{four} Beary Ambitious Song Wei

Song Wei is an emerging Chinese artist from Sichuan, and his recent oil paintings are centred around the theme of bears, explaining why his solo exhibition at Paragon atrium is titled BEARY AMBITIOUS.

His works are carefree, depicting the bears in everyday action, like eating a lollipop, playing with blocks and sitting on a toilet bowl. The bears in each artwork are mainly monchrome, occasionally adorned with a red scarf or a motif on its chest. The bears resemble blue and white porcelain imperial ceramics from Ancient Chian, as they are modelled to a porcelain extent. Furthermore, each bear’s body is “tatooed” with ancient chinese motifs and patterns such as dragons, florals and leafs. The subjects are modelled after objects, yet they do not seem robotic, but have human qualities in terms of their behaviour and posture.

Next, Song Wei seems to convey a message of warmth, friendship and love through his artworks. Some of the bears have a pink heart imprinted on their chest, and their actions and interaction with each other make them appear lovable and innocent. Thus his exhibition serves as a clear dedication to childhood, and allows viewers to reminisce in their childhood, especially through the paintings Lollipop, In the arms of Uncle M, and Play Time.  Even the titles suggest playfulness and innocence. In my opinion, as Song Wei is a young artist, he has chosen to depict the world from a youth’s perspective, thus his artworks appear sweet, delightful and youthful.

All in all, his subjects are portrayed in great details and modelled with near-perfection. He definitely adds to the list of outstanding contemporary artists, and is a one of China’s young, rising artists.  He has successfully painted the China Bears with meticulous skill and wit. BEARY AMBITIOUS is a delightful dedication to his childhood and the beloved bear.

Photo credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7397806@N08/

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