rosenfeld porcini is pleased to announce the first ever UK solo exhibition by the Chinese artist Lu Chao (*1988).
Despite his young age, the artist’s work has already been extensively presented internationally and ‘Black Silence’ signifies an important development in his practice, both from a narrative and a formal point of view.
Chao’s earlier works concentrated on the passiveness of normal human beings, huddled together in tightly packed groups, when confronted with terrestrial power. Growing up in China, this was, at its inception, a comment on his homeland. However, having now lived in the U.K., he feels that this idea achieves a far wider relevance. In ‘Black Silence’, his attentions have turned to our relationship with extra-terrestrial power and what, if anything, is controlling our existence. Is the large black sphere hanging in the air, towering over the tiny humans below, a manifestation of a higher being or merely a natural phenomenon?
Human kind is portrayed as many miniature characters, ‘Lilliputians-like’, dwarfed by the immensity of the universe, whether suspended on strings manipulated by giant hands or amassed together in space, their reactions differ enormously. Either dominated by fear, dancing in circles or performing acrobatic handstands, there appears to be no universal response. The artist seems to be dissuading us from pursuing a definitive answer; in so doing emphasising the importance of our individual interpretation of the events. Lu Chao is suggesting that neither a God-like figure of Western religious tradition nor existential nothingness can ever represent an objective truth. Either is conceivable. However, whether negotiating emptiness, or a possible puppet master, we, as individuals, are inexorably alone in our journey through life.
For the occasion a monographic book will be published.
