FLORAL IMAGININGS TO RIVAL THE DUTCH OLD MASTERS “A love of nothing”: Tradition and Modernism meet in new exhibition by Tim Lee
Bonhams is pleased to support a new exhibition of works by London-based artist Tim Lee, which builds on the success of his first London show, ‘Visitations’.
“Nihilphilia”, showing at east London’s Cock ‘n’ Bull Gallery, seeks to delve further into his world of ink on rice paper paintings. Under a premise which literally translates as a “love of nothing”, his new works continue to explore contradictory themes in contemporary art.
Still life and portraiture are terms that seem all too restrictive to accurately describe his delicate paintings of flowers and figures. At first glance, the complex and intricate arrangements of flowers seem to belong to the grand tradition of the Dutch masters; however, they become all the more astonishing upon the realization that they are not copies of real life, but created completely from memory and imagination.
His unique compositions are charged with contrary subject matter; dichotomies and polarities such as life and death, beauty and decay. Lee balances these dramatic themes to co-exist upon one of the most delicate and fragile of surfaces – rice paper.
In a world shaped by Duchamp and Warhol, where almost everything can be art, it has often been asked how a conventional medium like paint can offer new perspectives. But for Lee, such questions seem almost redundant. His approach is to clash opposing ideologies and methodologies taken from traditional Oriental and Occidental art, ultimately addressing how our endless quest to find significance in almost every artistic nuance can result in the absence of any meaning at all.
‘Nihilphilia’ follows the success of ‘Visitations’ at 9 Club Row Projects. Since graduating from Leeds University, Lee has already exhibited widely in London, Singapore, Toronto, and Amsterdam and gained his first US solo show in New York’s Gallery Nine 5.
Cock ‘n’ Bull Gallery is located in the basement of Tramshed restaurant on Rivington Street, Shoreditch. Tramshed is owned and run by Mark Hix, renowned chef and enthusiastic patron of contemporary art. Hix and Damien Hirst collaborated on the giant installation of a cow and a rooster that looms above diners in the restaurant- inspiring the name of the gallery below. With his keen eye for spotting talent, Hix has already added works by Tim Lee to his collection.
“Nihilphilia” is on from 14 March – 10 April at the Cock ‘n’ Bull Gallery, 32 Rivington Street, London.
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