Chinese artist Julie Zhu presents a modern take on classical Chinese art in her first solo exhibition, “Love Is All Around,” now on view at Singapore gallery Utterly Art.At first glance, Zhu’s depiction of animals and plants seems historical, reminiscent of traditional Chinese art in subject and style, or of watercolors by 19th century-botanists like John James Audubon or illustrator turned doomed polar explorer Edward A. Wilson.Her approach, however, betrays a modern influence. Zhu’s work uses familiar materials like graphite and watercolor on paper, but these are combined with opulent touches of gold acrylic in intricate paintings of nature’s complexity or detailed renderings of carved stone and jade.The pieces are also less straightforward than they may first appear. Each painting shows a natural scene, but it also operates as a love letter in paint, subtitled with a musing about love, written to an unnamed “you” or stated generally. For example, “Brief Encounter,” 2016, featuring flowers alongside two crabs, is accompanied by the phrase “You are my existence, let me look up to have everything,” while “Lotus,” 2016, offers the aphorism “God-given perfection does not need man.”“Love Is All Around” is the second exhibition in Utterly’s series of first-time solo shows by female artists. Zhu’s exhibition follows her participation in group shows in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.“Love is All Around” is on view by appointment through April 3 at Utterly Art in Singapore.
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