Gallery 456 is pleased to present "Crossing the Dry Sea”, a solo exhibition of Furong Zhang's recent works, on view October 14 - 28, 2022.
"Crossing the Dry Sea" is a solo presentation of recent oil paintings by Furong Zhang addressing emotions and ideas revolving around being a first-generation Chinese American immigrant. Zhang’s paintings explore concepts of alienation and displacement, self-contradiction, power structures, industrialization, and historical erasure through allegorical figurative scenes juxtaposing mythologized memories and experiences of living in China and immigrating to America. The figures in the paintings are in the process of transformative journeys, and act as metaphors of how an immigrant’s utopian dreams collide and coexist in uneasy harmony with the reality of contemporary American society and notions of belonging. An aura of an aftermath permeates through the paintings, as the surroundings that the scenes take place in fluctuate between interior and exterior as if they are psychological landscapes.
Zhang’s paintings are full of longings and rebirths. Rebirth as an autobiographical metaphor of immigration and reconceptualization of one’s identity in face of a changed social environment, and rebirths as the process of digestion of a lived history takes place, resulting in imagery surrounding transformation. The pieces in the show reflect upon and reinterpret universal mythic archetypes and traditional Chinese mythology related to cycles of life (especially from “Classics of the Mountains and Seas”, a seminal work of Chinese mythology) to question how echoes of past tales both real and fantastical may come forth into the collective present. Symbols such as opera masks, rabbits, and porcelain pieces recur throughout.
The figures exist in uncertain roles and positions to one another, as if fleeting scenes glimpsed along a collective hero’s journey. They partake in mysterious actions they seem to question themselves existentially; the way the figures act or carry themselves is a reminder to the viewer that one’s physical body absorbs their personal and collective pasts and carries it with them.
The title of the exhibition asks: What does it look like journeying across the dry sea of the mind, a symbolic space of transformations, in-betweenness, and a search for meaning? How does one situate oneself in an absurd society?
Opening Reception & Artist Talk
Friday, October 14, 2022
5-6PM Opening Reception
6-7PM Artist Talk & Exhibition Walkthrough
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Furong Zhang was born and raised in Shanghai, China during the Cultural Revolution. In 1977 he attended the Shanghai Normal University, majoring in oil painting. He received his MFA from Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing in 1987. In 1989, Zhang was part of the controversial first China Avant-Garde art show at Beijing's National Fine Art Museum. During that time he participated in various exhibitions held at the Beijing and Shanghai Fine Art Museums. Since immigrating to America in 1989, he has attended residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and exhibited nationally and internationally at various museums and galleries, including Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Bellefonte Art Museum, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, and Yale University. He currently lives and works in central Pennsylvania.
456畫廊很榮幸地展出藝術家張富榮的油畫個展, 展覽日期為 2022年10月14日至 2022年10月28日。
展覽“穿越枯海”以張富榮的一系列油畫，探討了一個移民的生活和持有的烏托邦式的夢想及神話如何與當下美國社會的現實沖突，並在不安的和諧中共存。有些畫作被描繪成想象的自然場景，靈感來自于傳統的山水畫，以喚起一種曆史和地理上的距離感。 這些繪畫 包含了關于重生的自傳隱喻。面對著當下變化的社會環境和對身份的重新定義，重生是對曆史的一種消化過程。作品反思並诠釋了與生命周期相關的神話寓意，通過來自不同時期的人物，賦予一種荒誕的現實。這些畫作表現了一種渴望：即“逃離”到一個田園詩般的、伊甸園般的涅槃之地，在那裏，人們可以在意念中的自然裏重生，沒有沖突和混亂。這些作品同時質疑自己，人們如何在一個荒誕的社會中定位自己？我們能否穿越意念中的枯海，以達彼岸？
開幕酒會&藝術家座談
2022年10月14日
5-6時：開幕酒會
6-7時：藝術家座談&展覽介紹
关于艺术家
张富荣出生成长于上海。曾经历过中国文革及上山下乡的年月，78年就读于上海师大美术系，82年毕业留校任教，84年考入中央美院油画系研究生班.获硕士学位。89年受邀出席黄山现代艺术研讨会，并参加了随后在中国美术馆举办的中国首届前卫艺术展。同年6月出国，进入美国Skowhegan艺术学校创作研习。自 1989 年移居美国以来，他的作品曾在东京都美术馆、贝尔方特美术馆、SPRING/BREAK 艺术展和耶鲁大学等博物馆和画廊展出。他目前在宾州生活和工作。