A Guide to Exploring Light and Shadow at the Art Gallery

Art enthusiasts often hear the term "aesthetic accumulation." Over time, one realizes that when aesthetic accumulation reaches a certain level, it becomes a clear-headed state of mind—one that doesn't cater to the noise but holds fast to the self. It is like the child in Yoshitomo Nara's works who views the world with a cold eye, and it is also like JIA ART Shanghai, which has created a "Green Valley of Light" amidst the steel and concrete. Located on the 10th floor of the Kaibin Building in Xuhui, the JIA ART Shanghai exhibition hall was designed by HWCD. Using the sun, moon, and stars as inspiration and light as the core concept, it constructs an immersive experience of art and light. The first thing that catches the eye is the sundial art installation. Though simple, it possesses the vastness of shifting stars and changing times. Its angle of oscillation is 54.93 degrees, corresponding to the area of Xuhui, oscillating back and forth between heaven and earth. Next, we enter the "Plane Tree Light and Shadow" space. It is also a simple design, yet it moved me deeply. Different cities have different calling cards; strolling through the deep shade of the plane trees is the texture of Shanghai. It is not noisy; it is restrained and introverted. It is like a gentle stream, not gushing out, but flowing with an inherent sense of boundaries. The spatial sculpture display is equally stunning. I previously saw Xiang Jing's elephant works at JIA Xuhui, and at JIA ART Shanghai, one can see spatial sculpture works featuring the "Un-damaged Beast" motif. Shanghai's architecture does not lack craftsmanship, but it often lacks questioning and reflection: "How can craftsmanship respond to the era, or even transcend it, and withstand a century of aesthetic scrutiny?" With this question in mind, JIA went into numerous century-old enterprises for in-depth dialogues, condensing them into the exhibition hall. Thus, I saw French art workshops, art-grade faucets and basins, and century-old German cabinet designs, where metal meshes between gears as smoothly as fabric. The final area of the exhibition hall is the "Green Valley of Light," which presents how light will travel through the shrubs, vegetation, and architectural curves in the completed public areas of JIA Shanghai, reaching your heart and mine. Living is, in itself, a game with light. Art integrates into the texture of life, becoming one. The light of all things is seen only by you. JIA ART, Art of Home.