Mirage: Ding Shilun
Past exhibition
Overview
Bernheim is delighted to announce Mirage, the second solo show of Ding Shilun with the gallery and his first solo exhibition in London. Comprising a new body of work, with paintings on an ambitious scale as well as a substantial set of works on paper, we are thrilled to present this theatrical and sincere advancement in the practice.
Ding Shilun, even at such a young age, has come to be known for a singular approach which encapsulates varying modes and motifs of thinking and visualising existence. His classical training and inspiration from the traditions of his Chinese upbringing merge with deep interests and understanding of international mores, cultural symbols and art history merge in ways playful and profound. Their being unusual and remarkable come from their being, frankly, new experiences.
Ding Shilun, even at such a young age, has come to be known for a singular approach which encapsulates varying modes and motifs of thinking and visualising existence. His classical training and inspiration from the traditions of his Chinese upbringing merge with deep interests and understanding of international mores, cultural symbols and art history merge in ways playful and profound. Their being unusual and remarkable come from their being, frankly, new experiences.
Shilun’s work is denser than ever here. These works are difficult to apprehend in their totality, to comprehend as moments. And, yet, they are urgent, with an immediacy that captures the viewer.
As the artist puts it, the paintings are “sugar coated bullets”, their beauty draws a line towards the sublime, an experience that simultaneously tempts and repels, overwhelming with details and textures and the intricacy of the figures without sacrificing the rapture of the painterly. With Mirage, Shilun exploits the gallery as an elaborate theatre with each work serving as a stage on which multiple performances and narratives enact concurrently. Far from frozen frames, these paintings discount preconceived notions of the now. Graphic and painterly, narrative and open, they convey debauchery and virtue as indistinguishable, a transcendental illusiveness. It is in this way that Shilun goes beyond the Kantian definition of the sublime, rather he creates another sphere of time. To quote J-F Lyotard’s essay The Sublime and the Avant-Garde, “Rather, it is what dismantles consciousness, what dismisses consciousness; it is what consciousness cannot formulate, and even what consciousness forgets in order to compose itself.”
For further information please contact:
info@bernheimgallery.com
Works
-
Ding ShilunHunter’s Whistle, 2024Oil on linen230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunFalling Gold, 2024Oil on linen230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunIntolerance, 2024Oil on linen230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunThe Intimate, 2024Oil on linen230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunAnnunciation, 2024Oil on linen230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunCrescent Lake, 2024Oil on linen230 x 380 cm
90 1/2 x 149 5/8 in -
Ding ShilunParade, 2024Oil on linen190 x 180 cm
74 3/4 x 70 7/8 in -
Ding ShilunSoft Blade, 2024Oil on linen190 x 170 cm
74 3/4 x 66 7/8 in -
Ding ShilunThe Mischievous Light, 2024Oil on linen230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunCapture of The Twilight, 2024Oil on linen90 x 80 cm
35 3/8 x 31 1/2 in -
Ding ShilunOppressive Shade, 2024Oil on linen110 x 90 cm
43 1/4 x 35 3/8 in -
Ding ShilunMedals of Merit, 2024Oil on linen110 x 90 cm
43 1/4 x 35 3/8 in -
Ding ShilunThe Pearl Merchant, 2024Oil on linen70 x 50 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunMidas touch, 2024Oil on linen50 x 40 cm
19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in -
Ding ShilunD106 (The Best Assassin), 2024Watercolor on paper31 x 23 cm
12 1/4 x 9 in -
Ding ShilunD104 (Arrival), 2024Watercolor of paper31 x 23 cm
12 1/4 x 9 in -
Ding ShilunD105 (Boom), 2024Watercolor on paper31 x 23 cm
12 1/4 x 9 in -
Ding ShilunD107 (Ostrich), 2023Watercolor on paper31 x 23 cm
12 1/4 x 9 in -
Ding ShilunD108 (Back Mountain), 2024Watercolor on paper31 x 23 cm
12 1/4 x 9 in
Installation Views
Press
-
Gallerist Maria Bernheim On Her London Opening and Getting High on Her Own Supply
ObserverDaniel Penny, February 12, 2024 This link opens in a new tab. -
Ding Shilun Paints Life’s Absurdities at Bernheim Gallery | Ding Shilun
OculaSimon Fisher, February 8, 2024 -
Artist Ding Shilun Makes His Own Mythology | Ding Shilun
W MagazineAlex Needham, February 5, 2024
News
Virtual Exhibition
Conversations with Ding
Back in December 2023, we asked Ding Shilun to take us behind the scenes of his work for his current solo show ‘Mirage’ at Bernheim London.
‘I can see the characters as my own embodiment. I play the role of director and actor at the same time.’
Shilun’s work is denser than ever. These works are difficult to apprehend in their totality, to comprehend as moments. And, yet, they are urgent, with an immediacy that captures the viewer. As the artist puts it, the paintings are “sugar coated bullets”, their beauty draws a line towards the sublime, an experience that simultaneously tempts and repels, overwhelming with details and textures and the intricacy of the figures without sacrificing the rapture of the painterly.
‘The Intimate’, 2024
Oil on linen
230 x 190 cm
90 1/2 x 74 3/4 in
Photography and Credits: Eva Herzog, Bernheim and the Artist
