Limpid Landscape

A Solo Exhibition by Zhou Chen

14.01.23 - 18.02.23

Gallery Poulsen presents Limpid Landscape, Zhou Chen’s first solo exhibition outside his home country China. Zhou Chen debuted in Gallery Poulsen last year in the three-person exhibition Contemporary Perspectives alongside the artists Jingyi Wang and Jiannan Wu. Since then, Zhou Chen has been busy working in his studio and is now ready to present 13 brand-new tempera paintings which, like his earlier contributions, depict western and northeastern China’s unspoiled and rarely visited natural areas that, with their significant distance to the busyness and endless stream of information of the modern society, offers cathartic and eye-opening experiences. At the same time, the paintings’ intimate depiction of landscapes conveys the often vast differences between the cultures of our world which indirectly contributes to demystification and mutual understanding across national borders.

The works of the exhibition borrow their motifs from the western parts of China and from Zhou Chen’s own hometown in the country’s northeastern area. Western China possesses a rich history and a culture with deep roots, both of which are contained within a vast and magnificent natural landscape that is mostly untouched and empty of people. Opposite, Zhou Chen’s hometown is a new and quaint coastal town in northeastern China where the unpredictability of the sea and long and narrow shorelines dictate the character of the landscape. The diverse landscapes of the areas play a significant and meditative role for Zhou Chen. When he spends time in these places, he often experiences a powerful, calming, and healing energy radiated by nature that occurs when he observes and allows himself to linger in the same place over an extended period. For example, Zhou Chen will spend countless hours at the mountain by the sea near his hometown, from sunrise to sunset. This exercise offers complete immersion in nature’s secluded landscapes, revealing the subtle sensatory shifts that take place.

The emotions that arise during Zhou Chen’s experiences in the untouched natural areas are included in his landscape paintings in a way that conveys and externalizes his inner contemplations. Therefore, the paintings of the exhibition are not just an imitation of a tangible, existing nature, but a manifestation of intimate and personal reflections. In his artistic process, Zhou Chen picks and distorts the depicted landscapes in the way that is most compatible with his ideas and way of working. This means that the landscapes act as a container for Zhou Chen’s thoughts, making them an outlet for him to communicate with the outside world.

Zhou Chen’s many walks in, observations of, and thoughts about the areas are demonstrated in the exhibition’s paintings, which inevitably express an immense love for the natural landscapes. With his works, Zhou Chen evokes similar emotions in the viewer, offering them meditative and thoughtful experiences of China’s rarely visited but magnificent natural areas.

As an exhibition, Limpid Landscape gives us a rare insight into unapproachable natural areas and an artist’s reflective and intimate thoughts and personality.

Zhou Chen’s first solo exhibition in Gallery Poulsen opens on Saturday, January 14^th with an opening reception from 12.00 – 16.00. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Limpid Landscape

A Solo Exhibition by Zhou Chen

14.01.23 – 18.02.23

Opening reception: Saturday, January 14th, 12.00 – 16.00

The exhibition presents 13 tempera paintings

Please contact the gallery at [email protected] or tel.+ 45 33 33 93 96 for more info