Counterpoints, a two-person exhibition of work by contemporary Chinese artists Lu Chunsheng (b. 1968, Changchun, Jilin, China and Jia Aili (b.1979, Liaoning, China) at the Institute of International Visual Arts, London.
Both artists reflect on industrial progress, social corrosion and the individual’s struggle in the machine age.
Jia Aili’s exhibition presents monumental new paintings and an installation specially created for the window overlooking Rivington Street. A site-specific piece inspired by 16th-century painter Caravaggio’s famous painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas. In his work, Jia Aili uses a muted colour palette and quick brushwork, conjuring up the disorientating emotions felt in a developing society. One of China’s foremost contemporary artists, Jia Aili’ has developed a practice that reflects on arts and philosophy from both East and West.
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While the content of his epic figurative paintings is unmistakably of his own time and cultural context, his formal virtuosity and complex layering of narrative reveal a deep and astute working knowledge of the inventions and traditions of painting from the Renaissance to the present day. The artists were selected from a new generation in collaboration with Platform China Contemporary Art Institute and Fountain, London.
Jia Aili’s solo exhibitions include Jia Aili, CAC Malaga, Contemporary Art Centre of Malaga, Malaga, Spain (2017); Nothing of Pure Emptiness, Platform China, Beijing, China (2010); The Dharma Bums – Jia Aili Solo Exhibition, Cornell University Hartell Gallery, Ithaca, NY (2010); Good Morning, World!, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China (2010); Make Believe, Institute of International Visual Art, London, UK (2010); Duino Elegies, Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong (2010); JAL: Jia Aili Solo Exhibition, Michael Ku Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (2009); and The Wasteland, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, China (2007). His work has also been featured in group exhibitions including at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; Minsheng Center for Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China; China National Museum, Beijing, China and Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China.
The accompanying catalogue to Counterpoints: Lu Chunsheng and Jia Aili includes newly commissioned essays by David Thorp and Keith Whittle and installation photographs.
