ZHENG LU UNDERCURRENT
ZHENG LU
UNDERCURRENT
S U N DA R A M TAG O R E C H E L S E A 0 5 . 0 4 .17 – 0 6 . 0 3 .17
GALLERY
MISSION
Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.
UNDERCURRENT For his first New York solo exhibition, Beijing-based artist Zheng Lu presents dynamic new sculptural installations at Sundaram Tagore Chelsea. Expanding on his noted Water in Dripping series, Zheng’s restless stainless-steel forms transform the gallery space, leaping across the room, evoking splashes of water suspended in mid-air. Zheng Lu began his Water in Dripping series in 2008. At first glance, his gravity-defying sculptural works appear wholly modern in their stainless-steel fabrication and ambitious technical execution, but a closer inspection reveals thousands of Chinese characters inscribed onto the surface of the metal. It is a nod to antiquity, inspired by the artist’s longtime study of traditional Chinese literature. Zheng, a native of Inner Mongolia, grew up practicing calligraphy with his grandfather and transcribing poetry for his father, a man of letters. For the works in this series, Zheng culled text from Appreciation of Still Water by Tang Left: Water in Dripping - Qi, 2016, stainless steel, 118.1 x 63 x 41.7 inches/300 x 160 x 106 cm
dynasty poet Bai Juyi. In doing so, he not only celebrates the power of water, an element essential to existence, but also revels in Bai’s unfettered imagination, evoking Chinese literati concepts of a contemplative journey within nature. By using characters from texts of historical significance, Zheng draws on the custom of apprentices copying masters’ works yet pushes this idea further by introducing new interpretations and possibilities. To create his metal sculptures, Zheng begins with a plaster base. He then lasercuts characters into the metal and, in a fashion similar to linking chainmail, uses heat to connect the pictographs so they can be shaped to the support. The resulting works are technically astonishing; their fluid, animated forms are charged with the energy (qi) of the universe, belying their steel composite. The punctured metal pieces transform a heavy, cold medium into something both physically and psychologically lighter and more engaging. “The manner in which light passes through the hollow sculpture makes my work appear weightless, which dissolves the traditional idea of sculptures being solid and grounded,” says Zheng.
R E F L E C T I O N S O N S T I L L W AT E R The active enjoy water when it flows, but those who are quiet find pleasure when it is still. Nothing is keener than running water, nor is there any better mirror than still water. Early frost falls on a lonely morning, with wind rustling leaves softly. In the center red leaves spread and green duckweeds float in the corners. A pond is no larger than eight or nine zhang, and an inlet has edges too. One can see clearly the bottom of the pond about three or four chi deep. Even the rising claw of a crane is clearly visible, one can also see fish swimming. The eyes are purified when we see still water and the heart is cleansed even when it touches the chest only. It is as still as Zen and clear as honesty. Limpid it can cure a greedy man of any avarice; fresh it helps to build friendship with a gentleman. It is not merely playing, for comparisons are also made. If one wants to understand a peaceful mind, he should know that our nature cannot be otherwise. Bai ]uyi (Tang Dynasty)
Left: Water in Dripping - Li, 2017, stainless steel, 66.9 x 59.1 x 51.2 inches/170 x 150 x 130 cm
Water in Dripping - Peng, 2017, stainless steel, 66.1 x 66.9 x 51.2 inches/168 x 170 x 130 cm
Water in Dripping - Xi, 2017, stainless steel, 53.1 x 59.1 x 43.3 inches/135 x 150 x 110 cm
Water in Dripping - Chao, 2016, stainless steel, 110.2 x 74.8 x 78.7 inches/280 x 190 x 200 cm
Water in Dripping - Chao (detail)
Water in Dripping - Miao, 2017, stainless steel, 78.7 x 122 x 59.1 inches/200 x 310 x 150 cm
Water in Dripping - Untitled, 2017, stainless steel, 48 x 97 x 36 inches/122 x 246.4 x 91.5 cm
Water in Dripping - Untitled, 2017, stainless steel, 87 x 110 x 52 inches/221 x 279.4 x 132 cm
Water in Dripping - Untitled (detail)
ZHENG LU
Zheng Lu graduated from Lu Xun Fine Art Academy, Shenyang, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture in 2003. In 2007, he received his Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, while also attending an advanced study program at The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris. Zheng Lu has participated in numerous exhibitions in China and abroad, including at the Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem; The Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Moscow; Musée Océanographique, Monaco; Musée Maillol, Paris; the National Museum of China, Beijing; the Long Museum and the Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai. In 2015, the artist had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, one of the leading institutions in the region. His most recent large-scale solo exhibition, titled Re-sist-ance, was on veiw at the Long Museum in Shanghai in 2016. Born in Chi Feng, Inner Mongolia, 1978 | Lives and works in Beijing
S U N D A R A M TA G O R E G A L L E R I E S new york 547 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001 tel 212 677 4520 • gallery@sundaramtagore.com new york 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 tel 212 288 2889 • gallery@sundaramtagore.com hong kong 4/F, 57–59 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong tel 852 2581 9678 • hongkong@sundaramtagore.com singapore 5 Lock Road 01–05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 tel 65 6694 3378 • singapore@sundaramtagore.com
President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Hong Kong: Faina Derman Sales director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor Exhibition coordinator/registrar: Julia Occhiogrosso Designer: Russell Whitehead Editorial support: Kieran Doherty
W W W. S U N D A R A M TA G O R E . C O M Photographs © 2017 Zheng Lu Text © 2017 Sundaram Tagore Gallery All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.