Cai Shen, Pei Ou, Kelly Wang, Jingyu Xu, Tong Wang, Xinyu Wo, Tianlian Liu, Ellie Kayu Ng, Yanzi Zhang, Orange Li, Amy Liu, Julia Shen, Min Huang, Yangyang Wei, Luo Min, Xiangni Song, Jiayuan Shen
March 8 – April 6, 2024
Seventeen women artists explored figuration, historical painting styles, abstraction, and mixed-media practice, each turning personal history into a formal language of layered, evolving imagery.
Seventeen women artists with roots in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Chinese-American diasporas were featured in this compelling group exhibition at VillageOneArt, indicating contemporary artistic trends in figuration, historical painting styles, abstraction, and mixed-media art-making, with an eye toward palimpsests — layered images that erode over time — pointing to the presence of history and evolving styles within the formal elements of their work. Works by Min Huang and Luo Min in particular embraced repetition and layering, centering on clear elements related to identity and then layering in additional elements to bring a deeper meaning through careful yet varied representations of a singular theme. Yanzi Zhang similarly built sculptures embracing repeating yet singular elements in soft sculpture works that implied movement while remaining static and unified.
Figuration by Ellie Kayu Ng and Xiangni Song brought measured yet nuanced approaches to the subjects of their paintings. Natural elements in the works of Tianlian Liu evoked fantastic reconsiderations of celebrations marking seasonal change. Abstraction by Pei Ou brought the viewer a contemporary approach to painterly volume, evident in the elements present in these compositions. Yanzi Zhang’s vertical abstraction works incorporated thread and gauze into compositions that could otherwise be observed in the vein of ink painting traditions of ancient China. Jiayuan Shen and Cai Shen offered the viewer layered, at times fragmented, views of figures that probed viewers to question how they consider form.
By speaking from their personal experiences through their unique artistic practices, each artist embraced bringing a sense of mood and lived experience to this powerful exhibition of contemporary women artists from Asian diasporas.
Works in the Exhibition
In The Mood For Love 2024 was on view at VillageOneArt, 150 West 25th Street, Suite 403, New York, from March 8 to April 6, 2024. For inquiries regarding available works by Cai Shen, Pei Ou, Kelly Wang, Jingyu Xu, Tong Wang, Xinyu Wo, Tianlian Liu, Ellie Kayu Ng, Yanzi Zhang, Orange Li, Amy Liu, Julia Shen, Min Huang, Yangyang Wei, Luo Min, Xiangni Song, and Jiayuan Shen, please contact info@villageoneart.com.