On Common Ground is an inaugural solo exhibition showcasing the latest printmaking works and paintings by local artist Chen Shitong.
On Common Ground features a new series of works that throws our surroundings into sharp relief. Playing homage to the ever-changing ground surface of Singapore, where every day, mundane things such as walking on a pavement is often taken for granted, Chen seeks to present the beauty of the ground by using printmaking as a primary medium of expression. This series puts the spotlight both on people from different walks of life who play different roles in our society, and the singular chorus of the nation, where each individual offers a unique tenor to the country’s well-being and a distinctive imprint on its social geographical terrain.
Inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings and in particular Zhang Zeduan’s Song dynasty masterpiece Along the River During the Qingming Festival, Chen’s works present panoramic scenes of small figures set against expansive landscapes. This characteristic play of scale and balance serves to highlight a sense of vastness, evoking a Zen sense of peace and tranquillity. The energy in and between nature and people is transmuted unto these aesthetic, pseudo-archaeological artefacts via an interplay between dimensions, colours and layers in Chen’s carefully constructed palimpsests, etching for all posterity fragments of how people and things once fit within the larger scheme of nature, history and society.
Exhibition Period: 22 April – 20 May 2017
Exhibition Opening: 21 April 2017
Venue: Mulan Gallery, 36 Armenian Street #01-07 (off Loke Yew Street) Singapore 179934
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday: 11.30am – 6.30pm. Closed on Mondays, Sundays and Public Holidays
When: 22 Apr - 20 May 2017,
By: Mulan Gallery
