Manhattan, NY – Polin Huang & Jingqi Wang: Waking Life at VillageOneArt offers a transcendental perspective of the interstitial: moments frozen between different cultures, geographic locations, or states of consciousness. The subjectivity of experience and our ability as people to shift mindsets – similar to what occurs in the transition between dream states and waking life – is explored in the artists’ playful representational paintings. Through bold color blocks, strong use of line, and an embrace of decorative patterning, the artists thread myth, memory, and dream-like visions into scenes that form marked departures from everyday life. From still life compositions by Wang to Huang’s bold, playful feminine portraits, Waking Life offers the viewer the chance to explore adventures at the boundaries and borders of what they believe to be possible.
Hinting around the edges of iconographies found in works by Marc Chagall and Dorothea Tanning, Jingqi Wang references Albert Camus’ Sisyphian notion of absurdity in surrealist-inspired fantasy paintings representing a melange of pattern, still life and reverie. Mounting a humorous yet, at times, sobering approach to contemporary reality, Wang plays with narration in compositional elements such as pattern and surface texture in works such as “Skirt Mountain” and “Ulysses” (above.) Huang, meanwhile, embraces mixed media elements such as glitter, acrylic, and oil pastels in her compositions, presenting flat approaches to painting and portraiture. She plays with tropes entangled with social mores regarding female sexuality in her humorous yet incisive paintings. Utilizing techniques such as pastiche and kitsch, Huang’s utilization of a flat picture plane brings a sense of otherworldliness and fantasy to her informed compositions. Waking Life entices the viewer to embrace dreamscapes as a path to the absurd.
Exhibition Dates
December 7, 2023 – January 6, 2024
Opening Reception
Thursday, December 7 | 6 – 8 PM
Artists
Polin Huang, Jingqi Wang
Venue
150 W 25th #403,
New York, NY 10001
RSVP Contact
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About Gallery
Founded in 2018, VillageOneArt Gallery is a women-led contemporary art space founded by gallerist Vivienne Yang and curator Christy Qin in the neighborhood of Chelsea, NYC, showcasing works from local and international artists of diverse backgrounds. The gallery’s foundational principles are established upon exploring the infinite bounds of human imagination through expansive and innovative mediums. VillageOneArt Gallery serves as a necessary bridge between art and the public sphere, with a soul reflecting the evolving spirit of our era. Each exhibition sparks a temporal and cultural dialogue, inviting rich reflection and thought-provoking perspectives.
(text & photo courtesy of VillageOneArt Gallery)
