Red Gate Gallery presents Mirrored Flower, a show of works by Zhang Zheyi and Chen Jiaye.

In April 2013, Zhang Zheyi and Chen Jiaye participated in Red Gate Gallery’s exhibition Altered Shan Shui States along with four other artists, which marks the beginning of both artists’ collaboration with Red Gate and it is also the start of the two artists’ friendship.

In the new exhibition Zhang and Chen have continued their practice in re-presenting and re-interpreting classical Chinese paintings from a contemporary perspective, and have extended the genres from “Shan Shui” (landscape) to include “Birds and Flowers”.

In his new paintings, Chen Jiaye refers to to old masters such as Zhao Mengfu and Wu Yuanzhi from the Song and Jin dynasties. More than “re-paint” the ancient ink paintings on canvas with oil, Chen creates vivid illusion on canvas in which the paintings are torn, crumpled or burned, which may suggest the artist’s understanding on the influence of tradition in contemporary society.

If Chen Jiaye’s works inspire a pensive mood, Zhang Zheyi’s paintings, on the other hand, are surprisingly playful and humorous. Some of the works shown in the exhibition are an extension of the artist’s acclaimed “cast iron toys” series, in which vintage cast iron toys are placed into seemingly classical Flowers and Birds paintings, while in the new “B45” series, Zhang re-constructs the classical “orchid ” motif in Chinese painting with jet trails.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a special project in which the two artists paint in response to the same painting - Picture of a Huang Bird on a Pomegranate Tree from the Song Dynasty. The two paintings will be juxtaposed in the exhibition.

-Red Gate Gallery

Image: © Chen Jiaye
To Tear No.13
Oil on canvas
Diameter 100cm