Tang Dixin, "Tang Dixin", 2021, installation view, AIKE, Shanghai, China
Tang Dixin shows a preference for using his own name as the title of his exhibitions, as if to continuously remind the audience to "look at this person." Compared to the primal mysticism I perceived in his 2017 solo works, the direct correlation between the titles and the imagery in the eight newly crafted pieces featured in this exhibit dissipates any mystery in their interpretation, successfully redirecting all focus to the canvases themselves.
Tang Dixin, Green Lane, 2021, oil on canvas, 250 x 300 cm
This series of paintings continues Tang Dixin's recent focus on the body. However, in these new works, it seems the artist's intent is to seek an ambiguous "shape" through entangled bodies, specifically, the difference from everyday visual experiences and the semblance of "almost but not quite." "Move" represents the artist's demands and desires for both himself and his audience. The uncertain "shape" creates a situational transformation into an inner tension, driving both the artist and the audience forward.
In Green Lane (2021), the artist uses bright white lines to outline forceful edges within bodies almost merging into the green background, enhancing the central body that supports the whole canvas, despite its seemingly contradictory appearance. In Force (2021), the detailed depiction of feet suddenly detaches from the abstract atmosphere of the series and, like a structure presented as a facade of a building, exposes the bones directly atop the muscles, thereby supporting the many bodies above that are close to losing balance. Tumbling (2021) appears almost unidentifiable—as suggested by the title, we see a rolling movement of paint, directed by the artist’s strokes, with only the outline on the right reminding us of a human body, while the large patches of orange and white act like remnants of a swiftly rolling body. Next to it, Waves (2021) can be interpreted as transforming the natural body into a human form, or as capturing and analyzing the bodily structure of waves with a gaze of natural reverence.
Moreover, these works also reflect the artist's research into the "pattern/design" aspect of creation. For instance, in Sunny Day (2021), limbs become entirely blocks of color, simultaneously functioning to segment the canvas. The artist begins by seeking smaller shapes within a singular, enclosed module, eventually unifying the scenery comprised of these interwoven bodies into a coherent pattern with an inherent order. This approach is also evident in Tumbling and Waves, where the continuity and connectivity of color blocks and lines form a continuous, moving "pattern."
Tang Dixin, Waves, 2021, oil on canvas, 180 x 250 cm
The connection between Tang Dixin’s paintings and his performances/actions is an inescapable topic when confronting his works. Nonetheless, the energized surges created by these bodily shapes effectively transform into an embodiment of the artist's performances/actions. However, rather than transferring performance/action onto the canvas, it might be more accurate to say that he transfers the emotions he seeks to vent through his performance/action onto the canvas. Examining Tang Dixin’s recent series of practices, particularly those initiated by the artist groups he has organized, such as “Huge Huge" (2019), “The Force Temple" (2020), and "Art Boxing Rankings" (2020, 2021), it is apparent that the artist aims to stimulate an increasingly institutionalized art system in the most direct manner possible. However, in this process, he has also gradually recognized the limitations and vulnerabilities of these practices. Tang Dixin once stated in his work, "Rest is the best revolution," leading him to return to the canvas, and this series of paintings is the result of what might be termed a Tang Dixin-style rest/revolution. Thus viewed, the "emotions attempted to be vented in performance/action" are not merely individualistic and fleeting emotions, but rather a concerted effort to resist environmental constraints.
Written by Liu Lin
