展期 Period：
2024.4.6—2024.5.12
艺术家 Artist：
地点 Venue：
新闻稿 Press Release：
拾萬空间（杭州）非常荣幸地带来周天白的首次个展：利仞不举。“仞”在古代是一个计量高度和深度的单位，例如“山高万仞”，在诗词歌赋中也被用作“举目重重万仞高”，以此来表述一种难以逾越的障碍和困难。本次展览标题意在借此“仞”字的意向，表述出周天白的内心心境：深感深处绝对境地，又没有能力在绝对境地中正面生存，如果想让自己的精神能在受苦受难中变得坚强灵活，那么从幽默中找到妥协之路，此路亦名为不举。在虚幻飘渺的幽默气氛中，那些错综复杂和杂乱无章的理想得以实现。
毕业于鲁迅美术学院油画系的周天白，作为个体，会同年轻的大家一样经历：唾手可刷的资讯、小红书式的生活方式和AI致幻的世界。圈子、阶层和主流价值观，促逼着大家彼此拥挤和彼此撕裂，生出无数异心，集体的出神是周天白个人的心境写照。
在此，周天白对这种集体出神进行了描绘，他的作品以人物群像为主，造型动作朴素简单，不进行面面俱到的细节处理，喜欢大刀阔斧式的背景基调铺设。画面中的人物基本以团簇状出现，单体人物的外形勾画也用近乎笨拙的方式进行大线条式的总结，基本以“一句话”交代造型的语言进行塑造。具体到每个人物，周天白会非常叙事和幽默的加一些旁白，例如，⚡️⛈️和小红书这样的符号。
周天白的表达出口综合多元，他与同毕业于鲁迅美术学院的同学一起组建乐队[鹅的思想]，是一支生活在东北沈阳的酸性摇滚乐队。
“画画的”周天白有干净的画面和幽默细腻的叙事自嘲，他应承外力，守持内核。
“做音乐的”周天白用逻辑严谨的方式抵达迷幻眩晕的理想之地。
用以上两种语言来解当下迷题，动作上如海浪般随波律动，意识上如黑塞描述的荒原狼一般幽默自处，至于抵达深海还是彼岸，这个目的地已经消失，学会海中游泳，并成为普通人，成为海洋中的一员是利仞不举的所得地。
Hunsand Space (Hangzhou) is honored to present Zhou Tianbai's debut solo exhibition titled " Incapable of Wielding a Sharp Edge ". The term "仞" in ancient Chinese culture signified a unit for measuring height and depth—akin to phrases such as "towering peaks of ten thousand 仞"—and metaphorically represented insuperable barriers in poetry, e.g., "gazing upon layer upon layer of lofty heights." The exhibition's theme ingeniously borrows from the concept of "仞" to articulate Zhou Tianbai's inner disposition: deeply entrenched in an abyssal state, yet feeling incapable of wielding a sharp edge to navigate life head-on within such extremities. To him, the key to strengthening the spirit amidst adversity lies in finding a path of compromise through humor, which can be termed as the art of not wielding a blade. This narrative unfolds in an otherworldly atmosphere tinged with humor, where convoluted and disordered aspirations materialize.
Zhou Tianbai, a graduate of the Oil Painting Department of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, experiences, like many of his peers, the inundation of readily available information, lifestyles akin to those on Xiaohongshu (a social media platform), and an AI-induced hallucinatory world. Societal circles, class divisions, and mainstream values push individuals to both crowd and tear each other apart, birthing numerous dissenting voices, collectively epitomizing Zhou Tianbai's personal state of trance.
In response, Zhou Tianbai depicts this collective trance, with his works primarily featuring groups of figures. His characters sport plain and straightforward poses, eschewing meticulous detail and instead employing bold, sweeping background tones. Figures in his paintings typically cluster together, with individual character outlines rendered in a seemingly clumsy, broad-stroke manner—a style akin to summarizing their essence with a single sentence. For each character, Zhou Tianbai adds witty and narrative captions, such as symbols like⚡️⛈️and references to Xiaohongshu.
Zhou Tianbai adopts a diverse array of expressions; alongside fellow graduates from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, he co-founds the band "Thoughts of Geese," embodying an acid rock ensemble rooted in Shenyang, Northeastern China.
As a "painter," Zhou Tianbai presents clean canvases and humorously nuanced self-deprecation in narrative. He withstands external pressures while maintaining his core.
As a "musician," Zhou Tianbai methodically navigates towards the ideal realm of hallucinatory euphoria.
Using these two languages to solve current mysteries, his movements sway like ocean waves, while his consciousness humorously grapples with self-awareness akin to Hermann Hesse's description of the steppenwolf. Whether reaching the depths of the ocean or the other shore, the destination has vanished. Learning to swim in the sea and becoming an ordinary person, a member of the ocean, is the achievement of "incapable of wielding a sharp edge", leaning towards a laid-back approach.
