GIORNATA DEL CONTEMPORANEO SATURDAY 7 OCTOBER 2023

With the project 'Jingge Dong When I looking away' the Confucius Institute of the University of Bologna and the L'Ariete artecontemporanea gallery present an intercultural dialogue between Italy and China through some moments dedicated to the research of one of the most appreciated Chinese artists working in Italy, Jingge Dong. The project is divided into a personal exhibition of the artist at the L'Ariete artecontemporanea gallery in Bologna, the publication of a monographic catalog with images of the works created by the artist for the occasion - dedicated to the comparison and poetic fusion between the figurative languages ​​of the East and the West that the artist has long placed at the center of his pictorial research - and a meeting within the exhibition with the director of the Confucius Institute prof. Marina Timoteo, prof. Alberto Zanchetta, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, and Jingge Dong (Beijing, China 1989). The meeting with the artist will focus on the experience of his residence in Venice and on the studies of ancient Chinese painting reworked in contemporary styles with references to contemporary Western and especially Italian art.

Marina Timoteo 'The Western world and the Eastern world meet a lot but still know little about each other. There are many cultural filters, the temptation of the stereotype which apparently simplifies the understanding of the "other" continues. Tearing away the veils of standardized, reductive visions, there are rare and precious protagonists of stories of passage between the two worlds, who find the courage to confront each other which does not produce judgments but opens up visions and makes us feel like parts of a whole where the relationship is what matters. Jingge Dong is one of these protagonists. We owe him the gratitude of experiencing, through his art, the magic of the encounter.'

Alberto Zanchetta, curator of the exhibition, underlines how Jingge Dong's painting is «a world that fluctuates between two hemispheres, a link (and yearning) of conjunction between East and West. This dedication to duplicity hides - perhaps - an unspeakable desire for ubiquity: to be here and elsewhere, now and at all times. While observing his paintings, one senses the absence of a dominant fulcrum, as well as a linear narrative, each work nevertheless retains a strong internal unity; not completely abstract, nor truly figurative, Jingge Dong's paintings induce viewers to let themselves go, lulled by a lively symphony of colors and taches."

JINGGE DONG WHEN I LOOKED AWAY curated by Alberto Zanchetta

With the support of the Confucius Institute of the University of Bologna

L'ARIETE contemporaryart via Marsili 7 Bologna

From 23 September to 18 November 2023 | www.galleriaariete.it

From Monday to Saturday 5-7.30pm | Information 348 9870574

Closed from 9 to 16 October for participation in ArtVerona 2023