黄玫瑰 2020

Curator: Here we have "Yellow Rose" by Wang Xinbo, created in 2020. It's an acrylic and matter painting on canvas. The impasto is incredible, isn't it? Editor: My first impression is of pure, unbridled energy. It feels so alive! The heavy impasto gives the flowers a real sense of presence, almost sculptural. Curator: Precisely. The use of impasto is critical here. Look how the artist builds up the surface, layering thick daubs of acrylic paint to create this texture. The materiality is as important as the floral subject itself. One could consider the artist's labor, their physical interaction with the medium to mold the material and bring a two-dimesional plane into a three-dimensional feel. Editor: Absolutely, and the brushstrokes themselves seem loaded with feeling, almost violent in their application. This expressive handling of paint certainly situates it within an Expressionist context, hinting at raw emotionality projected through the act of painting. Curator: Exactly! Considering Wang Xinbo’s process, what can we interpret about this approach to material and methods? There's something almost performative about the artist's engagement. I see process very heavily and a complete freedom in its execution that reflects their control. Editor: I agree that it has that boldness! Considering the title and its time of making, I'm prompted to interpret through a contemporary lens and ask what these yellow roses might signify? Roses are classic emblems but yellow roses historically symbolize friendship, caring... Could this painting then become about offering solace, comfort in troubling times of social anxiety, a call for solidarity in difficult times? Curator: That's an interesting perspective, and one supported by his specific choice of material: a modern creation. The artist's usage and expression within contemporary times makes sense, in a way a re-imagination of art as commodities in the present context. Editor: This offers the opportunity to expand our discussion of the materials Wang Xinbo uses. It is vital to consider who has access to such things. We must remain critically vigilant on who this may be speaking to in broader society, who may be unable to interact and create similar art as well as view it. Curator: Thank you for that relevant context, it gives a more balanced insight. For me, it brings forward an interest of the role and labor and contemporary production—how this particular creation informs present consumer culture. It offers plenty to consider about the landscape and cultural expression. Editor: It certainly does, prompting vital reflections. It is important for audiences to develop these lines of enquiry, using historical understandings and then seeing how they become reformulated or made distinct. This offers the greatest appreciation of such works!