PKM GALLERY is pleased to present "Asian Rays", an exhibition of new works by Chen Wenbo, who is one of the most recognized painters in Chinese contemporary art. The images in "Asian Rays", Chen Wenbo's first solo show in two years, are based on photographs taken by the artist during his recent travels through various Asian urban centers. The new works in this exhibition are a further extension of the artist's signature photorealist style paintings that can be characterized as urban still-lifes which he has been continuously developing over the past five years. In an almost a Warhol-esque approach, Chen paints objects with great symbolic power, zoning in on the object commodification in contemporary Asian society. His body of work has been aptly described by the curator and critic Huang Du as an expanding dictionary to which the artist is "continually adding new entries – a process of both making connections and differentiation; it's both a political –economic analysis and a reading of everyday life." In this exhibition, Chen works with all new subjects and large formats which he has not used for some time.

Chen Wenbo's recent works stand apart from those of most Chinese painters in that they are completely void of the human form (nor is it abstract). These new works pay testament to the artist's technical skill and unique use of vibrant, bright, and cool colors. They are mostly dominated by blue and purple tones – departing from the primary color palette the artist has frequently used in his previous works. Chen Wenbo's paintings, which deny the existence of the painter's hand, capture the effects of nighttime city light in an almost hyper-realist way.

Chen Wenbo was born in Sichuan, China in 1969. His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions and group shows in over 15 countries at institutions and events including the "e v+ a 2008 Exhibition" in Limerick, Ireland (2008), the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (2008), and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2005).