Before shouting lese majesté !, stop for a moment to look at Aurora Edge II, one of the sculptures that sculptor Zheng Lu presented at the HOFA Gallery in London. Perhaps you will find the courage to draw a parallel between the two artists.
My first encounter with Zheng Lu’s sculpture was sipping a coffee in a hotel that is perhaps the most beautiful house in the bay of St Tropez. Indeed, in the sunny hall of this building, the table on which my cup was placed was dominated by a watery vortex of Chinese words (a poem, they explained to me later), carved into a highly polished steel structure over three meters long. Toi et Moi, this is the name of the sculpture, started from the floor towards the ceiling, made you literally lift up in the air pushed by the movement of the water and by the words of love, which I certainly couldn’t read, but just as certainly I could understand.
And I know that this introduction cannot explain why I take the liberty of juxtaposing the name of Zheng Lu with that of the Swiss master, but once again I invite you to observe the sculptures of his London solo exhibition Liquid Narratives.
The search for the absolute is the point of contact between Zheng Lu and Giacometti.
In seeking the absolute, both have achieved the essential by renouncing imitation and going beyond the limits of symbolic and figurative representation, with an artistic practice that has hinged on gesture and manipulation, on concentration and the renunciation of the definitive form. In Giacometti’s sculpture, raw metal, the seemingly shapeless lumps of matter coagulate along fundamental lines of force. This happens in the same way in the water lines of Zheng Lu’s sculptures, in the words joined to form eddies and waves. Or in the highly polished metal (in this case at the antipodes of Giacometti) that drags anyone who stops to look at his works into the open sea.
Asian taste on the other hand, is different and exciting, adding sensitivity and lightness that transport us inside our soul with a decidedly lighter, poetic, reassuring spirit.
“Water speaks without ever stopping, but it never repeats itself” – Octavio Paz
Zheng Lu’s sculptures are characterized by their gravity-defying compositions and the theme of water and its transformation from fluidity to stillness spaces. His use of calligraphy and poetry, as well as his reference to traditional culture, adds sensitivity and lightness to his works, which transport the viewer inside their soul with a poetic and reassuring spirit. Through his sculptural practice, Zheng Lu explores complex concepts such as reflective mediums and the interconnection between humans and machines, nature and technology.
Zheng Lu’s work has gained international recognition, with his sculptures exhibited in significant galleries and museums such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taiwan, Parkview Museum in Beijing, and Long Museum in Shanghai, China. His artistic language introduces a conceptual element within his structural compositions, propelling new interpretative possibilities. Overall, Zheng Lu’s sculptures combine traditional sculptural techniques and cutting-edge technologies to explore complex themes and concepts, creating works that are both intellectually sophisticated and visually stunning.
HOFA GALLERY
House of Fine Art – HOFA seeks to explore beyond the creative constraints of the contemporary art world, demanding to challenge the conscious, stimulate the subconscious and amplify the voices of the under-represented.
Our ongoing selection of emerging and established artists, who are sourced locally and internationally, effectively communicate their innovative techniques and experimentation through a range of multidisciplinary genres. Their works are a documentation of meticulous methodology and incitement of emotion, that allude to modern and conceptual subject matter.
HOFA’s philosophy essentially led to the birth of their gallery space, with the intention to activate the artist’s academia, concerned with the pursuit of research, experimentation and innovative interpretation and a space to stimulate the senses and conceptualise communal engagement. As of November, 2022, the gallery introduced ‘HOFA DAO’, a decentralised autonomous organisation that establishes a portfolio of investments associated with their exhibiting artists and their artworks.
In 2018 HOFA Gallery was the first art gallery in the world to make their entire collection available in cryptocurrency. Using new technologies and digital innovations, HOFA pledges an accessible entry point to the market and inclusivity to art collectors on all levels.
Founded in 2012, HOFA extends its environment beyond just an art gallery, merging collaboration with creatives, digital design and media, curating interactive events and summoning a platform for open discussion, debate and discovery. HOFA Gallery has provided government institutions, museums, art galleries and private collectors access to some of the most sought after and collectable works of contemporary art.