ifa gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Dai Guangyu for the first time in Belgium. “Diluted Shadows” explores the metamorphosis of ink, its symbolic power and its cultural, social and political connotations. After the success of the artist's recent performance – Black Paper - at Art Paris Art Fair this March, the gallery selected a set of recent paintings and performance work.

Born in Chengdu (Sichuan) in 1955, Dai Guangyu was a part of the ’85 New Wave Movement and a leading figure in the avant-garde art scene in Sichuan. His works were exhibited in the famous “China/Avant Garde” exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing in 1989, exhibition then censored, that reveals the contemporary art scene in China. His works have been collected worldwide. He recently took part in exhibitions including “Coup de foudre chinois”, at Arsenal Montréal and Arsenal Toronto, "Voice of the Unseen” in the collateral exhibition at 55th Venice Biennale. He now lives and works in Beijing.

Dai Guangyu is recognised as an important and original figure of the Chinese artistic scene. His interdisciplinary practice is written within a socially engaged trajectory. While traditional art is coming to an end since the Cultural Revolution, Dai Guangyu tries to make sense of his roots with contemporary art. Through his performances or paintings, he embodies and reinterprets symbols of Chinese art – in particular calligraphy - to the limits of possibility while also exploring and addressing the disappearance in contemporary society.

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist and ifa Gallery