Exhibition explores artist’s transformation

In his 2021 oil painting Nirvana, Ouyang Chun blended pigments with materials such as sand and asphalt to create a unique texture evoking the passage of time. The 52-year-old Beijing-born artist says the title reflects his current state of mind, one that has drawn him to subjects that are heavy and chaotic.

Nirvana is also the title of his current solo exhibition at the D01 space, inside Beijing's 798 Art Zone, presented by White Space as a special program of this year’s Gallery Weekend Beijing. On show until Sunday, the exhibition brings together paintings created between 2018 and 2025, a period which reshaped Ouyang's creative process at a time when he was exploring chaos and darkness.

Visitors who saw Ouyang's last special exhibition, Road to Heaven, during Gallery Weekend Beijing in 2023, will notice a very different style. The new works are richer in detail and color, conveying explosive strength and tension. Ouyang says the paintings reflect not only his experiences, thoughts and attitudes but also the world around him. He says he feels the world today is more intriguing than ever before and more worthy of being depicted, revealing what he describes as "its structure, atmosphere and entanglements".