April 6 - May 12, 2024
ZHOU TIANBAI: Incapable of wielding a sharp edge
ZHOU TIANBAI: Incapable of wielding a sharp edge
Artists: Zhou Tianbai
Duration:April 6 - May 12, 2024
Opening: 4:00 PM, Saturday, April 6, 2024
Hunsand Space (Hangzhou) is honored to present Zhou Tianbai's debut solo exhibition titled " Incapable of Wielding a Sharp Edge ". The term "仞" in ancient Chinese culture signified a unit for measuring height and depth—akin to phrases such as "towering peaks of ten thousand 仞"—and metaphorically represented insuperable barriers in poetry, e.g., "gazing upon layer upon layer of lofty heights." The exhibition's theme ingeniously borrows from the concept of "仞" to articulate Zhou Tianbai's inner disposition: deeply entrenched in an abyssal state, yet feeling incapable of wielding a sharp edge to navigate life head-on within such extremities. To him, the key to strengthening the spirit amidst adversity lies in finding a path of compromise through humor, which can be termed as the art of not wielding a blade. This narrative unfolds in an otherworldly atmosphere tinged with humor, where convoluted and disordered aspirations materialize.
Zhou Tianbai, a graduate of the Oil Painting Department of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, experiences, like many of his peers, the inundation of readily available information, lifestyles akin to those on Xiaohongshu (a social media platform), and an AI-induced hallucinatory world. Societal circles, class divisions, and mainstream values push individuals to both crowd and tear each other apart, birthing numerous dissenting voices, collectively epitomizing Zhou Tianbai's personal state of trance.
In response, Zhou Tianbai depicts this collective trance, with his works primarily featuring groups of figures. His characters sport plain and straightforward poses, eschewing meticulous detail and instead employing bold, sweeping background tones. Figures in his paintings typically cluster together, with individual character outlines rendered in a seemingly clumsy, broad-stroke manner—a style akin to summarizing their essence with a single sentence. For each character, Zhou Tianbai adds witty and narrative captions, such as symbols like⚡️ ⛈️ and references to Xiaohongshu.
Zhou Tianbai adopts a diverse array of expressions; alongside fellow graduates from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, he co-founds the band "Thoughts of Geese," embodying an acid rock ensemble rooted in Shenyang, Northeastern China.
As a "painter," Zhou Tianbai presents clean canvases and humorously nuanced self-deprecation in narrative. He withstands external pressures while maintaining his core.
As a "musician," Zhou Tianbai methodically navigates towards the ideal realm of hallucinatory euphoria.
Using these two languages to solve current mysteries, his movements sway like ocean waves, while his consciousness humorously grapples with self-awareness akin to Hermann Hesse's description of the steppenwolf. Whether reaching the depths of the ocean or the other shore, the destination has vanished. Learning to swim in the sea and becoming an ordinary person, a member of the ocean, is the achievement of "incapable of wielding a sharp edge", leaning towards a laid-back approach.