BANK is thrilled to present “Melan+ Khole”, Liang Hao’s solo exhibition of recent work for Frieze LA. Referencing the ancient Greek words means- Melan‘black’ + kholē ‘bile,’ an excess formerly believed to cause depression, together form the etymology of ‘melancholy.’ “Melan+ Khole” features Liang’s hyper-realistic and psychologically charged oil paintings that have garnered critical acclaim worldwide. This will mark the artist’s first solo exhibition in the US. This debut features oil paintings, gouache sketches on paper, as well as objects of curiosity that inform both bodies of work and help to unpack Liang’s moody cerebral pictures.
Liang muses on the human hand as both a technical and expressive extension of the mind. He deploys these hands to explore surreal tablescapes made of abstract materials and found objects. These wandering hands are not aimed at concrete production but instead caress or confront objects with gestures that evoke a mysterious, seductive tension. A blanket of laboratory light bathes the artist’s hands as they move amongst mirrors, pearls, and bones, evoking infinite associations in the reflective labyrinth of these illusionary spaces. Liang’s canvasses teem with suspense and allude to the many paradoxes that the hand beholds - power and submission, discovery and manipulation, creation and destruction.
The two hands appear to stretch out from a world devoid of time, they move, but, in an uncanny fashion, their movement morphs into eternity. They look familiar but do not completely belong to us. The owner of the hands shrouds their identity in secrecy. This pair of hands reaches out to greet our eyes in such a manner, gently caressing the realms of the sensorial, the concrete and the real with their distinct gestures. [1]
Other paintings depict piles of books at a 1:1 scale. The book-an object that the hand might possess- in these depictions is devoid of the human. Instead, the still-life compositions form poetic and prophetic alliances between objects and subjects. Here, the artist responds to literature and art history. Quotations of paintings by Dutch painter Matthias Stom and Italian Renaissance artist Jacopo de Barbari adorn the book’s cover or are folded into its pages, like a creased archive of time. Combining the artist's preoccupation with the canvas’s dark background, Liang seeks to blur the boundaries between center and periphery instead of revealing a flow and game — symmetry and jurisprudence become elusive yet alluring ideals. At the same time, melancholy transforms into an unexpected source of inspiration.
Liang Hao's work has been featured in exhibitions at major institutions such as the Pompidou X West Bund Museum, Shanghai; the Togler Fine Arts Center, Virginia; The Shanghai Library; and the Times Art Museum, Guangdong; Art OMI, New York; Daechumoo Fine Art, Korea; MinSheng Art Museum, Shanghai; Today Art Museum, Beijing; Offshore Project Space, Iceland; and CAFA Art Museum, Beijing. His recent solo exhibitions include “Doubled Bifurcation” at the He Art Museum, Guangdong, “Gesture and Speech” at BANK, Shanghai, and a solo presentation at Frieze LA. Liang’s work is featured in the notable collections of White Rabbit Museum, Australia; He Art Museum, China; Song Art Museum, China; START Museum, China; CC Foundation, China; M-Art Foundation, Singapore; DC Collection, Thailand; ASE Foundation, China, etc.
