Wang Su:Elysium

May 21, 2023 - Jun 24, 2023 Solo Exhibition

Opening: May 25, 2023 Thursday
Curator: Chunfeng Liu
Artists: Wang Su
Address: 頌艺术中心
Landscape Recombination after Nomadism: The Second Nature in Wang Su's Paintings

By Liu Chunfeng

Wang Su, born in Shandong, shuttles between China and Greece for work and living. Through a lifestyle of cultural nomadism, she has early extracted the main clues for artistic creation. In the process of questioning the value of life and constructing an artistic language framework, Wang Su attempts to break free from the control and influence of the artist's subject consciousness commonly found in the familiar context of contemporary art. She combines the primitive power of perception with the conceptual shaping of knowledge systems to construct the metaphorical system of her paintings.

Upon viewing Wang Su's works, it is not difficult to notice her focus on and shaping of the universe and all things. This becomes the direction of her expressive language and the transmission of her thoughts. Exploring how to become an observer and symbiotic being in the world of desired objects gradually becomes her creative goal. Blocks of colors, plants, and objects in the imagined world reveal surreal and Dadaist traces in Wang Su's paintings. The rapidly moving forms are pulled and portrayed as illusory, static, equal living entities, showcasing eternal and unchanging fantastical characteristics. These "bodies" become abstract bodies, detached from the subjectivity of humanistic disciplines. They unconsciously shuttle and emerge in an environment without obvious geographical features, presenting themselves in a form of organic recomposed collage within the paintings. They are the visual markers after nomadism.

Globalization mechanisms have to some extent stimulated new nomadic cultures. On one hand, globalization brings frequent interactions and exchanges among countries, blending diverse nations and ethnicities in the fields of economy, culture, politics, and more. The new nomadism in this historical stage is different from traditional nomadism; it signifies the cultural appropriation and integration beyond national and geographical concepts. In the process of post-urbanization, people engage in subjective flows and migrations, colliding and rubbing against different cultures and social groups, forming subtypes of mutated cultures and independent forms. On the other hand, globalization also gives rise to issues such as cultural homogeneity, consumer laziness, environmental degradation, and power imbalances. At this time, the new nomadic culture advocates for diversity and inclusiveness. The "shepherds" observe and experience diverse cultural ecologies, gradually extracting a cosmocentric expression system based on reflecting on the intrinsic cultural values and characteristics.

The nomadic experience provides profound energy for Wang Su to depict mixed and unfamiliar landscapes and reconstruct the "second nature." It primarily exhibits several characteristics: firstly, it is different from the first nature depicted by classical artistic reproduction methods and the simulated world described by Jean Baudrillard after the rise of consumer society.

"I've been looking for a balance: the balance between the virtual world that is constantly surging, created from nothing, and boundless imagination, and the real world with deep roots and above everything. Everything has its own spirit, I want to feel the elements inside the nature, listen to their voices, and receive signals. After that, it is to be honest with ourselves, to paint honestly, and to honestly draw the dialogue between us."
INSTALLATION VIEWS
VIDEOS
ARTWORKS
ARTICLES

Landscape Reorganization from Nomadism: Second Nature in Wang Su's Paintings

2023 By Chunfeng Liu

Born in Shandong, Wang Su works and lives in China and Greece. She distilled the main thread of her artistic creation through the nomadic cultural lifestyle at an early stage. In the process of asking about the value of life and constructing the framework of art language, Wang Su tries to escape from the control and influence of the standard methods in contemporary art on the artist's subjective consciousness. She combines the primitive energy of perception with the conceptual shaping of the knowledge system to construct the metaphorical system of her paintings.

Jumping Into the Rabbit Hole -- Reading Wang Su's Paintings

2023 By Duan Shaofeng

As an artist, Wang Su has many qualities that make me envious. If it weren't for the paintings, I would hardly believe that we would have any encounter. I admire Wang Su because her life experiences, paintings, and ideas are blazingly and colorful. In comparison, I am so monotonous and dull that all my dreams are realistic with black and white tones. As an artist, Wang Su is undoubtedly a person who dreams a lot. Moreover, her dreams would be gorgeous and surreal.

Behind the Forest--Wang Su

2023 By Wang Su

As an artist, my daily work is guarding my forest. This forest is the dwelling place that I inherited from a past life to this one, a distant time and space guided by destiny.

PUBLICATIONS

Wang Su's solo exhibition Elysium booklet

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