THE DAY DREAMERS
Works by Su Jia Shou, Su Jia Xi and Su Jie

Vernissage: 17 January 2008 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Exhibition: 18 January - 15 February 2008

Schoeni Art Gallery is delighted to announce their latest exhibition The Day Dreamers, of artists, twin brothers Su Jia Shou and Su Jia Xi, and fellow artist Su Jie, three prodigious young talents whose works are coming to wide recognition and individual acclaim. The Day Dreamers exhibition is a powerful collection of new works and fresh artistic expression from Su Jia Shou and Su Jia Xi, and Su Jie. Notably, all three are all under the tutelage of Tang Zhi Gang, working and studying alongside one of the greatest and most critically recognised artists in China today. It is significant that Schoeni Art Gallery is hosting this exhibition, for we hope to continue promoting and nurturing the new talents and emerging artforms from China, and we hope that there continues to be a strong network of guidance and artistic community where up and coming artists such as Su Jia Shou and Su Jia Xi, and Su Jie may thrive.

Su Jia Shou

Su Jia Shou, was born in 1982 in Tung Hai, Yunan, China, only recently graduating from the Yuxi Teaching School in 2001. Su was a primary school teacher for one year, before deciding to devote his energies into art and take another professional route. He continues to study at the Yunan Academy Fine of Art today, although he has already exhibited at the 8^th "Jian Hu" Exhibition, Kunming at the ALAB Art Space in China. In September, 2007, Su was selected as one of the Top 30 Sovereign Art Prize finalists, and also one of the top 30 shortlisted for the Louis Vuitton Art Prize, for his work "Tang" a piece which depicts various miniature portraits of his mentor as well as a painted mosaic of tiles showing scenes, people, animals and objects from everyday life.

There is something contemplative about Su Jia Shou's paintings that contain seemingly banal objects, imbuing a notion of silence and change in a metaphorical wasteland. Some of Su Jia Shou's canvases contain heaps of rubbish in a post-industrial muddy landscape, littered with products of consumerism and mass production. Others, are rooms with various forms of lighting fixtures casting luminous glows over parts of the canvas and receding into corners darkened by murky shadows. Perhaps Su, with his at times lopsided directed viewpoint, is commenting on the banal and commonplace, and how we occupy our present time and space with waste in time, resources and matter.

"Too many people lose and cannot find themselves among other people - what joy is that! This isn't to say that is it selflessness, one needs to "exist" before reaching this state of selflessness. In this way, the significance of individualism doesn't seem to be important. I choose to reflect on all this through my work on canvas. Of course, words are not enough to express how I feel."

Su Jia Xi

Twin brother Su Jia Xi presents an alternative to Jia Shou's manner and style, an interesting point of comparison from a generational point of view, as well as a familial one. Having taken much the same route to the present as his brother, it is interesting to take note of the differences and similarities that bind them, and distinguish them as siblings, and artists. Su Jia Xi paints with a more sombre palette than his brother, and indeed contemporary, indicating a difference in outlook and creative point of departure. In contrast, Su Jia Xi concentrates more on settings that are situated outdoors, in street scenes which may contain a row of bicycles lined up beneath a street lamp, trees caught in the moonlight, or a deserted parking lot containing cars glistening under artificial lighting, yet there is some presence of movement symbolised by his blurred brush strokes and spots of highlight, although the object itself seems to be remaining still and "parked". There is a particular series where both twins have painted "Twins", a self-portrait of one another, as well as of themselves; mirrored in stance but different in composition and the subtleties of their facial expressions.

"There are conflicts for young people today between "Reality" and "Ideology". Some will let go of their ideology and compromise with reality, slowly falling into a programmed life. Gradually they become cold, empty, numb and bored. All these problems are unavoidable. Naturally, the one who is not willing to accept this frame of mind, will have to bear the pressure from this society."

Su Jie

As a contemporary of these brothers, Su Jie is an interesting inclusion in this exhibition, for they study and work together under the same mentor, and in the same studio. Su Jie also went to the Yunan Academy of Fine Arts, and evidently is in the same graduating class as the two brothers. Although similar in aesthetic, there is something distinctly different about Su Jie's style and artistic manner that sets his work apart. It could be fair to say that Su Jie focuses more on perspective, choosing interpret Realism by playing with light exposure, aperture and depth of field using his paintbrush rather than his lens. This is interesting for he is also painting unlikely backdrops, and many of his subjects are rats, showing how they exist within our urban infrastructure and architecture. There is a sense of their survival by feeding off human domain, but there is also something comical about the scenes that Su Jie depicts, such as a rat caught mid-air as he leaps towards a urinal, or a group of rats drinking out of the toilet bowl. It is satirical that these animals that we look at as dirty vermin exist in the mess and filth that we as humans have created.

"I try to express abstracts feeling through realism. The painting is to record not the fear of death, but the fear of the actual process. This foolish feeling can only be reflected in a painting. Neither is it necessary aggressive, but calm instead."

Written by Alexandra Hamlyn

Click on image for an enlarged view.

Su Jia Shou Twins Oil on Canvas 150 x 130 cm, 2007	Su Jia Shou Insomnia Series No. 2 Oil on Canvas 100 x 140 cm, 2007	Su Jia Shou Garbage Series No. 1 Oil on Canvas 130 x 150 cm, 2007
Su Jia Xi Twins No. 1 Oil on Canvas 100 x 90 cm, 2007	Su Jia Xi Site Series No. 3 Oil on Canvas 90 x 100 cm, 2007	Su Jia Xi Outside Silence Series No. 2 Acrylic on Paper 53 x 38 cm, 2007
Su Jie Patient Series No. 10 Oil on Canvas 100 x 120 cm, 2007	Su Jie Mouse Series - The Mouse and the Urinal Oil on Canvas 150 x 120 cm, 2007	Su Jie Put My Life in Order Oil on Canvas 75 x 90 cm, 2007

For interview arrangements with the artist or further information please contact Selina Liu.

Exhibition venue:	Schoeni Main Gallery, 21-31 Old Bailey Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Opening Date:	6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, Thursday, 17 January 2008
Exhibition runs:	18 January - 15 February 2008 Monday - Saturday 10:30 am - 6:30 pm. Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Contact Details:	Selina Liu, Tel: +852 2869-8802     Fax: +852 2522-1528 gallery@schoeni.com.hk    www.schoeni.com.hk

© Schoeni Art Gallery 2007.  All rights reserved.
Images of art on this website may not be reproduced
without prior permission of Schoeni Art Gallery or the artists.