Peng Tao, Gao Lei
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iRRi ART for Golden Eagle Contemporary Art Center, Nanjing, January 19th, 2013 – February 3rd, 2013.
„Dividing Structures“ is an independent art exhibition initiated by the artists Gao Lei and Peng Tao and curated and realized by iRRi ART. Gao Lei and Peng Tao are both artists from Nanjing, they both paint, but are both not restraint to this one material of expression. The “Dividing structures” exhibition combines the newest work series of both in one concept.
Exhibition Design
When entering the exhibition space the way of the visitor is blocked by a gray brick wall, the entrance is narrow. On the wall hangs a series of 12 square oil paintings, mostly gray in colors, titled “12 signs of zodiac”. Mixed in the thick oil color is construction material, sand, stone, dirt, wire. On the ground scattered, broken material, as if fallen off the wall or off the paintings. When looking over the wall the visitor sees the towering painting installation “Osborous”, depicting construction sites and factory grounds. The actual architecture depicted is taken from real existing industrial sites from different countries.
Every few minutes there is the sound of sirens emerging from the painting installation in Peng Tao’s space – very time the siren breaks in, the light changes. Once the visitor has passed the construction sites, she/he finds herself/himself facing either a dark painted room, or a bright lighted one.
Gao Leis room is painted black, the pictures are illuminated only by small spotlights, the real source of light is a light installation in the middle of the room in the form of a light column, which is reacting with the siren’s sound. Gao Lei takes the topics for his eight presented paintings from media pictures. The violence of the pictures is not only by its content but as well from its colors and size. Emotionally the visitor can feel in insecurity brought by ever growing cities and unnatural living conditions given by modern society.
Curatorial statement
As Peng Tao’s space is bright, so is Gao Lei’s dark. The dichotomy of light and darkness shows the two sides of the same medal:the outside surroundings and the inside effects on the people. Both artists are depicting the moment of the object taking control over the subject, the moment the philosopher Paul Virilio describes as the moment of catastrophe and collapse being the inherent consequence of faster growing development.
While in Peng Tao’s space the light is bright white, the colors of his paintings are shades of grey, you can feel the dust of construction sites in the air.The sound and light Installation is the symbol of cause and effect of inner and outer reality, acting as a bridge between the two spaces. In Gao Lei’s space you are blinded by the pulsing light and confronted with the violent consequence of development shaping society.
Peng Tao
Material like sand and stone are subject and object to Peng Taos paintings. The series of smaller paintings in the entrance area constitute the abstract part of human life, the inscribed signs of zodiac point to the chaotic universe to which humans ever tried to give an order of things, a structure.
The naturalness of material and its transformation by mankind into housings or industrial buildings which shape our living reality is the subject of the 10 bigger paintings.
The contrast in content between the two painting series and at the same time the correspondence between the materials comes to conclusion: on the one hand the ancient system of the star signs, the need of humans to organize the world around them. On the other hand the modern architecture, being unnatural in dimensions and bearing the possibility of accident in itself, leading far away from naturalness. Peng Tao’s work is highly influenced by the French philosopher Paul Virlio.
Gao Lei
While Peng Tao work is about the objects, the materials, the buildings and the surroundings we live in and which construct and structure our reality, Gao Lei is focusing on the effects of these unnatural surroundings on the people.
Gao Lei takes his topics from the everyday media being concerned with violence and fright. He reproduces the same brightness and colorfulness as media does to depict the glaring reality of violence. Through abstraction in his pictures he goes beyond the mere reproduction of these widely accepted pictures, he is illustrating the emotional consequences of boundaries and pressure imposed by social roles in today’s society.彭涛, 高雷
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IRRI ART金鹰当代艺术中心，南京，1月19日，2013年 – 2013年2月3日。
“ 分离构造”是一个独立的艺术展览，由艺术家高雷和彭涛发起，由IRRIART策划并实施。高雷和彭涛都是来自南京的艺术家，他们的专业是油画，但都没有被这种材料限制他们的表达。 “ 分离构造”展览在一个概念里结合了这两人的最新作品系列。
展览设计
当顾客进入展览空间，前方的道路被一堵浅灰色的砖墙封锁，入口很窄。墙上挂着一系列12平方米的油画，颜色大多是灰色的，标题为“黄道12星座”系列。粘稠的油状物颜色混合在建筑材料，砂，石，泥土，电线中。地面上散落着破碎的物料，像是从墙壁上或画作脱落下来的东西。在查看墙面的时候，观众会看到高耸的绘画装置“Osborous”，描绘建筑工地和工厂的废墟。描绘的实际架构是从来自不同国家的真正的现有工业用地。
每隔三分钟，彭涛空间的绘画装置就会发出警报器的声音 – 警报器响的时候，光线发生变化。一旦观察者走过 彭涛作品的房间，她/他发现自己正面对着被黑色涂满墙壁的房间，光线在极明与极暗间循环。
高雷的房间被漆成黑色，墙上的作品只被微弱的小射灯照亮，真正的光源是一盏安装在房间中间的灯柱，灯柱随着警笛的声音有无而开关。高雷从媒体图片中选取他的八张图片用于主题展示。图片的暴力主题不仅是由它的内容来表达，也从它的颜色和大小进行阐述。在情感上，观众可以感受到不断增长的城市所带来的不安全感以及现代社会不自然的生活条件。
策展陈述
由于彭涛的空间是明亮的，而高磊的空间是黑暗。光明与黑暗的对立显示了事物的两面性：外部环境和内部对人的影响。两位艺术家都描绘对象控制主题的时刻，此时哲学家保罗维瑞利奥描述灾难和崩溃的时刻是快速增长发展的自然结果。
虽然在彭涛的空间，光线是明亮的白色，他的画作的颜色是深浅不一的灰色，你可以感受到空气中建筑工地的尘埃。声光装置是内部和外部的现实原因和影响的象征，作为两个空间之间的一个桥梁。在高雷的空间，你会被强光所蒙蔽，面对塑造社会发展的暴力后果。
彭涛
像沙子和石头等材料都是彭涛画作的主题和对象。在展厅门口的小画作系列构成人类生活的抽象部分，星座的刻痕从混沌宇宙到人类曾经试图创建事物的秩序，一种结构。
材料的自然状态及人类将其改造人类成房屋或工业建筑，从而塑造我们的生活现实是10幅更大绘画的主题。
从两个画作系列内容的对比，以及材料之间的对应关系同时得出的结论：一方面古制星座系统，人类对他们周围的世界进行组织的需要。另一方面，现代建筑的尺寸变得不自然，承受力本身人员发生意外事故，导致远离自然性。彭涛的作品受到法国哲学家Paul Virlio的高度影响。
高雷
虽然彭涛的作品是关于材料，建筑和我们生活的周边环境，这些建设和构建了我们的现实生活，高磊专注于这些非自然的环境对人的影响。
高磊的主题取自于从日常媒体关注的暴力和恐惧的主题。他跟媒体一样再现了相同的亮度和彩度，描绘暴力刺目的现实。通过他的画作中的抽象物，他超越了单纯地再现这些被广泛接受的图片，他阐述当今社会中的社会角色施加在边界和压力上的情感后果。