Exhibitions and Events
Huang Jue Ping Coolies
Works by Shen Hua
Vernissage: 14 May 2009,
6:30pm
- 8:30pm
Exhibition Continues: 15 May 2009 - 16 June 2009
Main Gallery, 21-31 Old Bailey Street, Central, Hong Kong
Schoeni Art Gallery is proud to announce Shen Hua’s third solo exhibition entitled Huang Jue Ping Coolies. In this showing, Shen Hua has chosen the coolies - known as the “bang bang” * - of Chongqing as his motif. Through his work, he attempts to explore the relationship between the developing cities and rural areas of China by employing a noteworthy phenomenon found in contemporary Chinese society as subject matter. The “bang bang” coolies are a unique feature of Chongqing - the only region in modern day China where such kind of physical labour still exists.
Similar to the “bang bang” coolies, Shen Hua himself originates from a farming background. With a keen eye for observation and reflection, the artist tells a realistic story behind this alienated and neglected collective, echoing China’s current state as a country in transition. China’s economic development in recent years has caused rural populations who can no longer rely on working the land as a means of economic existence to migrate into the cities. As outcasts of the urban environment, these ‘farmers’ often feel at loss, and thus adopt a feeling of resentment, pessimism or even anger. Shen Hua frankly expresses his feelings towards this situation: “later, I too migrated to the city, where I discovered it was completely different to the countryside and its people. Next to them, I often felt that it was impossible for me to integrate into their society. I get the same feeling everywhere from migrant workers on the street, and so I decided to paint their deep feelings of inferiority, their emotions are expressed fully in each and every face and in every scrap of clothing…”
As a result, Shen Hua’s work reveal an honest yet incredibly sharp portrayal of his peers, which conveys a forceful and direct social commentary. Metaphorically, his expressive and intense brushstrokes communicate harsh emotions that add to the weight of his message. Shen Hua further heightens the satirical allegory by depicting his subject matter in distorted dwarf like figures. Artistically, Shen Hua explores ways to cross the boundaries of expression, as he explains: “Traditional painting will always limit a person with its two dimensional space, and thus it will always impose limits on our expression. Through my paintings I hope to enter a sculptural space that will cause the viewers to sense movement; it is an attempt to achieve a more complete impression of the world around us.”
Moving away from two dimensional canvases, in 2007 Shen Hua started to work on the Stare - Worker Series, where he painted both front and back sides of the rural workers, in response to the blatant stares that his characters receive from city dwellers on a daily basis. In this way, Shen Hua allows his audience to “stare” at his paintings from either side, while he asserts a critical statement towards the maltreatment of these labourers. From the Stare - Worker Series, Shen Hua began to incorporate bamboo poles and steel scaffolding into his installation works. In the Huang Jue Ping Coolies Series, the artist will include the coolies’ own involvement into his creation process, as each of them will inscribe their details from their ‘bang bang” registration cards into his art work.
Shen Hua was one of the finalists of the Sovereign Art Prize in 2006 and at a tender age of 37, his exceptional maturity and honest sense of humility has already touched the hearts of many. He constantly challenges our awareness of contemporary social issues, while subtly prompting questions about our own identity as a collective within society. As a master’s degree graduate of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute - of which Schoeni Art Gallery was pleased to sponsor - Shen Hua has lived in the area of Huang Jue Ping for 9 years. It is in this particular spot of the vast and ever-changing country where Shen Hua’s path has crossed with the “bang bang” coolies of Huang Jue Ping.
* A “bang bang” is a Sichuanese profession of men in markets or public squares who are for hire in transporting goods. They transport their goods using sticks called, “bang bang” carried over their shoulder.
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