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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Painter Mu Pan’s massive scenes, often adorned with monstrous figures and epic battles, carry details that add both humor and intrigue to the works. In a recent show at Joshua Liner Gallery in New York City, titled "Bright Moon Shines on the River,” a set of recent works pushes this notion further. A feature on the artist’s work was featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 44.
Mu Pan’s massive painted battle scenes are teeming with both details and satire, humor and an introspective bleakness. The Chinese-American painter, based in Brooklyn, New York, reflects varying periods of art history in each work. And his newer paintings, rendered in acrylic on wood, reflect his fascination with Asian war history, pop culture, dinosaurs, and other topics.
International artists channel their sense of adventure into new works for Gallery Poulsen's show, "Blaze of Glory." Opening tonight, the exhibition presents adventurous paintings in both concept and style. Their collective vision is not the Wild West that you've seen in movies. Each explores their respective cultures, or the very idea of exploration, whether inspired by the American Fronteir to Eastern historical battles. Check out our preview after the jump.
While many depictions of nature involve happy critters or placid landscapes, Mu Pan's new series of paintings are rife with rage. The new body of work Pan will present for his solo show, "One Inch Punch," at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica depicts the struggle to survive when conditions become extreme. Granted, though wild animals hunt and kill, the creatures in Pan's work seem to be part of an allegory for human warfare. After all, how many frog armies are there staging organized battles? Pan's paintings hold up a mirror to human civilizations, asking us to consider the brutal legacy of colonialism and war that continues to shape the world. "One Inch Punch" opens on May 17 and will be on view through June 7.