Ren Sihong’s Introspective Journey to “Enlightenment”

Ren Sihong’s latest solo exhibition at Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong, marked a departure from his previous figurative paintings and sculptures, which satirically combine Pop Art with communist propaganda as socio-political commentary on China’s recent history and its contemporary culture. Created in the past three years, Ren’s new oil paintings mark an inward turn, tracing his lonesome and arduous journey of healing since the death of his father in 2017. The Chinese exhibition title, “覺” (jue), which translates to “Enlightenment,” distinguished this body of work as a form of awakening and self-realization for the artist.

Powerful large-scale, monochrome renderings of undulating swirls adorned the first room, aptly named “Black & White – Determination Freedom.” The haunting works call to mind the iconic dense cloud formations from which majestic dragons emerge in Chen Rong’s Southern Song Dynasty handscrolls, done in wet and layered inks. Determination . Freedom – West Gold No.2, for example, shows a heavy cluster of dark clouds that seem to converge at the center of the sky, while Determination . Freedom – Searching No.1 (both 2017) is an overwhelming, ominous piece with a few areas of lightness peeking through that inspire a curious sense of quietude. Created during a period of mourning, these formless depictions portray what Ren referred to as his fascination with the void, or 無 (wu), which denotes an egoless state where one comes to terms with one’s own position in the universe. 

This yearning for simplicity continued throughout the exhibition. The ensuing chapter, “Value of Colors,” featured later canvases where Ren reverts to using the three primary colors. Perhaps in an effort to re-establish order for himself, Ren decided to assign specific connotations to each of the colors. With red standing for energy, freedom, and sacrifice; blue  for wisdom; and yellow for morality, he proposes values that he finds meaningful and important for navigating the prevalent corruptions and acts of immorality he perceives in today’s world. Some of the works in this series draw upon 四象 (si xiang), the four mythical creatures believed to guard the four cardinal points among the Chinese constellations. In Determination . Freedom – Reformation No.1 (2018), charged bright-red strokes in a ring-like formation seem to depict the outlines of a bird with its wings outstretched, emerging from the darkness—a reference to the Vermilion Bird of the South, said to be enclosed in perpetual fire, and a symbol of happiness. The Black Tortoise of the North, representing longevity and the water element, is portrayed in Black Tortoise No.1 (2019), a more abstracted canvas with layers of red, yellow, and white swirls converging on a dark blue background to evoke the pattern of a tortoise shell. 

Abstract expressionist works in the last room, “Spirit of Flowers,” all created in 2020 following the onslaught of the pandemic, resemble blossoming flowers, through which Ren conveys his hopes for the future. Overlapping whirls of maroon, green, and orange tones in canvases such as Spirit of Flower 3 and 5 are akin to clusters of petals and leaves. Yet, although the wall text indicated that the artist “senses that a calm undercurrent is overflowing,” one could not help but notice the abrupt and hurried strokes in the works, fraught with tension that radiated outward and dominated the room. Perhaps this was a manifestation of the anxiety and restlessness so commonly shared amid the turmoil of the pandemic, a seemingly ceaseless limbo as restrictions on movement confine us to one place. In this way, Ren’s contemplative paintings not only evince his personal processing of bereavement, but also mirror the fears and desires of viewers struggling to make sense of this new world.