REVIEW | Creation of the Inner Realm – Ming Gu Gallery

The debut exhibition Creation of the Inner Realm at Ming Gu Gallery is a serene pairing of two contemporary artists who channel the language of traditional Chinese painting with modernist interests.

Wang Jie’s works initially appear like any other shan shui painting. Mountainous landscapes with evocations of clouds, water, and small architectural structures, he exploits the full range of tonal and expressive possibilites from using ink wash. Yet closer examination reveals many unexpected elements, from the sudden use of odd colours against a monochrome composition like neon green and purple, to embracing the visual effects of chance imperfections from an overly damp section of the Xuan paper (rice paper), sometimes evoking the jagged appearance of rocky mountains and cliffs. In another work, he combined hand soap with the ink to create the sky as a wispy entity.

My favourites are his fan designs, smaller figments of his imaginary landscapes in a format that stands out against everything else: Adrift Amongst Whispering Leaves (2023) would be my pick to take home.

Wu Yin, on the other hand, looks to the animal kingdom and the influence of Western art. The compression of perspective, use of gilding, and decorative abstract elements immediately hints at Gustav Klimt and artists in the Vienna Secession. Oftentimes, the underdrawing becomes a crucial part of the overall composition, delineating sleeping bears, baby rats, snow leopards, etc. Paired with a love of negative spaces, his works are puzzles to contemplate with your eyes, forcing you to reinterpret every inch of the texture-rich images.