MANGROVEGALLERY is honoured to present the group exhibition Tree of Fire, featuring the paintings of Wei Jia, Sun Xun, Yu Hang, and Hou Yijie. The exhibition will be on view from 22nd December 2023 to 27th January 2024.

Spathodea, native to Africa, has become extremely common in Shenzhen. It is a vibrant plant. Its many reddish-orange flowers, large and flamboyant, are densely clustered, with a long flowering period. Its flowers, when in bloom, are resplendent and ravishing, creating an air of vivacity and lusciousness — hence its Chinese name, Huoyanmu, “tree of fire”. This vivacity and expressiveness seem to resonate with the expressiveness in the art works of this exhibition. The latest paintings by Sun Xun continue in his distinctive style, who uses oil painting to overlay reality with imaginations. Paintings by Yu Hang incorporate punk cultures, graffiti, and street cultures to create with bright colours and uninhibited brushstrokes an unsubstantiated world that is fallacious and absurd. Hou Yijie puts his mind’s eye to boundless imaginations on romanticism and heroism, going for relentless self-discovery through repeated destructions and reconstructions. Wei Jia meanders between the abstract and the concrete, blurring the lines between the subject and the object; he explores the complexity of human nature and the subtle emotional resonance within, with his brushstrokes and colours that are saturated with emotions. For these artists, the passion and desire for expression is a testament to life. Thus, the exhibition uses Tree of Fire as the fuse, setting the here and now ablaze.