MOCUBE is pleased to announce the opening of Tao Damin's solo exhibition, Void Room. This exhibition comprises of the artist's recent paintings of rooms, curtains and still objects that address subjects of emptiness and existence in the practice of painting.

The subjects in Tao Damin's paintings consist of portraying a number of still objects, space and site, by which to render particular painterly scenarios from the view, status, objects and the composition of the interior. In making these works, he often extracts these objects from their environments, so the subjects of painting become idle. At the same time, the artistic language Tao has adopted for specific subjects in these compositions shape the images that embody the artist's own painting structure.

The subjects for this exhibition are drawn from objects from life experiences, and the specific objects are portrayed in multiples, concealed in the composition. They are based on reality, or to an extent, fictionalized, reveal respective compositions against an in-depth background. Stones and books, shoes and pillows, oval shaped objects, box and parcel, and covered trinkets, as well as hollow clothing, became the portraits of their own registers. The stage curtains and blinds, overlapping streamers, wrinkled pendant, winding and swinging, as if one is looking at an empty stage at intermission between the acts, at the same time, displaying an existence of the void. Side tables, chairs, white bed, the pile of books, the stacked pillows, and blown out candle, are eventually placed into an void room. All of these objects are thereon portrayed as scenes on a broader, suspended and idle sense, as if they are waiting for the arrival of an imagination.

Tao Damin's paintings are not only registers of certain approaches and notions, but also the perception and embodiments of specific imageries. Through layering of singular color fields and brisk brushworks, and subjectively simplifying the image, or set limitations to linguistic expression, his works gradually correct and elucidate one's interpretation of painting. He adopts and introduces his subjective narrative into the images based on objective portrayal, that eventually translate these painted objects between reality and fiction.

This exhibition will continue to July 16, 2018.