Lou Shenyi
Lou Shenyi: When We Were Young
2023.05.20 - 06.25
TRIUMPH GALLERY and STAR GALLERY are pleased to announce the latest solo exhibition of Lou Shenyi, When We Were Young, which will be held in both galleries from May 20 to June 25, 2023.
Lou Shenyi: "Wukong, the peaches of immortality, wheat fields, spring breeze…all are the subjects that I deal with the most. I hope that these paintings will put a knowing smile on viewers' face, quietly unlocking the secrets of the times. I want to rekindle the collective teenage memories as one of the generation born in the 1970s.
Youth is synonymous with hometown. In my heart, the roots of life are not only about one’s geographical origin, but rather about the soul and the most beautiful phase of life in the past. In painting, I managed to revive the innocence, mischief, and even some trivial pranks of my adolescent years. The imprints of my past come alive in my works with the charm of simplicity and truthfulness, such as my various depictions of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, which are always hilarious, or the delicious peaches of immorality that may be gnawed at by a few worms, or the gorgeous blooming plum blossoms that resemble skeletons. All of them are derived from the juvenile observations, the dreamy state a boy, as well as the little curiosity about life and death, love and sex that is unique to youth."
Lou Shenyi: "Wukong, the peaches of immortality, wheat fields, spring breeze…all are the subjects that I deal with the most. I hope that these paintings will put a knowing smile on viewers' face, quietly unlocking the secrets of the times. I want to rekindle the collective teenage memories as one of the generation born in the 1970s.
Youth is synonymous with hometown. In my heart, the roots of life are not only about one’s geographical origin, but rather about the soul and the most beautiful phase of life in the past. In painting, I managed to revive the innocence, mischief, and even some trivial pranks of my adolescent years. The imprints of my past come alive in my works with the charm of simplicity and truthfulness, such as my various depictions of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, which are always hilarious, or the delicious peaches of immorality that may be gnawed at by a few worms, or the gorgeous blooming plum blossoms that resemble skeletons. All of them are derived from the juvenile observations, the dreamy state a boy, as well as the little curiosity about life and death, love and sex that is unique to youth."
Lou Shenyi
In December 1973, Lou Shenyi was born in the county town of Fenghui in Shangyu, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. He was admitted to the Affiliated High School of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1989 and entered the Mural Painting Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (CAFA) in 1993. He has been teaching at China Academy of Art (CAA) since his graduation in 1997.
Lou’s painting draws from a broad range of topics benefiting from his childhood reading experience. Journey to the West, Buddhist sutras, pastoral sceneries, exotic landscapes, and portraiture are his favourites. After many years of diversified drawing experiments, Lou found his predilection for the rudimentary technique of outlining and colouring, i.e. outlining with markers and colouring with unmixed colours, which brings a concise, powerful, and visually impactful pleasure.
Lou perceives the world with childlike eyes, “I found naivety rather wise: the more superficial it appears, the closer it gets to the profound.”
Lou’s painting draws from a broad range of topics benefiting from his childhood reading experience. Journey to the West, Buddhist sutras, pastoral sceneries, exotic landscapes, and portraiture are his favourites. After many years of diversified drawing experiments, Lou found his predilection for the rudimentary technique of outlining and colouring, i.e. outlining with markers and colouring with unmixed colours, which brings a concise, powerful, and visually impactful pleasure.
Lou perceives the world with childlike eyes, “I found naivety rather wise: the more superficial it appears, the closer it gets to the profound.”
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