Opening Reception:
Fri, Jan 16, 6.30 - 8.30 pm

Gallery EXIT is pleased to present Bloom in Gloom, an exhibition of paintings by six emerging talents from China: HUANG Zheng, DENG Yu, DENG Bin, LU Pei, MEI Zijia and MO Di.

These six artists, born in the 1980s, originate from South China and currently work between Beijing and Guangzhou. Their fresh and emotive worldview gives shape to an artistic language typical of their youthfulness: hints of the rebellious, miserable, pathetic, melancholic, fashionable, comical, disoriented, aspiring and curious are often detected in their work. All these traits open a window into how this generation experiences the world. With intimate language, HUANG Zheng captures the ambiguous identity of the female subject by observing, voyeuring, analyzing and translating what he sees in order to question the social construct of a woman. Such fixation is carried out by painting detailed close-ups of a woman whose body and mind are in bondage. The paintings of DENG Yu are filled with fashionable fantasy and manga-ish sensibility. Her fluid yet precise compositions make free use of pop icons and symbols to achieve a subtle and virtual world of endearing colors. With melancholic tone and impressionistic color palate, DENG Bin reveals the solitary and petty side of being human. His works evoke an uncertain undercurrent of fear and anxiety. LU Pei employs the language of abject realism. By depicting the accumulation of discarded cigarette butts in a burnt plastic bottle, he humbly observes and draws with care that which is not loved. It arouses in us a disquieting feeling of helplessness in the face of the abandoned. There are hints and early signs of a Chinese Gothic style emerging in MEI Zijia’s violent and enigmatic paintings.

The overlapping layers of black and white photo imagery are brought into sharp contrast with the colorful, eye-dizzying conglomeration of fragmented anatomic figures, flowers, butterflies, newspaper clippings, and cartoon icons. MO Di colorfully portrays the hesitancy of a teenager in search of self identity. The possibility of youthfulness – be it introverted, self-doubting, confident or even narcissistic – is brought into play.

These six artists came of age during China’s reform and opening up. Their joys and sorrows in the journey towards self-liberation will be witnessed in the bustling city of Hong Kong.