a feeling that I am close to them at some moments; but when I feel satisfied, the distance pulls us away. This feeling encourages me to keep on working. Looking in retrospective, I know I have been ahead of myself in the past no matter how fast or slow I am going, which is very comforting. Time flies in the two alternating feelings. I have been constantly balancing, pursuing and exploring, I have gained something while I have lost something. I hope I will retain the humble, rigorous and artistic vibrance, even though it is an endless journey, never reaching perfection. However, as long as one never stops!
Text / Lan Zhaoxing
