Chen Chong ’en, Gossip, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 40.5 x 50.5 cm

Unlike traditional Chinese painters who paint in ink, and occasionally colour, Chong ’en paints in oil, a much more deliberate medium. Yet for a painter known for his still lifes, Chong ’en’s skill and expressivity have a knack for making his subjects look very much alive. We feel the beat of air of the white peacock flapping its wings in Luan – 青鸾, and the luscious wateriness of the watermelon in Breakfast. Aside from the titular birds and flowers, the still life painter in Chong ’en cannot help but inject an arrangement of other objects into some of his paintings: the shiny ceramics and wood carving of Autumn 秋 / Gossip, the teapot, vase and scattered berries of Comfort, the baby pig shoes, bird feeders and apple slices of Gossip, the transparent glass cup and lustrous nacre of shells in Isis Magic. Some objects are so small and precious that it is a delight to discover them on closer examination of the paintings: the jade objects of 4 Nobles 兰 / Orchids, the jewellery and mysterious pyramid of Isis Magic. Yet for other paintings, the birds and/or the flowers themselves are sufficient: the all-knowing owl perched on a mossy stump in Gyan – 慧, the perennial affection for roses in Aeing, Hring and Gentle.

Venue: DAO by Dorsett AMTD Singapore, 6 Shenton Way #07-01, OUE Downtown 1, Singapore 068809

When: 1 - 3 Apr 2024,

By: Utterly Art