Luo Ran and Wang Liyou participate in the group exhibition "An Average Comet" at Harkawik
An Average Comet
Luo Ran, Wang LiYou
2024.07.20-2024.08.31
Harkawik
The exhibition, titled An Average Comet, explores the reproduction of the exterior world within the artist’s studio, foregrounding contemporary perspectives on mimesis and examining artistic practices that copy, appropriate, borrow, recreate, or otherwise duplicate.
Mimesis is the foundational principle of both the oldest philosophical conceptions of visual art and the most disposable imagery of the present day. Its most straightforward meaning is embodied in representational art: capturing the world “out there” and reproducing it for the viewer. On the one hand, mimesis is used to explain the fundamental human impulse to imitate—to observe the behavior of others and emulate it without conscious thought. On the other, it describes a more nuanced process through which the essential features of the natural world are recreated rather than simply reproduced, generating effects that resemble their counterparts without ever being entirely identical.
It is difficult to imagine a model of visual art without mimesis, without the notion of reproduction. After all, what does it mean to conceive of a world created from nothing? In this sense, mimesis might be understood as a necessary condition for the existence of the other, simultaneously enabling its possibility and exposing the “illusory whole” of dominant discourse.
An Average Comet brings together works by 30 contemporary artists who engage deeply with the recreation of phenomena, logics, and conditions. Their practices are situated along a continuum between metaphorical and catachrestic activity, suggesting a world that lingers quietly yet insistently beyond the studio door.
An Average CometInstallation View
An Average CometInstallation View
Luo Ran’s work focuses on the current visual landscape and the underlying logic behind the generation of various images. He views this exploration as a game: the artist can simultaneously be both a player and creator, finding pleasure in the continuous discovery and creation of hidden and complex Easter eggs.
©Luo Ran
Adverrb (Enlarge,Delete,Dull,Middle,Light)
2023
Acrylic on canvas
90 × 70 cm
Within a context akin to uniform linear motion, he employs different tools from virtual software to intervene with objects in various ways, thereby transforming this into a working logic for painting. By redefining the boundaries between different dimensions, he attempts to discuss a rhythm, motion, connection, boundary, and order that remain suspended in reality. Through depicting tool symbols and the appearance created by their use, he presents a texture that is complex, flexible, process-oriented, and not absolutely correct. Although represented through concrete objects, these seemingly abstract and ambiguous forms counter the elitist notions of correctness, intelligence, and efficiency promoted in today’s meritocratic context.
©Luo Ran
Delete
2022
Acrylic on canvas
87 × 157 cm
Wang Liyou’s paintings transform images into expressions through colors, shapes, and strokes. Through the cutting of images and the combination of elements, he tries to enlarge the directivity and connotation of the image itself and connect the three-dimensional space with the two-dimensional picture.
©Wang Li You
Updo NO.3
2024
Oil on Canvas
100 × 80 cm
The pretentious commodity symbols and living conditions are purified by the artist into painting language, and the pure visual stimulation is brewing in the picture. With the gradual deepening of the theme concept and painting language construction, the simple things in the picture become more specific. At the same time, high-purity, bright and stimulating colors are gradually introduced into the picture. These colors with the era and identity metaphor symbols are superimposed layer by layer, and fluorescent colors are used as the background color or mixed with other colors for arrangement and use. The thick and orderly brushstrokes effectively integrate these elements, so that the directivity of the work is more distinct and the emotion is fully released. The picture itself conveys to everyone the pure high-level visual stimulation and impulse brought by the essential law of painting.
©Wang Li You
Updo NO.5
2024
Oil on Canvas
100 × 80 cm
