Painting Ink Sculpture

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Lv Peng

Lv Peng’s Theatre of the Mind: Tally Beck

When we think of theatricality in contemporary Chinese art, we are likely to conjure up the bold experimentation of performance art pieces: Sheng Qi tethers a chicken to his genitalia, Zhang Huan sits nude, slathered with fish oil and covered in flies, in a Beijing public toilet, and Cai Guo-Qiang sets the landscape ablaze with his orchestrated explosions. These are powerful expressions, but they are confined to the reality of the material world. Lv Peng reveals a fantastic, theatrical world in two dimensions.
The charming grace notes that contribute to the sumptuous composition are born of spontaneity
Tally Beck

Lv Peng creates in ink on paper and acrylic on canvas with equal facility. Regardless of medium, he constructs his paintings like fanciful stage sets. The background builds forward like a sequence of diaphanous backdrops, but the scenes are usually groundless; his players and their props float and fly, intertwined in a maelstrom of activity. An expert colourist, Lv Peng heightens the drama by enveloping his figures in billowing swaths of fabric in saturated hues.
 
After the Rain is an example of one of Lv Peng’s more exuberant works. A celebration of sunshine after a spring rain, the work features quotations from classic poetry. A modern Chinese couple dominate the upper section of the canvas. Their sumptuous silk outfits dance in the light as their visages react with intense interest to an unknown event offstage. Several small flags adorn the woman’s back: a reference to Beijing opera’s nod to the traditional warrior’s practice of carrying protective banners on his most vulnerable side.

The woman delicately handles a slender spear that obliquely bisects the composition and provides a stable, linear counterpoint to the swirling forms around it. Beneath the spear, a contorted horse dominates the centre of the canvas. The muscular beast bucks in mid-air. He is riderless, and his genitals are readily visible. He represents freedom and limitlessness. One of his hooves threatens to interfere with a copulating couple. These two are an unmistakable reference to sixteenth-century erotic Chinese art. The man wears the robes of a mid-level imperial court official, while the woman sports tiny, deformed feet shaped by binding. As is the case with its antecedent, this erotic image is rather passionless but depends on surrounding attributes to lend it sensuality. Here, the background is a sybaritic magenta cloud, and the sturdy branch between the man’s legs is an effective symbol of his erotic enthusiasm.
 
The charming grace notes that contribute to the sumptuous composition are born of spontaneity: the obliterated face on the man below, the menacing mask on the woman’s shoulder above as well as her curious sporting of only one sock are all decisions that the artist himself cannot explain. He states that he creates these peculiarities in the moment. This allowance for serendipity combined with his painterly style creates the dynamic richness that characterises all of Lv Peng’s works.

 

1967

Born in Beijing, China

1987-91

Capital Normal University Dept. of Fine Arts, Bachelor Degree of Arts

2007

PhD Chinese Painting Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)

Present:     

Associate Professor, Fine Arts Department of Beijing Institute of Education

 
Solo Exhibitions  
                      

2018

Party, Being 3 Gallery, Beijing

2015

Forbidden Books (2), Lotus Art Museum, Beijing

2014

Forbidden Books (1), Being 3 Gallery, Beijing

2011

Lost Realm, Red Gate Gallery

 

Empty Age, Dialogue Space of Art, Beijing

2010

Empty City, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong

2009

Empty City, Le Feuvre Gallery, Paris

2008

Lv Peng, Red Gate Gallery

2007

Wandering at Ease (2), 798 Avant Gallery, New York

 

Wandering at Ease, Plum Blossoms, Hong Kong

2005

A Fighting World of Female Beauty (2), Red Gate Gallery

 

A Fighting World of Female Beauty (1), Chinese Contemporary, London

2004

Memory, Qing Ping Gallery, Boston

2002

Realm of Red, Red Gate Gallery

2001

Capital Night, Red Gate Gallery

 

Capital Night, Chinese Contemporary

1999

Through the Wall, Chinese Contemporary

1997

The Edge, Chinese Contemporary

1996

Floating - Small Works, Tayuan Apartment, Beijing

1994

Lv Peng- Small Works, Mingzhu Gallery, Beijing

1991

Chinese - Small Works, Friendship Hotel, Beijing

 

Group Exhibitions

2019

Refinement & Extension – Contemporary Chinese Masters’ Delicate Gongbi Painting, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Beijing, Anhui

 

Beijing Letter, Gwangju Museum of Art, Korea

 

Aliens: Contemporary Chinese Art, East China Normal University, Shanghai

2018

2D vs 3D, Red Gate Gallery

 

798, We Are Back, Red Gate Gallery

2017

Red Gate on the Move, Red Gate Gallery

 

What if Ink? An Investigation of the Implications and Extensions of Ink, Songzhuang Art Museum, Songzhuang

 

Imperial Park – Shenzhen’ism China-Italy Biennale, Shenzhen

 

Presence of China: International Contemporary Art Forum, Hainan

2016

From Nature to Mind – Chinese Contemporary, Today Art Museum, Beijing

 

Now - Contemporary Painting, Baijia Lake Art 100 Gallery, Beijing

 

Metamorphosis – 4th China-Italy Biennial, Beijing

 

High Above – Chinese Contemporary Ink Masters’ Invitational, Tianmi Art Space, Shenzhen

2015

Image Study, Rightview Art Museum, Beijing

 

Yi Xing Huan Ying – Oriental Imagination VI, Permanence Gallery, Beijing

 

Elisir di lunga vita, 3rd Biennale Italia-China, Mastio della Cittadella,

 

A NEW FINE LINE: Contemporary Ink Painting from China, University of Colorado Denver, Denver 

2014

2nd China-Italy Biennale Art, Beijing

 

Five Senses · Eight Artists – Chinese Contemporary, New Ink Image Gallery

2013

Green Box Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Museum, Zagreb

La Biennale di Venezia, Venice

Miniatures & Delicacies, Poly Museum of Art, Beijing

Philosophical Interpretations of Paintings, China National Museum of Art, Beijing

Chink of Time, Being 3 Gallery, Beijing

Made in China, Mantova Palazzo Te, Italy

The World, Prajna Art Foundation, Hong Kong

Logic of Ink, Space Gallery Beijing

2012

Two Generations - 20 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art Australian Tour: City of Sydney Chinese New Year; Manning Regional Gallery; Damien Minton Gallery; University of Newcastle Gallery; Melbourne International Fine Arts (MiFA); Linton & Kay, Perth

 

Multiple Layers, Shanghai Museum of Art, Shanghai

The Adventures of the Three Travel Weary Loafers 2012, Today Art Museum, Beijing

Seriousness & Frivolousness, Meilun Art Museum, Wuhan

Contemporary Ink from 5 Artists, Poly Museum Beijing

Italy and China Biennale, Monza 

2011

20 Years - Two Generations of Artists at Red Gate, island6 Art Center, Shanghai

 

20 Years - Two Generations of Artists at Red Gate, Red Gate Gallery

2010

Illusory Worlds (2), Mulan Gallery, Singapore

 

Yellow Gate, Gwangju Museum Art, Gwangju

 

Academic Classics of Meticulous Paper Works, Hubei Museum of Art

2009

Water and Color, Today Art Museum

 

Midway China Tour, Beijng, Tianjing, Xiamen, Shanghai

 

Midway Australian Tour, Wollongong, Sydney

 

Illusory Worlds, Mulan Gallery, Singapore

 

From Nature to Mind, China National Museum of Art, Beijing

 

Scent of Ink, Dialogue Space of Art, Beijing

 

Academic Chinese Painting, Gallery of National Academy of Fine Art, Beijing

 

Miniature & Delicacies, Zhejiang Museum of Art, Hangzhou

2008

Telltale Paintings, Dialogue Space of Art, Beijing

 

Orient Imagination 2008, Wall Art Museum

 

Chinese Inks, Catherine Schubert Fine Art, Bangkok

 

30 years in Chinese Contemporary Art, National Theatre, Beijing

 

Assembling Under the Five Rings, Art Media Center, Beijing

 

Go Game Beijing, Soemo

 

Red Gate Stars, Red Gate Gallery

 

Contemporary Asian Art, Robischon Gallery, Denver

 

Document of Chinese Contemporary Art, Wall Art Museum, Beijing

2007

Chinese Contemporary Art at the Deauville Asian Film Festival, Deauville           

 

Sovereign Asia Art Prize Finalists, Sovereign Art Exhibition, Hong Kong                   

 

The Chinese Contemporary Art Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

2006

Red Gate Gallery’s 15th Anniversary, Red Gate Gallery

 

New Ink Painting, Zhu Qizhan Art Gallery, Shanghai

 

Oriental Imagination, National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing

 

Visual Contemporary, Millennium Art Museum of China, Beijing

2005

Observing the Senses, Red Gate Gallery

 

Portrait Paintings from Collage Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing 

 

Frontline, Plum Blossoms, Hong Kong

 

New Generation, Goedhuis Gallery, New York

 

Les Cent Fleurs, Villa Tamaris Center d’Art, France

2004

Paris Drouot Montaigne Arts Auction, France

 

Chinese Fine Art, International Art Palace, Beijing

 

Crowds and Voids 11 + 1, Art Scene China Gallery, Shanghai

2003

Microcosmic and Delicate, NAMOC

 

2nd Chinese Art Exhibition, Xinghai International Exhibition Centre, Dalian

 

Harmony / Unusual, International Art Palace

 

Festival of Youth’s Art, Today Art Gallery

2002

Chinese Art of the Contemporary, Piltzer, Paris

2001

Legend of China, Yi Dian Gallery, Shanghai

 

China Contemporary Fine Art, NAMOC

 

Clues to the Future – Red Gate Gallery’s 10th Anniversary

 

Past – Present, Art Center of Silpakorn University, Bangkok 

2000

Between the Lines, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney

1999

Transparent, Opacity? 14 Artists Contemporairis Chinois, ACACA, Paris

 

China 46 Contemporary Chinese Art (2), Melbourne

 

China 46 Contemporary Chinese Art (1), Taiwan Hoke Art Gallery, Shanghai

1998

5000 + 10 Chinese Art, Bilbo, Spain

 

Black & White, Chinese Contemporary

 

New Art from the PR of China, Lamont Gallery, Boston

 

Between the Lines, Lee Gallery & Studio Lido Park, Beijing

1997

Adventures of Three Travel Weary Loafers 3, Arvada Center, Colorado

 

Life on the Fringe, Lee, Gallery & Studio Lido Park, Beijing

 

Contemporary Chinese Art, Chinese Contemporary, London

1995

Life on the Edge, Three Travel Weary Loafers 2, International Art Palace, Beijing

 

Small Chinese Inks, Soobin Art Gallery, Singapore

1994

Three Travel Weary Loafers 1, Beijing Contemporary Arts

1993

Three Travel Weary Loafers’ Preliminary Exhibition, Tower Garden, Beijing

 

Chinese Art of the 1990s, Chinese History Museum, Beijing

1991

Young Artists, CAFA

 

Ink Paintings from Young Artists, Beijing Contemporary Arts

 

SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Asian Art Coordinating Council, USA, Denver Art Museum, USA, Geoje Art Center, Korea, Gwangju Museum of Art, Korea, National Museum of Art China, Audi AG, China, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, China, Wall Museum, China, Red Gate Gallery, China, Chinese Contemporary Gallery UK, Mulan Gallery, Singapore, Saint Oriental Gallery, China Meilun Art Museum China, Xiamen Art Museum China, Being 3 Gallery China, Prajna Art Foundation Hong Kong, Ying Media Group China

 

Private collections:

 

P.R China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, France, US, Italy, Germany Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Singapore  

My new work (Leaving the Garden of Dreams) searches the relationship between image and character. The relationship is a combination of inner configuration and interaction - it expresses the fall of the human race into a trance that is the current contemporary dream.

 
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