inner flow Gallery将于2024年7月26日推出艺术家蒋小余的个展“朊怪兽”，展览由鲍栋策划，在画廊主展厅呈现其近年来创作的17件重要作品。与此同期，画廊的一楼空间也将呈现展览“蒋鹏”，通过一系列他早期的创作手稿和诗歌，以过去时空的“蒋鹏”呼应当下的“蒋小余”。另外，他也将作为本期inner flow Project的组织者，推出郑雪个人项目“疙瘩”。
inner flow Gallery will launch a solo exhibition titled “Monsters of protein”by artist Jiang Xiaoyu on July 26, 2024. Curated by Bao Dong, the exhibition will showcase 17 significant works created by Jiang in recent years in the main gallery. Concurrently, the gallery’s first-floor space will present the exhibition “Jiang Peng”，featuring a series of his early sketches and poems, connecting the past “Jiang Peng”with the present “Jiang Xiaoyu”. Additionally, Jiang will organize the latest inner flow Project, introducing Zheng Xue‘s solo project “Knot in stitches”.
Jiang Xiaoyu: Monsters of Protein
Curator: Bao Dong
Duration: 2024.7.26-8.29
Venue: inner flow Gallery, East Road, 798 ArtZone, 2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
文/鲍栋
有意无意的，蒋小余的绘画中并存着两种截然相反的形象。一种是强壮的、大块头的、膨胀的男性形象，经常是带着拳击手套，秀着圆滚滚的三角肌肩膀、拎着杠铃、叼着烟斗或雪茄，但怎么看都充满着虚浮、臃肿，全身软塌塌的软蛋，甚至性格上有点窝窝囊囊。
正是借助于充斥在男性身体形象中的圆滚滚的形体，蒋小余又从中发现并发展出了一种更基础、更低等，或者说更元素化的形象，它们像是肉球、器官、细菌、单细胞、一种原始的蛋白质生物、一个个亦正亦邪的原欲婴儿。正是这两种形象的结合，让他的画面描述出了一个个萌萌的怪兽，一种对男性自我心理的隐喻？
落实到当下社会语境，这些绘画中的男性主体散发着浓烈的屌丝气，尤其是在两性关系意识上，一种无能的炫耀，一种丑角化的雄竞。这些暗藏在蒋小余作品背后的心理结构，使他的绘画具有了一种滑稽美学，一种“小丑”式的自嘲，以及疯癫。
于是，那些“肤浅”的荧光色被刻意地在“深度”的表现主义笔触中铺陈，勾画出一种“庸俗”的真诚。而随处可见的厚涂之后的刮除，又体现出某种真实的“圆滑”，一种激情四射之后的落空。在风格这里，蒋小余的主题与语言在互相蠕动中得到统一。
除了绘画，蒋小余也是一位诗歌写作者，在文字中诉说着下半身与前半生，欲望与现实，表达与反思，这些口语化的意义疏朗的言语，与他的绘画保持了相似的质地。毋庸讳言，蒋小余是一个站在男性的角色中去暴露他们的雄心与猥琐，各种自以为是的性张力与适得其反的性缩力。或许，正是因为真实地去面对那种失败感，他的作品获得了一种心性上的坦诚，与绘画上的踏实，只是意难平。
written by Baodong
Consciously or unconsciously, Jiang Xiaoyu’s paintings coexist with two completely opposite images. One is the image of a strong, bulky, inflated male figure, often depicted with boxing gloves, flaunting rounded deltoid shoulders, lifting barbells, and holding a pipe or cigar. However, no matter how you look at him, this image is always filled with superficiality and belatedness, weak and flabby within the whole body, even somewhat cowardly in character.
Through the round shapes filling the male body figure, Jiang Xiaoyu discovers and develops a more fundamental, lower-level, or elemental figure. These figures are like resemble blobs of flesh; organs; bacteria; single cells; primitive protein organisms; and ambiguous, primal infant-like beings. It is the combination of these two images that creates adorable monsters in his paintings, potentially a metaphor for the male psyche?
In the current social context, the male subjects in these paintings emit a strong sense of “loser” vibes, especially in the consciousness of gender relations—an impotent display, a clownish male competition. These psychological structures hidden behind Jiang Xiaoyu’s works endow his paintings with a comedic aesthetic, a “clown” self-mockery, and madness.
Thus, those “superficial” fluorescent colors are deliberately laid out in the “deep” expressionist strokes, depicting a “vulgar” sincerity. The scraping after thick application seen everywhere also reflects a certain real “slickness,” a sense of emptiness after a burst of passion. In terms of style, Jiang Xiaoyu’s themes and language achieve unity through mutual wriggling.
Besides painting, Jiang Xiaoyu is also a poet, expressing between their legs and the first half of life, desire and reality, expression and reflection in words. These colloquial, sparsely meaningful expressions maintain a similar texture to his paintings. It is undeniable that Jiang Xiaoyu, standing in the role of a male, exposes their ambition and sordidness, various self-righteous sexual tensions, and counterproductive sexual frustrations. Perhaps, it is precisely by facing that sense of failure honestly that his works achieve a kind of honesty in temperament and solidity in painting, albeit with lingering regret.
蒋鹏，男，汉族，1990年出生于重庆地区某三线城市，美院毕业后曾在北京黑桥短暂生活、工作、创作，后回到重庆继续学习、生活、创作，2024年蒋鹏个展在北京798某画廊开幕。蒋鹏，艺名蒋小余。
展览将持续至8月29日。
Jiang Peng, male, Han ethnicity, born in 1990 in a third-tier city in the Chongqing area. After graduating from an art academy, he briefly lived, worked, and created in Heiqiao, Beijing. He later returned to Chongqing to continue his studies, life, and creative work. In 2024, Jiang Peng’s solo exhibition opened at a gallery in Beijing’s 798 Art District. Jiang Peng’s artistic name is Jiang Xiaoyu.
The exhibition will last until August 29, 2024.
蒋小余
蒋小余，1990年出⽣于重庆⼤⾜。2014年本科毕业于四川美术学院油画系，2020年硕⼠毕业于四川美术学院油画系，现⽣活和⼯作于重庆。他的绘画克制⽽内敛，他尽可能地剔除那些来⾃于⽇常图景或素材中的冗余和繁复，画⾯因此变得集中和纯粹，蒋⼩余试图通过对形象的深⼊洞察和异质化处理，刻画个体⽣命在现实处境中的复杂遭遇，从⽽揭⽰和隐喻⼈们在普遍⾯临外部多变且动荡的世界时随之产⽣的内⼼活动。蒋⼩余的⼯作尽可能地削弱叙事性，⽽更多集中在对情感和精神世界的探寻与传达，这些看似晦暗、 荒诞、诡谲同时也透露着单纯、可爱与情趣的内容，既⽣动鲜活，也诗性盎然。
个展包括：朊怪兽，inner flow Gallery，北京，2024；空击，飞地艺术空间，深圳，2022；可么可么啰，开始画廊，贵阳，2022
群展包括：肖像——年轻一代的面孔，玉兰堂，北京，2024；记忆，BLANK gallery，上海，2024；绘画问题备忘录，极少艺术中心，成都，2023；不得不服——青年艺术家邀请展，之空间，重庆，2023；崭新的 BRAND NEW，inner flow Gallery，北京，2023；中国表现2023——青年当代艺术提名展，泰艺术中心，上海，2023；寂静春天来临前，飞地艺术空间，深圳，2023；原始童话，狮语画廊，上海，2022；世说新语，威狮国际当代艺术中心，福州，2022；FANSHION 2，55画廊，上海，2021；在日出时数羊，序空间， 重庆，2021；平步昏氛，喜马拉雅美术馆，上海，2021；异童话，彩云里艺术中心， 昆明，2021；弹出——四川美术学院青年艺术家驻留计划2020-2021终期汇报展，四川美术学院美术馆，重庆，2021
Jiang Xiaoyu
Jiang Xiaoyu was born in 1990 in Dazu, Chongqing. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2014 and obtained his master’s degree from the same department in 2020. Currently, he lives and works in Chongqing.
Jiang’s paintings are restrained and introspective. He strives to eliminate the redundancies and complexities often found in everyday imagery or materials, resulting in a concentrated and pure visual effect. Through profound insight and heterogeneous treatment of imagery, Jiang attempts to depict the complex encounters of individual lives in real-world situations. This approach aims to reveal and metaphorically address the internal activities that people experience when facing an ever-changing and turbulent world.
Jiang’s work deliberately minimizes narrative elements, focusing instead on exploring and conveying emotional and spiritual realms. These works, which appear dark, absurd, and eerie, simultaneously reveal simplicity, charm, and whimsy. They are both vivid and poetic.
Solo exhibition include：Monsters of protein, inner flow Gallery, Beijing, 2024; Shadow Boxing, Enclave Contemporary, Shenzhen, 2022; GOMU GOMU NO, STArtz, Guiyang, 2022; Group exhibition include: Portraits visages of the young generation, Line gallery, Beijing, 2024; Memories, BLANK gallery, Shanghai, 2024; Memorandum on Painting Issues, Unique art center, Chengdu, 2023; Hard to not believe——Young Artists Invitation Exhibition, Zhi art space, Chongqing, 2023; BRAND NEW, inner flow Gallery, Beijing, 2023; Chinese Expressionism 2023——Youth Artists Nomination Exhibition, Artflow, Shanghai, 2023; The Days Before The Silent Spring, Enclave Contemporary, Shenzhen, 2023; The Primeval Fairy Tale, Leo gallery, Shanghai, 2022; A New Account of Tales of the World, SEEWELL International Art Center, Fuzhou, 2022; FANSHION 2, 55 gallery, Shanghai, 2021; Sleepy Sun, Counting Sheep, Xu art space, Chongqing, 2021; The Magnetic Field, Himalayas gallery, Shanghai, 2021; Strange Fairy Tales. Artime Art Center, Kunming, 2021; Eject——The Young Artist Residency Program of Sichuan Fine Art Institute (2020-2021), Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Art institute, Chongqing, 2021
