魔金石空间荣幸宣布，将于2020年10月31日至12月26日推出艺术家武晨个展“所以，孤独的上帝就只能当上帝的孤儿”。
Magician Space is delighted to announce artist Wu Chen's solo exhibition, 'Therefore, the Lonely God Can Only be the Orphan of God', from October 31 to December 26, 2020.

本次展览中，武晨的绘画大致涉及两类题材：一类是在风靡全球的影视动画中出现的形象，例如《木偶奇遇记》（1940年）中的匹诺曹、《鬼马小精灵》（1996年）中的卡斯伯和他的叔叔们；另一类是他工作室中或生活中常见的物品，例如绘画工具或西瓜。艺术家将这些他所熟悉的物品拟人化或漫画化，赋予动作和表情，以及鲜明的性格。

展览中大多作品创作于2020年，这意味着那些可爱、夸张的形象诞生于一个极端混乱的现实环境之中，并主动参与或被动圈入其中。他们身上五彩斑斓的色彩所折射出的天真气质，也可以被释义为具有刺激性的表达姿态，与武晨的笔触一道，像是对心理活动原动力的描摹，令人想起德库宁成熟阶段笔下布满伤痕甚至略有腐败的身躯。以此，天真与暴力之间界限变得模糊了。

与武晨以往展览中的作品相似，“所以，孤独的上帝就只能当上帝的孤儿”不乏对艺术史中经典戏仿的作品。《无题（西山行旅图）》中西瓜无疑是对北宋范宽的《溪山行旅图》布局的提炼。红绿相间的西瓜与它的“原型”在色彩和主题观念上的反差，遮掩了两幅作品结构上的一致性。

“所以，孤独的上帝就只能当上帝的孤儿”中的作品易于观者进入。卡通形象具有通俗性，为当代观众所熟悉。武晨将自身对政治的关切“写”成脚本，并为这些“演员”分配角色，安排肢体动作和台词。他为作品命名的画名，也宛若画面感强烈的叙事诗句，带有阅读的嚼劲。另一方面，通过与以往艺术“原型”的对话，他持续地打磨着作品的形式语言。如此，他丢给观众一个两难的境地：是该“阅读”绘画的叙事，还是“观看”绘画的语言？这场绘画的游戏，武晨乐此不疲。


Among the artworks presented for this exhibition, Wu Chen's paintings revolve around two subject matters: The worldly famous icons in animation films, for instance, Pinocchio in Pinocchio (1940), and Casper and his uncles in Casper (1996); The other would be the commonplace and everyday items in his art studio, such as painting tools or watermelon. The artist personifies or animates these familiar objects, attributes them with actions, expressions, and distinctive characteristics.
Most of the works on view have been completed in 2020, which implies that these cute and exaggerated figures are born in an extremely chaotic context in real-life, actively participating or passively involved in it. Their innocence, reflected through vivid and colourful hues, can also be interpreted as a stimulating gesture that, together with the artist's brushstrokes, portrays the impetus of their psychological activities, reminiscent of the scarred and slightly corrupted bodies of de Kooning's mature paintings. As such, the boundary between innocence and violence blurs.
Similar to Wu Chen's previous works of art, the ones presented in 'Therefore, the Lonely God Can Only be the Orphan of God' playfully appropriate the classics from art history. The watermelons in Untitled (Travelers Among Watermelon Hills) are an apparent extraction from Fan Kuan's Travelers Among Mountains and Streams from the Northern Song Dynasty. The red and green watermelon and its 'archetype' contrast in colour and subject matter conceal their structural similarity.
The works in 'Therefore, the Lonely God Can Only be the Orphan of God' appeal to the viewers. The cartoon characters are popular and familiar to the contemporary audience. Wu Chen paints his concerns about politics into a visual script, assigns roles to these 'actors', and choreographs their body movements and dialogues. The titles he gave to his works on canvas are like the phrases in this narrative, palatable for their interpretation. On the other hand, through various dialogues with the 'archetypes' of the classics in art history, Wu Chen continually hones his paintings' formal language. With which, he threw viewers a conundrum, should one 'read' the narrative in painting, or 'look at' the language of painting? In this game of painting, Wu Chen remains inexhaustibly engaged.



关于艺术家

武晨，1983年出生于河南郑州，现工作生活于成都与北京。艺术家习惯使用丙烯颜料，保留笔触的粗糙感，通过混搭与挪用使画面呈现轻松的状态。他的作品将美术史中的各个艺术家肖像、图鉴、图例幼稚化，扭曲和重组，经过艺术家内心的感受，从这些经典的图示中吸取新的信息经整合后再创作并努力找寻自己独特的艺术语言。

主要个展有：所以，孤独的上帝就只能当上帝的孤儿，魔金石空间，北京，中国（2020）；Positions单元，巴塞尔艺术展迈阿密展会，迈阿密，美国（2019）；坏人也能上天堂，魔金石空间，北京，中国（2017）；马蒂斯裙摆，魔金石空间，北京，中国（2014）。

主要展览有：2020——松美术馆邀请展，松美术馆，北京，中国（2020）；游·历——华宇青年奖2016 年度入围艺术家群展，三亚艺术季，三亚，中国（2016）；第一届道滘新艺术节，XI 当代艺术中心，广东，中国（2016）；第六届成都双年展，成都国际会展中心，成都，中国（2013）；旋转木马，北京时代美术馆，北京，中国（2011）；第三届特尔纳当代艺术奖，罗马，意大利(2010); M50 创意新锐展，M50 创意园，上海，中国（2009）；“囧——表达与姿态”第三届上海多伦青年美术展，上海多伦美术馆，上海，中国（2008）；“青年中国奖”当代艺术展，海德堡大学美术馆，海德堡，德国（2008）等。

机构与公共收藏：澳大利亚白兔中国当代艺术收藏、成都当代美术馆、K11艺术基金会、上海星美术馆、北京798艺术基金会。



About the Artist

Wu Chen (b.1983, Henan) currently lives and works in Beijing and Chengdu. His paintings evoke a miscellaneous array of 'artist portraits' and layered references culled from sources as varied as picture handbooks to exquisite illustrations from art history. Layer by layer they undergo a child-like process of distortion and reassembly, causing one to wonder at the morbidity of such a whimsical sense of imagination.

Major solo exhibitions include: Therefore, the Lonely God Can Only Be the Orphan of God, Magician Space, Beijing (2020); Positions Sector, Art Basel Miami, Miami (2019); Bad Man Can Also End Up in Heaven, Magician Space, Beijing (2017); Matisse’s Skirt, Magician Space, Beijing (2014).

Major group exhibitions include: 2020 – SONG ART INVITATION EXHIBITION, Song Art Museum, Beijing (2020); TRAVERSE·COURSE - 2016 HUAYU YOUTH AWARD, Art Sanya, Sanya (2016); The First Dao Jiao New Art Festival, XI Contemporary Art Center, Guangdong (2016); The 6th Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu International Conference and Exhibition Centre, Chengdu (2013); Carousel, Times Art Museum, Beijing (2011); The 3rd Terna Contemporary Art Award, Rome (2010); Creative M50 Exhibition, M50 Creative District, Shanghai (2009); 'Jiong' – Expressions and Attitudes, the 3rd Shanghai Duolun Youth Art Exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai (2008); 'Youth China' Contemporary Art Exhibition, Art Museum of University Heidelberg, Heidelberg (2008).

Museum and Public Collections: White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese Art Collection, AUS; Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, CN; K11 Art Foundation, CN; SSSSTART, CN; Beijing 798 Art Foundation, CN.