ARR Gallery is pleased to present “Contemplate the Ordinary”, a solo exhibition byartist Bai Taotao. This exhibition showcases the artist’s paintings, sketches, and some ordinary objects, exploring the spiritual state of solemn focus within the creative process and its subtle resonance with daily life. It unfolds as a visual experiment on concentration, contrast, and the shifting boundaries of perception. Through painting as a trigger for emotional landscapes, the artist captures the moment when the mind transcends the ordinary and enters a state of solemn absorption—when every brushstroke crystallizes attention and extraneous thoughts are silenced, akin to entering a flow state. However, this neardevotional creative posture stands in delicate tension with the playful, charming elements that frequently appear in the imagery. The exhibition constructs a poetic contrast between the gravity of its themes and the lightness of its expression. For the first time, the exhibition will present a large selection of the artist’s daily sketches alongside carefully curated scenes composed of everyday objects. By paying homage to the ordinary, the exhibition highlights the continuity that persists between seemingly fragmented or unrelated forms within the artist’s creative process.Another central motif threaded through the works is that of flame—appearing across various dimensions, settings, and states within the paintings. These flames serve as a metaphorical test of perception, capturing frozen fragments of time and space while alluding to the tension between reality and illusion. They evoke a subtle question: when the karmic winds rise, can we recognize the signs? Are the boundaries between the real and the illusory as flickering and uncertain as firelight? Through a narrative charged with emotion, the artist invites viewers to confront the shimmering flames deep within their consciousness—thoseunspoken premonitions that, perhaps, point towardanother kind of truth.
