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"Ping Ping An An​​​​​​​" (平平安安)

“Architecture should speak of its time and place but yearn for timelessness.” – Frank Gehry

The Queen of the Orient, Paris of the East, The City of Shen (申城), our dear Shanghai goes by many eclectic names. No matter what you call it, the city on the sea attracts a certain type of energy that has the power to move you deeply. No matter where you come from, this is home. Here you’re safe and sound from whatever you were running from. Now it’s just living. And it’s easy in a scene where old meets new at every corner. Hungarian-Slovak architect László Hudec, commonly known as Shanghai’s master builder, designed over 60 buildings in the thirty years he lived here. His creativity resulted in many of the art deco architecture that still stands to this day. Hudec’s masterpiece was the tallest building in the metropolis, until the 1980s, the twenty-two story Park Hotel Shanghai on Nanjing Road. A walk down the bund might as well be a walk through time. Western-style buildings, Neoclassical to Beaux-Arts to Gothic to Baroque, sky high edifices, traditional Shikumen lane houses, It's all here. All you could ever ask for just a few blocks near Bao Ren Long (保仁弄). Although some say the street is already removed, the feelings evoked when walking past remain.

99.5*75.5

Gongbi painting on watercolor paper, teakwood frame

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Old Friend Charlie" (老朋友查利)

Everybody carries what they fear the most. It’s like a heavy box in a box that you put in your backpack and take wherever you go. It becomes part of you. It’s there, when you go down to the beach, under the sunscreen and the towel. You might go to Asia, but leave your laptop at home, because your luggage is full and who would pay extra to carry fear? It’s easier to ignore its existence and accept to live in a reduced space. After all, that little fear has always dwelled in that box like a cymbal-banging chimp, flashing his teeth and popping his eyes out. You packed it away and put it under the memories you cherish, so you’ll never have to see his face again, but you hear every sound it makes and when they ask why you tremble, you just say, ah never mind… I just remembered my old friend, Charlie.

24*71cm

TFT display, media player, antique clock, powered speakers

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"366 Yunnan Nan Lu" (云南南路366号)

Hungry for something succulent and packed with flavor? Allow me to suggest the exquisite and iconic Jinling Salted Duck (盐水鸭). The earliest records of the dish date back over a thousand years ago to the Six Dynasties (AD 222-589). A keystone of Jinling cuisine, the tender white duck meat is fragrant and moist, with taut skin. The savory dish has been popular with many throughout the years, especially the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty: Zhu Yuanzhang. Legend says there was a dispute over a loud noise in the city, so the emperor issued a decree to kill all the roosters in the land. The people of Nanjing (formerly known as Jinling), had no chickens to eat, so the answer was simple... Ducks! This gave rise to the prominence of duck dishes, salted duck being one of the most exceptional. If you ever find yourself craving it, head to Yunnan Nan Lu food street. You’ll also find boiled chicken, spareribs with rice cakes, Nanxiang steamed bread, and Shandong dumplings. Although personally we recommend the unique salted duck. Let’s keep it between us!

51*51cm

TFT display, acrylic painting, media player, Vietnamese linen, teakwood frame

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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Shanghai wakes up suddenly from its peaceful slumber. The familiar summer heat spreads throughout the city as the sun rises like a theatrical spotlight exclaiming a new day is about to begin. The view outside my window quickly becomes overwhelming as the art deco stylized forms intertwine with electrical wires above. A construction worker and his lunch, ride a Hellobike to work. A mother with two young girls speeds by on the way to Tianmu West Lu School (天目西路幼儿园). A pair of real estate agents have already started working at the office. While one of the neighbors seems to be in the market for a new Oppo phone. I heard those are great for selfies. I’m fascinated by stories that unravel in close proximity. The ways in which neighbors interact or pass each other by...Becomes the ultimate crossover of intimacy and distance. It’s the organized nature of compact Shikumen. An old lady takes a seat by her front door. It’s wide open. She likes to watch what happens on 81 Qingdao Lu as she knits for her grandkids. They like the color blue. Yves Klein’s blue. I believe the upstairs neighbor likes the color red by her display of intimate garments drying on the clothesline for everyone to enjoy. Have you ever thought about your neighbors witnessing much of your everyday life? They may have access to the surface, but only you know what lies behind closed curtains. In a way, it’s a delicate balance of courtesy. I shut my blinds and drift off to sleep for a few more minutes. The day can wait.

51*51cm

TFT display, acrylic painting, media player, teakwood frame

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"A Secret Love For The Absolute" (唯爱莫属)

When we look up and see the vast blue sky or go swimming in the dark blue ocean, we forget blue is the rarest color in nature. There are a few flowers like lilies, morning glories, and poppies but blue roses do not exist. That is unless we’re talking about “The Legend of The Blue Rose” (公主与蓝玫瑰). In Chinese folklore, an emperor’s daughter was to be married soon, her father allowed one stipulation for her suitors. Her request was simple, she would marry the man who could bring her a single blue rose. The first man paid a florist for a painted rose, however when the princess held it, paint dripped on her hands. Another man carved a rose out of sapphire. Offended, the princess replied she wouldn’t marry a man whose heart was as cold as the stone. Next, a man asked a wizard to craft him a blue rose. The princess was presented a wooden box containing what looked like a pristine blue rose. When she reached inside her hand passed through it, it was a mere illusion. Angrily she rejected this suitor as she couldn’t marry someone so deceitful. Disheartened by the outcome she retreated to the garden where she met with the gardener’s son. They trusted one another and he was dear in her heart, she wished she could marry him. The next morning, he presented the princess with a single white rose. The room rapidly filled with whispers and shock. The princess held its petals and declared, “this is a blue rose”. The emperor gave his blessing for if her daughter said it, then so it must be. The couple lived happily until the end of their days painting colorful flowers everywhere they went.

Perhaps blue roses are not as rare as we think.

51*51cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting, Vietnamese linen, teakwood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"The Complexity Principle" (复杂性原则)

Repeated deliberation, fan fu tui qiao, (反复推敲) is said of a person who racks his brains to find the right words, or who ruminates on a problem over and over again. Repetition in nature is a common sight and yet in humans it’s seen as compulsive behavior. Look around you, there’s repetition and patterns everywhere you see, from hanging poultry to bicycle wire wheels! And so, who really cares about the absurdity of her actions, they’re hers after all. Hickam’s dictum would say she can hang, take down, and re-hang clothes as many times as she damn well pleases. Throughout Jing’an district, streets, buildings and alleyways are painted with colorful clothes and wild patterns. These clothes lines, often homemade simple contraptions, act as paper curtains showcasing the ultimate street performance. That’s how the saying goes isn’t it? Life imitates art and art imitates life. I guess Occam was right after all, sometimes the best answer is the simplest one. So sit back, the show is about to start.

51.3*51.3cm

RGB LED display, Chinese papercut on Plexiglass, paper collage, teakwood  

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Empress Cixi's Dowry" (慈禧太后的嫁妆)

In ancient times, dowry was not only a considerable amount of money to provide a lifetime security for the bride, but it was also the only way for a woman to get a share of the family assets. Some women, however, had nothing to get, but were eager to climb high. A Manchu girl named Yehonala was a daughter of an ordinary official in a family where she could never get what she wanted. She desired more than a mere status of wife, left to dust the family porcelain. At the age of sixteen, she was one of the few young girls chosen to be among the emperor’s concubines. The Forbidden City became a prison to most who managed to enter, but Yehonala used the chance to expand her world. She read and learned everything she could to gain power, but becoming more powerful than the emperor would require a little luck. She was the only one among the emperor’s wives and concubines who was able to have a son for him, securing her own high status for half a century afterwards.

102*102cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting, paper collage, teakwood 

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Rumble, Roars, and Laughter" (狮语)

Originating in China, anyone who’s traveled throughout Asia will tell you that Foo Dogs are a common sight to see. As symbols, they act as a means of protection for the structure (the male lion) and for the people inside (the female). However, lions, while not indigenous to China, somehow made their way to imperial palaces, courts, tombs, and eventually to their homes as auspicious signs of status and fortune, and were likely imported by Buddhist missionaries travelling through China thousands of years ago. In the 16th century, Matteo Ricci introduced calendarial science and a “complete and great map of the world”, which he created with Chinese characters. Ricci’s contributions allowed for accurate prediction of solar eclipses and other significant celestial occurrences, giving him sagatic capital with which converted several high-ranking government officials. Today, what lasting cultural advancements have been imported? Apple? Gucci? The golden arches? What will adorn doorways and mantles in 2,000 years? If we pray to our corporate gods hard enough, maybe we will be rewarded with infinity rooms full of pumpkins or diamond-encrusted skulls or beautiful silver balloon bunnies. Maybe we’ll get to keep the Foo Dog Lions.

120*120cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting, paper collage, Indonesian Merbau wood 

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Tianlong's Lair" (龙逍遥)

Life calls the tune, we dance. - John Galsworthy

Our fate is written in the stars or so the story goes, but it might not be entirely true. You see quantum mechanics sheds a different perspective on life. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states that there is a fundamental limit to what we can know. For example, in terms of particles, the more we know about a particle’s position, the less we know about their momentum, therefore we cannot precisely measure it. Additionally, any small interference can cause particles to behave differently, meaning our choices affect the outcome! If this sounds confusing don’t worry, even quantum physicists find it strange. This information confirms there’s many things we cannot fully predict. We all make choices, yet there’s always circumstances beyond our control. Cause and effect, fate and free will, where does one begin and the other end? No reason to feel frightened, next time you find yourself staring at the stars, wave to the heavenly dragon Tianlong (天龙) and ask for some insight.

46*65cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting, paper collage, teak wood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Zesty Fruity Earthy Creamy" (香、淳、韵、滑)

Perhaps you haven’t heard of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, but you have experienced it. Also known as The Frequency Illusion, it describes when you start noticing something for the first time and suddenly it seems to appear everywhere. Drip. You start noticing it more often, which may lead you to believe that it is happening more often. In reality, it’s merely a cognitive bias, a subjective reality steeping in your head. Plop. Not to worry, as there is a purpose to this task. You see, you are exposed to a million drops of information a day, your brain can’t possibly process it all or you’d feel too overwhelmed! Slosh. Selective attention is the process through which we select certain teas of information to focus on, while simultaneously suppressing peripheral distractions. When something does stand out our brain simply starts noticing it more in the world. 

Zesty fruity earthy creamy tears have always been here, trickling from the teapot. You were not aware of it before, but you are now. I wonder what your brain will do with this new information. Splash.

46*65cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting, Vietnamese linen, teak wood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Pom Pom Styrofoam" (蓬蓬塑料坦克)

We all carry some sort of imaginary baggage wherever we go. It can weigh you down, or keep you grounded. It’s all a matter of perspective, as with most things in life. The Stoics teach us that reason precedes happiness, meaning the quality of our life experience begins with our interpretation of it. It’s a powerful realization to know you’re in control, the one behind the wheel, navigating through the dense traffic. Philosopher Marcus Aurelius reminds himself, “For it was not outside me, but within me, in my judgements.” We must resolve to see things in a different light, try it and you’ll feel the weight suddenly change. Some use their hands or a fictitious backpack, others have enough styrofoam boxes to meticulously pack a sanlunche (三轮车) like a careful stacking and balancing performance act. At the end of the day that’s what it comes down to, the grand show! Entertaining the masses! Staging the most amazing display on Earth! And it’s true, you do carry it well. Now give us a smile, you’re on camera!

51.2*51.2cm

TFT display, CCD camera, acrylic painting Vietnamese, teak wood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Things You Can Do While Waiting For A Ride" (等待下一程时你能做的事)

Well, there’s a couple. There is a couple that I can see here walking up and down, getting older day by day. I can recognize that. They can recognize me, but they have never looked me in the eye. I have only seen their faces looking at the dark sky, the stars, covering their head, running from the rain, sharing a shelter together with me. A hundred-year-old man who sits down in front of his house with a pile of newspaper and reads it all by the morning when the new ones arrive. The boy on the scooter that’s so fast I can only smell him for a split second. I can draw people by memory. I make up the details, but somehow it resembles the impressions they give me. They give me… cash… that I turn into memories, so I have them for life. In the evening there isn’t really much to do other than observing people. With an anthropology major that’s exactly what one’s professor expects, right? Doing field-work while hitchhiking all around the country. And all this because I don’t have a car.

41*41cm

RGB LED display, one-way glass, teakwood frame

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Drug Store Mori" (森大药房)

Beauty exists merely in the mind which contemplates things; and each mind perceives a different beauty. -David Hume

From the moment I saw her I was struck by her beauty. Her golden locks shimmered despite the flickering dull lights. Her honey filled eyes caressed my very soul. Oh but what do the great minds have to say about this? Is it really in my hands, do I really get to decide? According to Aristotle beauty is symmetry and order like a perfect mathematical equation. Confucius on the other hand, thought beauty was over appreciated and people should focus more on their virtues. Actually I beg to argue that the beautiful and the good can be connected; Much like Plato’s philosophy that beauty is akin to goodness. This thought has been popular in the past but more recent thinkers disagree with this notion. For example, Leo Tolstoy thought it delusional to associate beauty with goodness. And so the more I think about it I’m realizing the nature of beauty is one of the most fascinating riddles of philosophy! It’s no wonder we’ve discussed this for centuries. And while I don’t have the final answer now what I do know is that, at the end of the shift virtue morphs into beauty, in the eye of the beholder.

120*120cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting on Plexiglass, teak wood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Heiseiya Takeaway" (平成屋)

How often do you stop what you’re doing and think about time? Are you ever aware of the seconds, minutes, or hours that are passing you by? (which reminds me, do you have any idea how much time has passed since you started reading this sentence?). Perhaps you’ll be relieved to hear that it’s quite common to not think or even forget about those seconds ticking away... Remember time is technically an invisible, intangible, social construct, that was created just to make sense of our world. In fact, if you ask people around, you’ll most likely find that everyone has a different perception of time (go on, ask around before you continue reading!) There’s a popular Chinese saying, shi bu dai wo (时不待我), which translates to “time and tide wait for no man”. As one of the fastest growing countries in the world, it’s no surprise life moves fast in China, but we prefer it this way. Thanks to expert Meituan (美团) and Eleme (饿了吗) delivery drivers, there’s thousands of takeaway options to fulfill your every craving in the nick of time. From spicy meat noodles, to expertly crafted sushi, it can all arrive at your door in a matter of minutes! If life in the fast lane seems intimidating, don’t you worry we also know how to relax. Because ultimately time doesn’t exist, right?

51*51cm

RGB LED display, acrylic painting on Plexiglass, teak wood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"I, Myself" (我，我自己)

For some reason, I was chosen. Randomly selected for some form of public expression, a voice for the outraged, or bored, or both. I am a canvas for a wandering artist. A kaleidoscope of colors streaked across my concrete body. Faded hues melt into newer, brighter ones. Holes, some small and some large, are scattered, like little pinpricks of time betraying my age. No one knows this road like I do. Each morning I watch black skies turn smoky gray and then the gray loses itself to that ball of light that slips up and down over my city. The day moves in a chaotic frenzy of crowds and noise. People occasionally glance at me, scanning over my long expanse of many voices. Some with disgust, some with intrigue. I watch the sun drift downwards in suspended time and the sky settle into an inky black hue. Each hazy night a new message is etched across me, a new voice from a new mouth. I can’t stop it. Maybe I have something to say. The irony is sharp and almost humorous. I myself have no voice really.

117*106cm

Oil painting on canvas, teakwood frame

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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"Zhongshan Tunic" (中山服)

Time marches forward. Steady. Beats like a rolling drum. Can you hear it? You must surely feel it. A sentient metronome. Tick, tick, tick...tapping rhythmically. Physicists agree that time is one of the most difficult properties of our universe to comprehend. Our current understanding of time is based on Einstein’s theory of relativity, the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference. Up until the 20th century, most people, including Galileo Galilei believed time was the same for everyone everywhere. What a shocking discovery it must’ve been to find a second is not always a second! And yet there is no stopping the stomping of time. Tick, tick, tick...march on old friend. We are told Confucius once stood by a river, made a deep sigh in front of the rushing water and said: " What passes is perhaps like this: day and night it never lets up.” The imagery of the river suggests time passing in a similar way as described by Heraclitus, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” 

It is in the rapid flow that we find purpose to keep trudging.

51*51cm

RGB LED display, Chinese papercut, Vietnamese linen, teakwood

Art for sale : [email protected] 

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#art‬ ‪ #fun‬ ‪ #contemporaryart‬ ‪ #gallery‬ #chinesepapercut‪ #studio‬ #Shanghai #LiuDao #island6 #artgallery #artdistrict #artforsale #LEDart