展览 EXHIBITION | 鲁本·福恩特斯 Rubén FUENTES「时间简史」
Rubén FUENTES
A Brief History of Time鲁本·福恩特斯：时间简史
2023.09.22 - 2023.10.28
DUMONTEIL Shanghai is pleased to present "A Brief History of Time", the solo exhibition of Cuban artist Rubén Fuentes. The show features the artist’s recent pictorial creations inspired by Stephen Hawking's eponymous book. These works, combining acrylic, oil and traditional ink techniques, depict the origin of life through unique natural landscapes while demonstrating his long-term exploration and reflection as a defender of ecology.
Tribute to Yemaya | 向叶玛雅致敬
2023Sea salt, acrylic and oil on canvas布面海盐，丙烯，油彩140 x 140 cm
树木被禁锢在空间里，但不会被禁锢在时间里。…… 在树木看来，人是永恒的——总是有人穿过椴树的树阴在官道上行走，人不是凝固的，也不是活动的。对树木而言人是永远存在的，然而也同样意味着，人似乎从来就没有存在过。
—— 摘自《太古和其他的时间》【波】奥尔加·托卡尔丘克，易丽君、袁汉镕 译
The trees are trapped in space, but not in time. … To trees people seem eternal -- they have always been walking through the shade of the lime trees on the Highway, neither frozen still nor in motion. For trees people exist eternally, but that means just the same as if they had never existed.
—— Extracts from Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
A journey of decolonial healing through a landscape by Li Keran从李可染的风景中展开的去殖民疗愈之旅
2021Oil on canvas布面油画195 x 114 cm
No doubt, trees play a predominant part in Fuentes’s work, echoing his longstanding interest in Ecology. This passion even led him to the discovery of Daoism and Chinese landscape paintings, both of which convey deep reverence for nature — a distinguishing feature retained in his work. After six years of intensive training and numerous copies made from Chinese and Japanese traditional painting masterpieces, the artist managed to integrate the oriental painting techniques into his creativity.
A brief history of time III | 时间简史 III
2022Acrylic and oil on canvas布面丙烯和油彩200 x 200 cm
在此次展览中，艺术家对主流话语以人为本的可持续发展提出质疑，并试图通过其受东西方绘画传统影响的诗意描绘，在神话和线性时间之间创造一个别样世界。
《时间简史》系列让我们不由想起老子对“道”的表述 与现代天体物理学的“大爆炸”理论有着惊人的相似：从无到有，从一到多，从简单到复杂。艺术家用“无”，即中心的空白，来表示空间和时间尚不存在的奇点时刻。生命物质的扩张正如这些风景在画布上的延展方式一样，是径向的，也是环向的。构成生命的化学元素也是在这个巨大的天然熔炉所产生的宇宙射线中孕育出来的。除了基于对理论的思考，该系列作品的构图中还包含了曼陀罗结构，常被密宗用作冥想的辅助工具。
The Trip | 曲径通幽
2022-2023Acrylic and oil on canvas布面丙烯和油彩
146 x 114 cm
左右滑动
SWIPE FOR MORE
It would not be a surprise to find that we, humans, are reduced to our original state of insignificance — tiny and invisible among dense forests, high mountains and rolling hills. In his work "Polyptych of the Non-human Epic", the artist depicts a post-human landscape in the form of a long calligraphy scroll, with only a scattering of discarded machinery suggesting the presence of human beings in the past. When some figures can be spotted in the works, they are juxtaposed with animals and trees with no hierarchy. For example, in the “Assembly”, the artist fantasizes a congregation of different species summoned by Earth on a path in the form of neural networks to discuss the current environmental crisis.
With the frequent natural disasters and the dropping of biodiversity, we are more than ever aware of the artist’s concern about this planet. In "A Brief History of Time IV", Fuentes pointed out how human-related climate change has affected the regulation of the seasons and, ultimately, our own survival through his evocation of the summer season in Spain: large expanses of dry grasses moved by the wind. Among these plants are rice, oats, barley, rye and wheat. They support the continuation of many civilisations on earth. Currently, with the great drought that plagues many ecosystems due to the breakdown of the water cycle, crops are at high risk.
在揭露这些令人叹息的真相的同时，艺术家在《迸发》这一结合了细致笔触和泼墨技法的系列中为我们留下了一丝光明，通过这些作品，我们看到了孕育生命的巨大能量，正是这股力量最终形成了大自然奇妙的多样性。当墨迹随着我们的观感在空白的画布上延伸，希望和新的可能亦随之出现……
Beyond these gloomy facts about our planet, the artist also leaves a silver lining for us in the series of “Irruption”, which combines detailed brushwork with a splash of ink. Through these works of Zen moment rises the immense energy that nurtures life and eventually leads to the marvellous diversity of nature. As the ink marks stretch across the blank canvas with our perception, hope and new possibilities emerge.
Artwork Photo ©Alain Nahum, ©Rubén Fuentes
Breathing Green| 绿意盎然
2022-2023Ink and acrylic on canvas布面丙烯和墨90 x 60 cm
杜梦堂(上海)此次鲁本·福恩特斯个展「时间简史」的开幕酒会定于9月21日(周四)晚间5时至8时举办。欢迎大家关注这次展览。
The opening reception of Rubén Fuentes's solo exhibition A Brief History of Time at DUMONTEIL Shanghai is scheduled for Thursday, September 21st from 5 pm to 8 pm. You are more than welcome to visit this exhibition.
关于艺术家
ABOUT THE ARTIST鲁本·福恩特斯（Rubén FUENTES，1980年出生）是一位以绘画为主要创作媒介的古巴艺术家。他本科毕业于古巴哈瓦那高等艺术学院（Instituto Superior de Arte），后获得西班牙瓦伦西亚理工大学（Universitat Politècnica de València）的硕士与博士文凭。他曾在西班牙长居，现今在巴黎工作生活。
自2004年起，艺术家开始在法国、西班牙、瑞士、古巴、英国、中国与美国等地参与众多的个展与群展。艺术家从2016年开始与杜梦堂画廊合作。
Rubén FUENTES (b.1980) is a Cuban artist who works primarily in the medium of painting. He now lives and works in Paris after his long residence in Spain. Before receiving his Master’s degree and Ph.D. from the Valencia Polytechnic University (UPV), Rubén FUENTES graduated from the Fine Arts Institute of Havana (ISA).
With his powerful and unique style recognized in France and abroad, Rubén FUENTES is an artist with glamorous talent. His works are featured in multiple public collections, such as the le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, the Confucius Institute as well as public institutions in the USA, Cuba, Switzerland, and Spain.
Since 2004, he has participated in numerous collective or solo exhibitions in France, Spain, Switzerland, Cuba, the UK, China and the USA. He has been collaborating with Galerie DUMONTEIL since 2016.