Star Gallery is pleased to presentThe River, Tong Tianqing's latest solo exhibition opening on May 20, 2025. The exhibition, which will run through June 28, features the artist's most recent series of ink-painting portraits focusing on the ordinary life and spiritual states of people living along the Chaobai River.
InThe River, Tong Tianqing distills his long-standing attention to ordinary individuals into a series of precise and deeply resonant portraits. Setting out emotionally from the river, which is close to his residence, the artist continues to expand the radius of his exploration through constatnt trips, observation, and documentation, portraying a big variety of individuals with distinct identities and gestures—from rural children to left-behind elderly; from street vendors to local officials, and even undertakers such as mortuary cosmetologist and cremators. Besides a lot of chance encounters, the artist becomes friends with some of his subjects over time. Through years of observation and engagement, they have gradually transformed into a profound landscape of life in the eye of the artist, propelling his art to go deeper and deeper.
