From June 15 to July 28, 2023, Artnutri Gallery held a joint exhibition titled "Digital Wonderland," featuring works by five artists: Alexander Appleby, Stefano Galli, Huang Shunting, Liang Yuning, and Wu Qiuhong.
Alexander Appleby's paintings, while derived from the local landscapes of Northern England, do not aim to cut out scenes from a single perspective; rather, he attempts to use various digital imagery experiences across media as a visual framework to place scenes and objects from his memory, thereby reinterpreting the "nature" he has experienced. In this series of paintings, the horizon in the background is at a similar height in each work, with smooth, sinuous tree trunks on either side of the canvas, reminiscent of the highly stylized plant forms in Art Nouveau. The vignette-like effect on the upper and lower edges of the canvas makes the flowers and plants in the center appear like characters waiting to be selected in a video game interface.
Stefano Galli's paintings attempt to juxtapose faithfully depicted natural scenes with patterned graffiti images. These natural scenes include the tops of shrubs under the open blue sky and the dense depths of forests where sunlight struggles to penetrate. The interwoven branches of the shrubs, the texture differences and changes of the long leaves, and the soft forest floor covered with fallen leaves are all meticulously depicted. However, the artist continues to overlay these detailed scenes with broad, smooth, and naive strokes, and saturated or pastel colors, creating insect patterns that lie between cartoon characters and children's doodles. The originally faithfully depicted natural scenes become original images on a touchscreen waiting to be altered or doodled upon with the addition of these patterns.
Huang Shunting's series of paintings in this exhibition explores the interdependent relationship between landscape plants viewed as "natural decorations" and "artificial decorations." From the diverse ornaments on the surface of Christmas trees to the large greeting cards atop congratulatory flower baskets, landscape plants and artificial decorations often exist in a state of fluid hierarchy, like gifts and gift boxes wrapping each other. Artificial decorations give landscape plants specific event significance but are often discarded as outdated items once the event has passed, reminiscent of summer tan lines that gradually fade under winter sweaters. The paintings depict common indoor foliage plants, with the unpainted canvas parts vaguely showing the zodiac-themed cartoon decorations for the New Year. The areas of depiction and blank space are sharply divided, yet the relationship between the images and the background is constantly reversed and hard to define, possibly hinting at the relationship between image tools and cultural memory.
Liang Yuning's paintings also frequently depict common indoor foliage plants. However, Yuning prefers to depict the symbolic glows surrounding these plants through his unique perceptual experiences. The plants are painted with wet, translucent paints, with clear and smooth brushstrokes outlining the structure of the branches and leaves. Brush marks, dense on the sides and light in the middle, create a sense of light transmission. The fluorescent color sprayed around the outlines engulfs the plants in a psychedelic aura. Laser-like straight fluorescent beams radiate from within the plants or penetrate them from outside the canvas, resembling biological tissues stained with fluorescent dye under a microscope, displaying various microscopic life phenomena. Some plants exude gel-like thick liquids, with bright cross-shaped glints on the surface. These different ways of depicting light evoke various modern scientific images based on optics, with the artist narrating personal observations and fantasies.
Wu Qiuhong's primary medium is ceramics. In the "AI MONSTER" series exhibited this time, the artist first sculpts original monster shapes in ceramics, then uses generative AI drawing tools to "evolve" other monster forms, which are then sculpted into ceramics. The monster forms are humanoid, with a fuzzy surface texture inspired by moss and mold. In daily experience, mold signifies decay and transformation, making its presence unsettling. However, fungi can transmit micro-currents through hyphae, similar to how animal nerve cells transmit information, making one imagine its electrical activity as a form of "language." Through these cute monster shapes, Qiuhong attempts to tell the story of overlooked and unnamed individuals in contemporary society, highlighting their inner anxieties and resilient vitality.
Overall, the works of the five artists in this exhibition, Alexander Appleby and Liang Yuning, reinterpret the natural objects in their memories and observations through their digital image experiences in painting. Stefano Galli and Huang Shunting translate the logic of digital image processing software into the language of painting, using juxtaposition to enhance the intriguing contradictions produced. Wu Qiuhong employs digital tools to assist in the evolution of her forms, integrating this approach into her creative philosophy. Given that all five artists' works focus on plants and to varying degrees use digital drawing tools or respond to digital image experiences, the exhibition is aptly titled "Digital Wonderland," aiming to spark discussions on the relationship between the digital world and natural experiences through these works.
