LUAN Xiaochen: Turn on the Sun: Curated by WANG Yaoli
"Actually, I never 'decided' to create only through painting... but painting will undoubtedly participate in my whole creative career. I studied sculpture and architecture after I moved to Germany. I once wondered why I chose it, but one day, I realized I was thinking about it the wrong way; it is an instinctive extension, drawn naturally beyond myself. However, painting is not the only way, even today, I am growing—not in disciplines, but in life modes." — Luan Xiaochen
BONIAN SPACE is pleased to announce the solo exhibition Turn on the Sun by artist Luan Xiaochen, from November 2 to December 1. Curated by Wang Yaoli, the exhibition features over ten of the artist's latest mixed-media paintings on canvas. Also, drawing on papers developed from his long-term study of "the posture of horses" will be exhibited at the same time. The documents displayed in the exhibition will present a dialogue record between the curator and artist, delving into this solo show, including references provided by the artist and important manuscripts.
Luan's work focuses on the connections generated in accompanying his experience and the history of the working environment. Born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, and later studying in Düsseldorf, Germany, his fascination with the colonial history of his hometown has led him to travel between these two places, prompting a re-examination of history through his personal experiences, resulting in a stronger sense of insight. Hometown landscapes, German architecture, and Prussian soldiers have become recurrent and representative symbols in his work, as seen clearly in the triptych Since 0 AD (2024).
Living and working in Germany, Neo-Expressionism has deeply influenced him, exploring the boundaries between abstraction and figuration in his paintings. Since 2023, he has begun reorganizing a new system of expression within his original language, experimenting with various materials to help him more accurately convey the "synchronicity" of images in painting by making different layers. Meanwhile, he skillfully reintegrates inspirations drawn from historical images and everyday materials into his works through collage and creating spaces. This approach allows him to create a supernatural sci-fi aesthetic that evokes a sense of temporal dislocation and ironic paradox from a macro perspective of "past" events.
This exhibition will not only present significant new paintings by Luan but also feature precious manuscripts from his ongoing creative works. The "horse," as a metaphor for war, has been a vital entry point for Luan's painting research. Through studying various postures of horses in art history, he has created over a hundred paper works, each annotated with information about the original sources. These manuscripts serve as essential references for his painting works as well. Notably, the exhibition will highlight Error (2024) and Right (2024), both of which connect to his upcoming winter graduation exhibition in February 2025 at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.
