randian | 燃点

One of Leo Gallery’s ten-year anniversary exhibition series, the exhibition is an integrated manifestation of Li Yiwen’s recent thinkings and works in a new form. In this exhibition, Li Yiwen expanded the creative approach of “Misinterpretation, Synaesthesia and Transference” to set up the exhibition theme. The artist borrowed the term “durée” from Henri Bergson’s philosophy to explain the influence of time on painting, and brings forward the “third kind of time” in painting. In the first floor’s space of Leo Gallery, through brand new installation methods, the feeling of “Time” in Li Yiwen’s paintings is expanded to the whole space, making the exhibition space a unique field for sensing “Time in Painting”. Also, by presenting the artist’s notebook, a series of sketches and other documents that are publicly displayed for the first time, the exhibition completely presents the artist’s creative ideas and approaches in recent years.

This exhibition displays the latest works created by Li Yiwen in recent years, including his paintings as well as a series of manuscripts. More importantly, the exhibition is a visual presentation that summarizes the artist’s working methods in the latest period. As a frequent reader, Li Yiwen focuses not only in art theory and traditional Chinese seal carving, but also in astronomy, physics, and philosophy, etc. As an artist, he projects his sensitivity of art into reading. He marks down the terms that he considers interesting when reading, and translates his own understanding of these terms into the language of painting.

Durée, the theme of this exhibition, is created through the method mentioned above. The term Durée is borrowed from French philosopher Henri Bergson. However, without exploring into the philosophical meaning behind, the artist created his own thought – that is “the Third Kind of Time” in his paintings, an extension of time when the “mathematical time” and the “lived-time” is combined – on the basis of Henri Bergson’s theory.

Therefore, the artist considers the presentation of the exhibition as a part of his creation. By using multiple installation methods, like displaying some of the works in street windows, and even making some other works “stand up straight” on railway tracks placed right in the centre of the exhibition hall. In addition, selected manuscripts of the artist are shown in the displaying cabinets. On one hand, the complete process of the artist’s creation is presented, and on the other hand, the audience may better understand the works as the context of the artist’s creation is offered.

On the day of exhibition opening, Leo Gallery was honored to have invited the famous curator Huang Du, emerging art critic Wang Che and the participating artists to discuss on the theme of “Painting Generating”. For more details you may refer to the follow-up reports.