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EVENT DESCRIPTION
Ora-Ora is pleased to present Peng Jian’s solo exhibition Generative Canvas. The exhibition will take place at Ora-Ora’s Tai Kwun space from 15 August – 26 September 2024. As a new series of works on canvas, it extends Peng Jian’s creative thread from observing daily life and objects, to observing daily actions.
Since 1839, the presence and integration of photography has been essential in our everyday lives. For Peng, photography started as a way to document ordinary objects; in time, it weaved into an integral way to capture daily actions. In his new series Generative Canvas, Peng adapted software regeneration in his creative process. As selected photographs are repeatedly regenerated, the new images are used as a blueprint for his final artworks on canvas. This method excludes the factor of randomness, and instilled algorithmic processes in a creative scene.
Seen in Generative Canvas, Peng Jian mainly focuses on the “identity“ of the image over representation. He favours “what it is” over “what it looks like”, in which the method and concept changes how we evaluate the traditional dexterity of an artist. Instead, the combination of digital editing and human input celebrates exciting possibilities.
To the artist, this direct identification of an image is akin to home construction, where the subject is compared to an internal structure, stabilizing its foundation for aesthetics and contour. Under the context of Eastern aesthetics, Peng’s methodology also resembles the Classical Chinese painting technique of “ruler painting” or jiehua, a unique style of architectural painting which rose to prominence during the Song Dynasty. In Generative Canvas, the artist repeatedly adjusts shapes and colours in the image, clarifying the entanglement of colours, lines, and presenting a logical and matured image that is not arbitrary, but rather contains a harmonious web of elements.
The particular choice of colours in Peng Jian’s new series is a strong demonstration of the output of digital systems. Referencing the painting method from Classical Chinese flower and bird motif paintings, the artist applied water-soluble colours as a base, layered with a background colour as an overlay. On the canvas, the mixture of layers creates a change of colour, presenting a haze-like illusion with an elegant atmosphere.
