Hong Kong-born Australian artist John Young brings three abstract series to Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai for his solo exhibition “Storm Resurrection,” which runs from July 2 through August 21.Young will spotlight the achievement of China’s first Modern art association, called Storm Society, through his abstract oil paintings. Since the Shanghai Art College was reserved towards the development of Western Modernist styles, associations like Storm Society were founded outside of class, eventually becoming a ground-breaking Modernist movement in China. Among the three series presented at the galleries, which include “Storm Resurrection,” “Naïve and Sentimental Paintings,” and “Veil,” the former series will make up the core of the exhibition.In “Storm Resurrection,” Young employs an original artistic procedure to create his inventive paintings. Referred to as the “human-condition friendship” method, it combines contemporary technology with traditional oil painting techniques. With this process, the artist reworks original paintings by members of the Storm Society, such as Wang Ji Yuan, Guan Liang and Qiu Ti, to produce abstract creations. Finally, Young transfers these works onto linen using oil paint.According to a press release, “Young searches for a historical significance that has somehow escaped the cultural consciousness of artists in China, as he tries to rediscover the country’s source of Modernism.”With an academic background in philosophy and aesthetics, John Young has constantly investigated late Western Modernism in his paintings. Furthermore, despite his conceptually grounded work, he breaks tradition by reintroducing “the aesthetic of painting” within conceptual practice, rather than working with documentation and written text.“Storm Resurrection” runs from July 2 through August 21 at Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai.
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