Group Exhibition ISM ART, Shenzhen
From the very beginning of discussions with Kelly He, founder of ISM Art Space, regarding the joint exhibition of the three artists Wang Yunchong, Xiao Wenjie, and Wei Zongyao, I have decided to use “Light Density” as this exhibition name. After engaging in thoughtful conversations with the artists and moving back and forth between Beijing and Shenzhen, I became even more convinced that “Light Density” is the best name.
The origin of the world is material. From a physical perspective, “Light Density” suggests a clarity and openness akin to poetry—an airy sense of space and freedom. In physical terms, light density means the absence of crowding and the presence of greater personal space. This inevitably leads to the idea of light density as an instinctive resistance to alienation: within highly dense cities, people often become mere components within a vast machine, pushed forward in repetitive cycles, sometimes even ceasing to think independently. A light-density environment, by contrast, allows individuals to step away from this state of being constantly “filled,” granting moments of solitude free from interference.
As the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once observed, “Either solitude or vulgarity.” In other words, light density provides and nurtures the fertile ground for independent thought. Visually speaking, the breathing space of light density resembles the blankness (“留白”） found in traditional Chinese ink painting. The artistic languages created by the artists in this exhibition construct such spaces of openness. They offer both the creators themselves and the viewers encountering the finished works a shared rhythm of breathing—an ongoing exchange between presence and perception.
This creative intention conveys that the meaning of life, the experience of the city, and the subtleties of solitude are not found in accumulation or addition. Rather, they lie in how much space remains—how much freedom exists between the self and the other, allowing both to be filled with the greatest possible sense of openness.
—Curator：Cao Yu
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