Beauchamp’s Gallery Goes Beyond Realism

For better or for worse, Ye Wang is a man caught in the middle; straddling two dramatically different cultures . Having moved from China to Canada about 10 years ago, he has yet to fully acclimate himself to western culture. Even since coming to the United States in 2004, he still feels separated by a kind of “glass wall” from the world in which he lives. At times, the glass is absolutely clear. But sometimes, reflections in the glass distort his understanding of the culture he is experiencing. In fact, even when his perception of the culture is perfect, he still has difficulty interpreting what it is he is perceiving.

Ye’s latest collection of paintings provide a metaphor of his personal issues with cultural perception. At first glance, his artwork seems to be a well executed example of photorealism, a type of painting so precise in its dedication to realism that it appears more like a photo than a painting. But Ye’s art goes well beyond realism. He uses multiple photo references in each painting, purposely adding reflection and distortion where it doesn’t really exist. And a glass barrier is always present in Ye’s work- a window, door or mirror. Some elements of his paintings are presented with unnatural clarity while other elements are deliberately blurred. The end result is a type of art that exists somewhere in between Ye’s classical painting roots and the type of abstract painting so prevalent in his adopted western culture. The viewer sees an image that is at the same time both perfectly clear and frustratingly confusing- just like Ye’s cultural experience.

Beginning the first week on October, Beauchamp’s Gallery will be exhibiting Ye Wang’s paintings for 5 weeks. Also, being shown with Ye’s work will be the “trompe l’oeil” or “fool the eye” paintings of Robert Swain and the popular figurative soft sculpture of Beverly Dodge Radefeld. All three artists will be on hand for a Friday evening reception that will be held in conjunction with the First Friday Art Walk on October 2nd.