BONIAN SPACE is pleased to announce the upcoming solo exhibition K's Garden by the emerging artist Ke Jiajun from July 1st to August 1st, 2023, which is also Ke's first solo exhibition. Curated by Rabbi, the exhibition will feature 15 paintings from the artist's recent practice.
Born in 1998 in, GuangDong, Ke Jiajun is currently a graduate student at the Oil Painting Department of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts. His interest in painting since childhood inspired Ke's original exploration of artistic expression, and his experience of studying calligraphy with his father brought him preliminary knowledge of "shape (shén)" and "spirit (xíng)". His obsession with Western classical oil painting further guided him in the gradual shaping of his painting language. His continued professional experience in classical realism laid the foundation for the artist's development of a highly personal narrative that transcends tradition. The de-colored rendering of large areas of grey, the absurd visual interest, and the surreal narrative of his figurative images make Ke's works strongly recognizable.
K's Garden is a "stage play" directed by the artist, a different reality independent of reality, and a reflection of the artist's inner world. K's Garden has its own rules and hierarchy that operate independently from the existing order. The mythological presentation of its inner images is the artist's alternative reshaping of reality, in which those elements tend to de-meaningalize existence and randomly recognize the roles they play at different times and the artist's exploration and critique of the established rules of society, as well as the reflection of the attributes and status of individuals in the world of order.
The mysterious, dreamy, grotesque, and playful combination of trees and house, fish and flowers, mountains and thorns, the rocking horse and the tiny paper boat, these contradictions are not only a role-playing game set by the artist, but also his exploration of the new orders and senses created by the uncommon connections among objects. The sun, the supreme symbol of authority, stands between heaven and earth in Destruction and Conception: Heavy Rainfall (2023), while in another piece Steal the Sun (2023), it is stolen by an evil angel altisonantly, leading to an examination and questioning of the connection and hierarchy between nature and gods. The triptych is also an artist's tribute to the triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490~1510) by the famous Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch. The frames painted inside the paintings are like window bars leading the audience into the inner world, creating an absolute barrier from the real world. The rationalized representation of perception and randomness is a necessary factor to maintain the detachment and vitality of the picture; behind the illusory and real borderline is the artist's surrealist aesthetic narrative of depicting the unreal realistically. As a "stage director", Ke Jiajun sets light as the only order in his Garden, while the severely weakened color highlights the holiness of light, illuminating the artist's visualization of the supernatural existence of the objects themselves and their hidden divinity.
