[17 March, 2013, Hong Kong] Young Chinese painter Pan Jian, identified by his quiet and pensive landscapes, will debut in Hong Kong from 10th April to 11th May with his first solo presentation The Realm of Shadows at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Central.
Pan Jian’s night-time landscapes show a new generation of Chinese contemporary artists. Born in the 70s, his individualized style and concept derives from his personal emotion rather than collective thinking driven by socio-political themes. He explores the forefront of the unknown. His calm and intricate brushstrokes convey abstraction at first glance in a dark blue, almost black, duo-chrome, however when your eyes adjust, the night landscape slowly emerges.
The forest scenes and minimal landscapes are captured as if from an instant in a film. He is inspired by the words, “the beauty of a scene originates from its sadness.” There is a deep melancholy or nostalgia that lingers within in his works and it is precisely his intent, which is to capture a mood, state of mind or emotion within the silence and stillness of the night. His works are almost alive yet create a feeling of psychological dislocation. There is no beginning and no end to a narrative however, each work, says Pan Jian, has a story behind it that he doesn’t speak about wishing to keep a somnolent obscurity to his work. His flashes in time portray neglected corners, he says, “in the uninhibited corners, silence can be broken at any moment.”
The artist will be in Hong Kong for the exhibition opening in April (date to be confirmed). For press enquiry or schedule interview, please contact Severine Levrel at severine@10chancerylangallery.com or +852 2810 0065.
About the artist
Pan Jian (b. 1975 Shandong) is a young and committed painter who currently lives and works in Beijing & Xi’an. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Xi’an Academy of Fine Art where he is now a professor. His work is included in numerous collections including the DSL collection, The Uli Sigg Collection, The Yuz and is well supported by the Yuz Foundation in Jakarta.
About 10 Chancery Lane Gallery
10 Chancery Lane Gallery
10 Chancery Lane is one of the pioneering galleries on the Hong Kong scene. Founded in 2001 the gallery presents emerging and historically important movements in art across Asia-Pacific, supporting the development of the careers of the most exciting artists in the region including Dinh Q. Le, Vietnam, Huang Rui, China and Sopheap Pich, Cambodia. The gallery is committed to documenting the development of the highest quality art in the region through survey exhibitions, talks, forums and publishing. There is a strong curatorial focus. Important shows are conceived and hosted with some of Asia’s leading curators, Feng Boyi (China), Erin Gleeson (Cambodia), Zoe Butt (Vietnam) and Iola Lenzi (Thailand). There is a particular focus on artists from South East Asia and visual and performance art from China including that of the 1979 Beijing avant-garde group “The Stars”. Represented artists have important museum shows. Dinh Q. Le was the first Vietnamese artist to exhibit at MOMA New York in June 2010., while the Australian artist John Young was shown at the Guggenheim in New York. Gallery artists have exhibited in the Venice Biennale, Documenta, Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Fukuoka Triennial, Singapore Biennial, Guangzhou Triennial and Busan Biennale. Four artists represented by the gallery were included in dOCUMENTA13. 10 Chancery Lane Gallery supports the development of contemporary art in Hong Kong as a founding member of the Hong Kong Galleries Association and through its HKFOREWORD Series, showcasing the work of young artists from the city.
