“Black Happiness”

Show Time: December 17, 2011 February 13, 2012

Opening Reception: December 17, 2011 (Saturday), 4:00 pm

“Black Happiness” can be understood in a similar way we understand the expression “black humor”: happiness that is not pressed on, an intention which is not creating happiness deliberately; the mood is decided by oneself, which can be casual or come

out through thinking.

Zhang Shuang’s art creation has always been pursued on the medium of paper, the original blankness and the texture of paper have brought to the artist unlimited desire for creation and unfettered expression of innermost world. Zhang Shuang ’s works was not always carrying a strong characteristic of cartoon; she used to love depicting the distortion of space, unworldly mood and more or less realistic female portraits. However, it may be the cause of life that human body in her works started to be squeezed, and the facial feature has gradually protruded and exaggerated. Till today, this images created by this female artist has already naturally and sufficiently completed the transformation of cartoon, despite that she may just wanted to

express her own surprise at life. 

Fu Yu’s works which can be commonly found in cartoon artworks. Those disordered black lines which even carried pains are interacting with one another in a peculiar rhythm. In the traction of these lines – sometimes the lines are branches or ropes – the main character created by the artist usually have a blank or desperate look with no defined intention for action. When one cannot get rid of the control imposed by external forces, maybe the best way to cope with it is to give up and obey？Applying vivid and clear colour, Fu Yu is depicting a critical mood, as well as a “present” that

can be developed into any scenarios.

One can find both exquisite and lighthearted marks in the works of Zhang Shuang and Fu Yu, however such elements create an atmosphere of melancholy and lonesome; as for being happy or not, it is a personal feeling decided by the audience.

This is year 2011, new artists no longer need a unified label; they talk freely, but at the same time get frustrated by the overly opened boundary. The exaggerated approach and the delightful colors and objects are used by the two artists to describe a state that is slightly lower than the state of living, trying to approach and accept this world with some curiosities and a bit of self-defense. Maybe it is a healthier attitude: neither too violence nor too rebellious, because living in the apathy and the control from everywhere, there are still some people who can be trusted, and still some warmness that is quiet and calm as wood.