New ink paintings, the ink made from car exhaust and painted on silk, by one of Beijing's most experimental and innovative ink wash artists. He plays with patterns and tricks of the eye, creating these very fresh abstract works, in a style unlike much of what we have seen recently in the Chinese art scene.
Well known for his captivating installation work, of an "ink" fountain, outside of the front door of PACE Gallery in 798 in Beijing that he created in 2008, Ren Zhitian was out of the picture for a long time, let's say, locked down with other priorities, so was unable to participate in the madness that was the very fast rise of Chinese contemporary between 1999 - 2006.
Since his return to art in 2007 however, he has created some very interesting contemporary works rooted in the traditional arts of calligraphy and ink paintings, at ease in transplanting these methods into the modern era. We think he is really someone worth discovering, and this is his 3rd show with ART LABOR, coming from relative obscurity to someone who last year was added to the HSBC Collection, amongst many others.