Hinterland – Solo Exhibition of LU Song

Galerie Huit is delighted to present the Hong Kong solo debut exhibition Hinterland by Bei-Jing based artist, Lu Song.

Hinterland suggests an arcadian place that lies beyond the horizon, and it is on this personal journey the artist takes us, through remote and rural landscapes, inspired both by his recollection and his own sourced film images.

The exhibition comprises new and recent paintings that oscillate between figurative and abstract representations. At the time of creation, the artist reaches an apex between two points and instinctively determines the narrative of each painting – and here the different vignettes and scenarios present themselves.

Popular and familiar pastimes seen in By the River and Hinterland portray bathers in the open air, whilst Seeking the Sun captures walkers strolling on verdant lands. Loitering and Midnight Bay capture a four legged creature as it strolls carefree, and horses feed against burnt red sun-kissed hues, a bucolic setting both serene and tranquil.

Yet, in juxtaposition, Two Runaways suggests the country as a clandestine place and a different narrative runs contemporaneous with the former works – Hills of Sorrow and Into the Unknown are constructed with broad marks, that emote an intense and ambivalent mood. Here, the artist offers a more unsettling experience of being in such a natural environment where man plays a less significant part. As Old as Adam refers to the popular idiom that suggests both the birth of the planet and the biblical first human’s creation by God. The bold sweeping brush strokes resemble cloud-like plumes, conjured forth by the vivid action of the artist’s hand, almost as if Lu himself has been captured in this moment of epiphany.

Whether the mood evoked is contemplative, provocative or playful, the paintings are all connected through Lu’s carefully tempered palette of sepia tone colours that wash over the canvas. It is through careful application of the tonal range that the artist has created such a vivid cinematic experience for the spectator. The background and the foreground operate as one, and each painting reads like a frame of film, emphasising positive and negative, light and shadow, serving to gently outline the subjects and to illustrate a broad horizon on the canvas. However, the coexisting representations in the exhibition do not lead to a grand summation.

We are encouraged to draw our own conclusion of whether such a place exists beyond these vistas.

Lu Song was born in Bei-Jing, China in 1982, and lives and works in Bei-Jing. In 2006, Lu graduated with an MA in Painting from Wimbledon College of Art, London, UK. His paintings have been placed in prominent international collections, worldwide. Recent solo and group exhibitions include 2014: Hills Beyond the Backdrop, Alexandre Ochs Galleries, Berlin, China Arte Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Die 8 der Wege, Uferhallen, Berlin. 2013: Meshes of the Afternoon, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, Berlin Status II, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin. The exhibition opens on the 28th April and runs through to the 29th May 2015.