Song Ling:Borrowed Scenery

GinkgoSpace is delighted to announce that Song Ling's inaugural solo exhibition, "Borrowed Scenery," will open on September 14, 2024. This exhibition, running until November 1, will showcase over twenty of the artist's latest ink on paper creations.

The exhibition theme "Borrowed Scenery" does not refer to the conventional idea of "borrowing scenery to evoke emotions." Rather, in Song Ling's view, the "borrow" and "copy" herein emphasize the importance of learning from the ancients through copying as a means to develop one's own style. This "borrowing" process serves as a catalyst for self-stimulation, and the act of "copying" itself should lead to or become a work of art.

A strong sense of science fiction permeates this exhibition, embodied by the themes of "aliens" and "abnormal forms." The geometric shapes and polyhedral visuals in the works resonate deeply with the modeling processes of 3D digital modeling in today's digital era. The traditional Chinese ink painting technique of "dividing ink into five colors" is also mirrored in the varying light effects of "white models." This novel approach to "creation" focuses on the surfaces of the world and objects, as well as human visual perception of them. Song Ling endeavors to "simulate" real objects using as many intricate polygons and polyhedra as possible, ultimately rendering them into realistic visuals through "rendering."

Song Ling born in Hangzhou in 1961, currently lives and works in both Hangzhou and Melbourne. In 1984, he graduated from the Chinese Painting Department of Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art) and joined Zhejiang Painting Academy as a full-time painter. In 1985, he participated in the "85 New Space Exhibition" with his seminal "People – Pipelines" series. In 1986, he co-founded "Chi She," one of the earliest Chinese contemporary art groups, alongside Zhang Peili, Geng Jianyi, and Wang Qiang, and became known for his "Meaningless Choices?" series, actively contributing to the 85' New Wave art movement. Song Ling moved to Melbourne, Australia, in 1988, where he participated in the earliest exhibitions of Chinese contemporary art. His works have been collected by numerous public institutions and art museums, including the Australia Artbank, ANZ Bank, White Rabbit Gallery, Deakin University, USC Pacific Asia Museum, Long Museum, START MUEUM, and Yuz Foundation, among others. In 2014 and 2015, Song Ling held major retrospective exhibitions "Ghost In The Mirror – Song Ling 1985-2013" at Today Art Museum in Beijing and Zhejiang Art Museum, respectively. In 2023, he presented a decade retrospective exhibition "I’m also starting to have desires." at HAO Art Museum in Shanghai.

Text excerpted from "Liu Tian's Commentary on Song Ling's New Works: Science Fiction and Creation"