10 Chancery Lane will feature a selection of works by six artists who represent the gallery program: Dinh Q. Le, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Ma Desheng, Laurent Martin "Lo" and Liang Hao. With major museum exhibitions and attention at the moment these artists are proving to make their marks on the international art stage.
Huang Rui (b. 1952 China) Last year Huang Rui was deeply awakened by the war in the Ukraine and has created a new series of works for peace in the Ukraine now exhibiting at the Polish Embassy in Beijing and will be featured in ABHK23 as well as in the gallery. With a 3-D cut painting of a whitewashed wall entitled “ONENESS” Huang Rui suggests the ultimate solution to all wars. Huang Rui is one of the pioneers of the Chinese avant-garde art movement, The Stars-Xing Xing, in the 1970s considered a pivotal moment in the development of Chinese contemporary art in the post-Mao era. Huang Rui has exhibited at the Guggenheim in NY, The M+ in HK, UCCA Beijing, Jupiter Museum Shenzhen and later this year at the Long Museum in Shanghai.
Ma Desheng (b. 1952 China, now living in France) Ma Desheng is one of the most captivating artists from China who is currently exhibiting at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The gallery presents one of his iconic stone paintings. Guimet museum curator, Jean-Paul Desroches has written, “Since 2002, great stones with polished contours spring up from the rough backgrounds of violent contrasts, structured like the works of Brancusi, volcanic like those of Matisse, but as existential as Morandi’s still life’s. He stacks up the stones to form his figures abolishing the boundaries between sculpture and painting. His stone beings are both fragile and robust, solidly planted, yet their balance is fleeting. Not in the least insensitive, they are able to express the most diverse feelings. The centre of each stone being slumbers a volcano of tar and snow, a magma where uncontrolled energies confront each other.” From this, we can sense the Taoist philosophy on which all the basis of Ma Desheng's thought and inspirational influence is based. He is collected by the M+, the Centre Pompidou and the British Museum. He was honoured with the Chevalier of Arts and Lettres by the French government in October 2022.
Wang Keping (b.1949 China, now living in France) is one of the worlds most acclaimed sculptors who is having 5 museum exhibitions within 22/23. Presenting at ABHK23 a major monumental couple in mahogany wood which is a part of the series now exhibiting Musée Guimet in Paris. This monumental yet simple work is very rare to find. Wang states, “wood is like a human body – there are tender parts, hard parts, solid parts and fragile parts, you cannot go against its nature, but must follow it.” His current and upcoming exhibitions include M+ Hong Kong, Musée Rodin in Paris, Musée Guimet, Chateau Chambord and the Brussels Museum.
Laurent Martin "Lo" (b. 1955 France, now living in Spain) Lo’s hanging mobile or standing sculptures made in bamboo are like paintings in the air, almost like calligraphy - they exude power and grace, strength, and tenderness. For ABHK23 we present a new series of works newly created for the fair. Through tension and balance his works either float from above or are balanced on a single pin. He explains: "I explore bamboo, Its balance, lightness and flexibility. Its mathematics, poetry, and sensuality. I also work with the air and the light.”
Vietnamese American artist Dinh Q. Lê (b. 1968 Vietnam) challenges historical presumptions of international issues often driven by political leanings. His newest series of woven photographs entitled Khmer Reamker are powerful and complex tapestries that intertwine ancient and modern imageries of Cambodian histories. Lê made photos at the Royal Palace Museum in Phnom Penh of the fresco of the epic tale of the Ramayana known in Cambodia as Reamker This national epic poem explores the duality of good vs. evil. Woven within the mythological characters of monkey warriors and Gods is an ominous black and white portrait that was taken at the Tuol Sleng S-21 prison by the Khmer Rouge. In an attempt to restore dignity to the survivors, Dinh Q. Lê uses these juxtaposing images to emphasize that there is more about their lives than those few moments. Dinh Q. Lê explains, “I have never been satisfied with the way these S21 portraits have been presented. Part of me hates that they are only being remembered as the victims of the Khmer Rouge, at the last moments before they were all killed by the Khmer Rouge, at the worst moment of their lives. I hate that they are only seen as victims. This is going back to my relationship with the way the Vietnamese have also been represented during the war. We have been seen only through the war, as victims of war. By inserting the amazing and beautiful details of the Angkor Wat Temple complex, a rich and beautiful part of Cambodian culture along with the translation of India’s epic Ramayana into Cambodia’s important epic poem Reamker, it explores the ideals of justice and fidelity, the importance of morality and virtue in daily life and society. I want us to truly see these people within these portraits as they exist in relation to their Cambodian culture. To me they became important witnesses of their own country’s best and worst.”
Liang Hao (b. 1988 China) The contents of Liang’s ethereal paintings present the paradoxical of a metaphor both concrete and immaterial. The works place the viewer within a space of psychological weightlessness. The bright and even canvas creates a sterile plane while the luminescent objects seem to melt into the frame. A relationship between concrete and abstract emerges. Heavily inspired by baroque philosophy Liang delves into philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s explication of The Fold. Deleuze posits that our current reality is constantly becoming, or coming into being, therefore folds between the different expressions of the present contain unique reflections of reality. Liang believes that painting is a mirror to life, and thus he uses a mirror within
his work to create another layer of perception. Originally from Guangdong, Liang Hao now lives and works in Beijing. Liang’s primary material is painting but the breath of his work traverses into mediums such as video art and installation. His recent works focus on the metaphors of human movement, relationship, and an exploration of identity, gender, and beyond. Liang Hao graduated from Tsinghua University, Beijing in 2012, with a degree in Fine Arts. He has held various international artist residencies, and notably, Liang Hao was nominated twice for The John Moores Painting prize.
ABOUT THE GALLERY
Celebrating 20 years in 2021, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery is one of Asia’s leading art galleries. With exhibitions that explore both emerging and historically important movements in art in the Asia- Pacific. The gallery continuously keeps its finger on the pulse of contemporary art from the region. 10 Chancery Lane Gallery aims to deliver exhibitions that take time, research and have an impact on the art in the region, as well as promoting contemporary art from Asia internationally.