Stand LF7
21-23 May


Kensington Olympia

Marlene Steyn & Lian Zhang

 
 

Lian Zhang, And Then, Oil on Board, 21x30cm, 2014
 
 

The works of Steyn and Zhang are found in the voids of memory, imagination, and folds in time through two different and personal perspectives. With a feeling of longing and nostalgia, Zhang’s work draws attention to the phantoms of memory that haunt the present. Past, present and future become entangled. One begins to question whether the paintings represent inner mental images, or images from the world. Similarly, Steyn’s work exists between the real and fantasy; human and non-human. Creatures and shapes come alive that remind us of imaginary worlds. The figures in Steyn’s work are infused with limbs and hair in an ongoing cycle that transforms them into one. Towers and landscapes made of bodies may imply the inescapable repetition through existence from incarnation and reincarnation. The fragmented, layered narratives within Zhang’s work may refer to a rhythm of meeting points between time and generations. Both artists use the imaginary in playful and thoughtful approaches to better understand the real. The viewer is invited to partake in these stories and encouraged to create their own images of the world.

 
 

Marlene Steyn, Knee and Elbow Birthday, Ink and oil on linen, 212 x 234 cm, 2014
 
 

Marlene Steyn, born in South Africa (1989), lives and works in Cape Town. Steyn received her MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2014. Solo exhibitions: (Upcoming) Commune.1, Cape Town, 2015; How Cannibals Cuddle, Cabin Gallery, London, 2014. Selected group exhibitions include: (Upcoming), Odd Cultural Node, Bucharest, 2015; La Piscine, Espace Croix Bragagnon, Toulouse, 2015; All s-he ever wanted to be, Galleria M, Calcutta, 2015; Scintilla: An Alchemy Show, Commune.1, Cape Town, 2014; Saatchi New Sensations, Victoria House, London, 2014; The Luminous Language, The Assembly Rooms, London, 2014; Inoperative Mythology, Imperial College, London, 2014; Bloomberg New Contemporaries, ICA, London & Spike Island, Bristol, 2013; Dreamtime, Mirus Gallery, San Francisco, 2013。

Lian Zhang, born in China (1984), lives and works between London and Hangzhou. Zhang received her MA in Painting from the China Academy of Art in 2010 and her second MA in Painting from Royal College of Art in 2013. Solo shows The Open West 2014, The Wilson, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Cheltenham, 2014. Deserts of Humanity, Display London, London, 2014. Painting Show & Performances, Winter Projects, London, 2013. Young Masters, Sphinx Fine Art, London, 2013. The Masks We Wear, Arteco gallery, London, 2013. RCA degree show, Royal College of Art, London, 2013. Notes to Self-Thinking, Royal College of Art, London, 2013. Summer show, Royal College of Art, London, 2012. Graduation show, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, 2010. Giant, Today Gallery, Beijing, 2010.