Dance of Trees
Lu Song
MASSIMODECARLO Beijing is pleased to present Dance of Trees 树舞, an exhibition by Lu Song.
When holding the image material in one hand and the brush tightly in the other, what are we trying to depict? Its image? Colour? Structure? Or an abstract feeling? How do we delve deeper into fleeting emotions?
Lu Song's works do not pursue the objective reproduction of images, but use subjective induction or reconstruction, starting from any part. This initial point may not have any meaning, but it can lead to infinite possibilities; thus depicting incomplete and indescribable pictures. He focuses on his own feelings and pours his perceptions onto the canvas, rather than just expressing them by an object or place.
Lu Song's inspiration comes from a certain detail in a complex whole. Every detail acts as a portal, leading him to different places. This kind of guidance is natural, just as nature has its own trajectory and laws --which cannot be changed by human subjective will-- Lu Song's creation follows this irresistible instinct.
The works exhibited in "Dance of the Trees" were greatly inspired by Lu Song's hike in the rainforest. By chance, he saw an abandoned spider web with curled dead leaves attached to it. The entire structure seemed to be suspended in the air, rotating and winding upwards. The rainforest in front of us is emerald green, but there is an aura of decay hidden in its exuberant vitality. Lu Song was deeply moved by this contradictory scene. He moved around the site and presented it from different angles.
Lu Song obtains poetic feelings from nature. Through overlapping colour blocks and loose brushstrokes, he depicts abstract and traceable paintings. Although the viewer cannot clearly interpret the content, it is not difficult to connect emotionally with it. The works are filled with a sense of delicacy, incompleteness and ambiguity, providing room for imagination for both the artist and the audience.
The fierce and dense green, and the small spider webs and dead leaves mixed in it, constitute a conflict and coexistence of life and death, new and old, vitality and decline. The role of time no longer exists at this moment.
Artist
Lu Song (1982, Beijing, China) is an artist based in Beijing. Graduated in 2006 from the Wimbledon College of Art London, he has exhibited all over the world since then with shows in Berlin, New York, London, Copenhagen, Sao Paulo in Brazil. Lu’s painting is characteristically by his use of well tempered sepia tone colours and application of tonal range that he applies with bold sweeping brush strokes. The result is a visual experience that draws the viewers into the scene, evoking a certain mood that is contemplative and surreal.
He has exhibited all over the world with solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, Berlin, Sidney, Beijing. He exhibited with Interni romani, at the Mattatoio in Roma (2018) and with an important retrospective titled Flow at the OCAT Museum in Xi’an, China (2017). Song’s group exhibitions include: Keep Going John Armleder & Lu Song (Special project), Westbund Shangai (2020), Ulysses’s Gaze – the Return of Painterliness and Soulful Contemplation, Ginkgo Art Center, Beijing (2016); China Arte Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2014); Das Ich im Anderen, Mercator Foundation, Essen (2014). His work is included in prominent collections such as the K11 Art Foundation in Hong Kong, the Akagawa Collection in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the Bronner/Philara Collection in Düsseldorf, Germany and the Dean Valentine Collection in Los Angeles, USA.