Shi Jing and Wu Didi Exhibition
Chambers Fine Art
This event has ended.
For both painters nature is the source of inspiration, although they approach it from widely different perspectives. Shi Jing is inspired by views of the world from outer space, by vast perspectives, mountain ranges and impressive landscapes, but is reluctant to approach these themes in a traditional way. Wu Didi, on the other hand, focuses on the constituent parts of the natural world: weeds, stones, and insects, for example, and paints them in minute detail on blank canvases. The dialogue between the two artists is a stimulating one.
Shi Jing has evolved a painterly method that evokes the surprise we experience each time we see nature in all its majesty. At first glance his paintings appear to be monochromatic, whether white or black, but as the spectator changes his or her position, planets, mountains, majestic buildings and sometimes human faces gradually appear and disappear. Achieved through minute changes in the direction and thickness of his brushstrokes, these mirage-like visions are deeply meaningful, providing insights into the impermanence of human life and the passing of time. For the current exhibition, Shi Jing has painted a new series of white canvases in which the inspiration is not so much nature itself as it is nature perceived through Chinese landscape painting.
In complete contrast are the poetic nature studies of Wu Didi in which the absence of context leads to concentration on the specificities of natural forms that are generally overlooked. In this case, her focus is on bamboo. She has written of her quest to investigate the nature of bamboo through actions such as breaking, twisting and bending and wishing to convey its toughness and resilience. Further emphasizing the strength of the bamboo are the insects that add motion to her otherwise static compositions.
Both artists approach Chinese traditions and themes, whether landscape in the case of Shi Jing or motifs such as bamboo and insects in the case of Wu Didi, in a highly personal manner that shows the continuing appeal of this time-honored subject matter.