"Daylight Cadenza" Group ExhibitionTHE SHOPHOUSE
THE SHOPHOUSE is pleased to present Daylight Cadenza, a group exhibition featuring the works of Han-Chiao, Alexander Skats, Astrid Styma, Wang Wenting, Alice Xinyan Wang, Wang Zibo, Suyi Xu, and Zheng Lanxiong.
In music, a ‘cadenza’ is an improvised ornamental passage played by a soloist, typically in a loose and liberated rhythm. During this time, the main melody will rest – creating a temporary void wherein unexpected spontaneity can occur. Daylight Cadenza likens the suspense of summer to that of this unstructured part of the composition. The exhibition explores scattered moments of daylight ennui through the intimate lens of eight artists, and the artworks come together as if the varied notes of a song.
In Daylight Cadenza, the artworks draw inspiration from the artists’ personal wells of memory and introspection. Manifesting in portraits of unknown figures, obscured scenes of domesticity, and objects of distant resonance, the artworks are each a layered chord that tells its own story. Oscillating between partial depictions and abstract imagery, soft palettes and dominant tones, the exhibition experiences points of crescendo and diminuendo that continuously complete one another as if the movement of a visual concerto. In concurrence, the illustrated narratives of familiar and quotidian humdrum form a reverberating bassline on which monotonous sights are embellished.
Restless, stagnant, yet curious and playful – the lyricism of Daylight Cadenza evokes the leisure of summer through the passage of eight artists. As the hours grow long and the days linger, the sweet sound of an unwritten cadenza begins to emerge – what will be played, and what will people hear?