"Cape of Good Hope – A Project by Lou Shenyi " is part of Platform China’s year-long project "Jungle Ⅱ", and will exhibit Lou Shenyi's most recent paintings.

The "Cape of Good Hope" refers to an intuitive mood, which Lou Shenyi is currently going through in his work – a kind of "corner of good hope". From this point, the land in the far distance becomes visible, but the horizon is still somewhat unclear. "Cape of Good Hope" draws inspiration from an eccentric character, similar to Marco Polo, who would fabricate the most incredible stories of Beijing and Shanghai, having never set foot in either. He would adapt his stories after discovering new information on them.

This phenomenon of projecting a particular image of the unknown and the desirable, as if it were true, is, in fact, deeply rooted in many people's unconscious. To make the fantasy all the more believable, elements from the world around them are also weaved into this projection.

Our perception of the world may follow a similar path to that of ancient navigators docking at the Cape of Good Hope: through observation, imagination and thought we step a little closer to the essence of things. This practice of fantasy realism is very similar to Lou Shenyi’s inner thinking and method of producing creative work. Despite living and working in Hangzhou, he looks towards Beijing and the rest of the whole world; not only in purely geographic sense, but also as the expansion of the mind.
As a careful observer of the world around him and an introspective thinker, Lou Shenyi’s creative work has evolved accordingly, but his experience of truth has never changed. On this fantastic journey, Lou Shenyi adopts all kinds of creative forms to get closer to the real world and personal experience of the word, his examination of reality, and recognition of ordinary things and expectations of the unknown life. 
In his attempt to examine the phenomenon of reality on the Recognition and ordinary things of life unknown possible expectations the way his paintings depicting the vision of the world and the nature of physical evidence. 
For Westerners, beyond the Cape of Good Hope lies the Orient, a place of wealth and mystery; for artists the "Cape of Good Hope" represents a kind of antenna with which they experience the world.
Via the exhibition, artworks can connect with the audience, in exactly the way that the artist connects with the world.

*image (left)
Courtesy of the artist and  Platform China