A short review of the recent, excellent exhibition of Tang Ke’s paintings.

Tang Ke at Arario Beijing

The paintings by Tang Ke (唐可) in the recent exhibition, RE-CREATE, are, according to the artist’s statement, copies of earlier paintings. These copies consist of the unique “markings” that make up Tang Ke’s technique. According to the artist, his technique is also meant to convey a sense of “vastness.”

Thematically, the paintings are versions of shan shui (山水) paintings – somewhat stylized paintings of rivers and mountains, tinged with a sense of mystery. However, because of the nontraditional materials used in Tang Ke’s work, the represented content of the paintings is de-emphasized.

Tang Ke uses large, transparent “canvases,” that are hung from the ceiling, away from the walls. The intentionally dimly lit gallery allows it to feel like less of a white cube and more like a cavern in which floating landscapes materialize.

This is clever. The paintings do not merely modernize rivers and mountains by replacing them with fountains and skyscrapers, as critics like Hu Fang (胡眆) have suggested that shan shui must now do. They instead insist upon Tang Ke’s shan shui technique, but vis-à-vis the electric light that illuminates them.

This is not mere historical re-creation, but an ontological position. The new materials and their subsequent refraction “marks” the shan shui themes. This kind of philosophical formalism is a rare treat in any case, but especially rare in that it “re-creates” a tradition.

But, the true pleasure of this exhibition is that the paintings float like clouds in the air. Maybe the real theme of the paintings isn’t actually rivers and mountains, but the light going through each, illuminating the gallery. Is this vastness? It seems so to me.

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