For his first solo exhibition with Massimo De Carlo, Jing Kewen presents a selection of works created across the span of 20 years. The exhibition narrates a journey through the artist’s oeuvre highlighting a language which has made him a unique voice among his peers. As a member of the Chinese avant-garde, Kewen has nonetheless chosen to accept a “new era” beginning in the 1990s, influenced by globalization and post-modernism.

Instead of a critical or satirical depiction of these changes, Kewen re-examines and re-evaluates the past with a multifaceted perspective. As a Realist artist, Kewen has worked to make his highly believable paintings seem as objective as possible. His recurrent theme is that of China just after the Cultural Revolution: a time of both hardship and idealism that may seem unreal with the country’s commodification of the current time. From his early works executed en plein air like The Patient, 1996, and Going to Bolin Art Museum, 1990, (the latter being one of the best examples of his series of “ Spring” and “Autumn,” which are Kewen’s favorite seasons for the mild temperatures and vivacious colours) his style is determined by an unconventional use of a wide palette, the unusual juxtaposition of colours, with a vast variety and freedom in his brushstrokes.

Gallery address: 3/F, Pedder Building, Central