Leo Gallery is pleased to present "After Image·Deviation: Zhang Fangbai & Liu Zhengyong” from March 12 to April 16, 2023, curated by Feng Boyi. Zhang Fangbai was Liu Zhengyong’s mentor in fine arts school, and the two have not only formed a good teacher-student relationship but also a close friendship over the past thirty years. The works in this exhibition reflect the development of the two artists' respective creative career, while presenting the correlation and differences between their artistic languages.
The term "afterimage" refers to a visual pattern that remains in one’s vision after the visual stimulus has weakened or ceased; "deviation" refers to the continuous experimentation process that involves breaking away from the conventions of traditional or mainstream visual styles, dissecting and re-constructing the pre-existed order. The recent paintings of Zhang Fangbai and Liu Zhengyong share such qualities and present their latest creative practice in reflection of each other.
Their paintings metaphorically embody their own experiences, memories and interests, emphasizing on the search of their life paths and emotion outlets, echoing the reality we all share. At the same time, free and open-minded, both of them bridge the gaps they encounter in the making of their paintings, so the integrity of the composition is kept intact. Their visual language, particularly along with the sensorial traces of brushstrokes on their canvases, carry an expressivity that’s either chaotic or thrilling. With conflicts and confrontations within each work, the artists demonstrate a capacity to see through the surface of everyday scenery with people and the environment in their mysterious or eccentric way. It is through such works that they explore the energy of self-expression.