As a representative artist "born after 1970", Wei Jia follows the realist tradition of previous generations whilst working alongside his contemporaries to channel this realism into expressions of personal emotions and symbolic order. Throughout this process, Wei's paintings persistently explore two painterly themes: the illusion of authenticity and the appearance of existence, which we have metaphorically expressed as "Fantasy and Inebriety".
These themes draw from Nietzsche's distinction between the Apollonian and Dionysian aesthetic states: Apollo represents the lucid dream, whilst Dionysus embodies intoxicated frenzy. Apollo manifests as the intransitive representation of an observer, and Dionysus as the transitive presence of a participant. Apollo resembles life's enlightenment, and Dionysus, history's haze. For Wei Jia, "Fantasy" and "Inebriety" also represent two opposing forces intertwined throughout his paintings, threading through the whole process of his two decades of artistic creation, and manifesting in each work.
In terms of painterly language and style, Wei Jia's allure stems from his orchestration of tensions between "Fantasy" and "Inebriety"—or rather, between representation and expression, figuration and abstraction, prose and allegory, reality and symbolism, mental status and physical status, elegance and wilderness, masculine and feminine. Chronologically, Wei's earlier works and recent creations chart a transformation from "Fantasy" to "Inebriety", from figurative allegory to abstract prose.
This gradual transition represents a journey from the artist's personal mental realm to the broader world of others—or rather, to the world of art history. Wei Jia accomplishes this by returning to art history's fundamental motifs—form, subject matter, and imagery—and thereby to art's essential elements: space, colour, composition, brushwork, and the irreducible materiality of the medium itself.
The exhibition's main section presents a reverse chronological artistic journey from new works the artist created in 2024 to his earliest lithographs, tracing a path from "Intoxication" back to "Dreams". A special section entitled "Body and Mask" serves as an exhibition-within-exhibition, exploring the psychoanalytical dimensions of the artist's painterly themes and style.
The exhibition comprises 60 works, including paintings on canvas, lithographs, and manuscripts, marking Wei Jia's largest solo exhibition to date. Opening to the public on Saturday, 14 December 2024, the exhibition will be accompanied by the publication of a mid-career retrospective catalogue of the artist's works.
