There’s something intricately nostalgic about Chinese artist Ding Shilun’s painted worlds, like a beautiful longing for a universe beyond our own. Guangzhou-born, London-trained and now working between both cities, Ding harnesses his heritage, current events and a global history of art to create large and detailed pictorial works that depict the follies of society and daily life, often with a representation of himself imposed into the seemingly homogenous societies. The result? A cross cultural mash-up – part manga comics and part Chinese xianxia, with strong leanings into fashion, even camp.
“Folktales have a strong didactic meaning and the stories I describe are often just an atmosphere, sometimes a reflection on the ridicule of contemporary situations,” Ding shares in a statement.
He’s inspired by the allegories and figure paintings by the likes of Gustav Klimt or Kai Althoff, and blends them with interpretations of classic Chinese literature – reminiscent of Zhang Daqian’s ethereal landscapes or Qi Baishi’s whimsical watercolour works – to create entirely new sets of contemporary mythologies.
Noticing his talent, the Bernheim Gallery approached Ding even before he received his MA in painting from the Royal College of Art in London. He’s holding his third solo show, titled Spectres in Rehearsal, with the gallery in Zurich, where great tableaux that depict a cast of extraordinary characters on stage are presented for the first time. The show runs until April 11.
Ding has also taken part in several group exhibitions, most notably with Hauser & Wirth’s London show Interior Motives, as well as at Denmark’s Kunsthal Charlottenborg in the exhibition Under the Talking Tree.
