Thomas Rose and Lo Ch’ing: a collaborative exhibition of the original works done for the book “Nocturnal Whispers of Pan”

June 12 – July 17, 2020
Saturday, Jun 13 @ 4 to 6 PM | Opening Reception

Lo Ch’ing, a Chinese artist, (Taiwan), a poet and scholar fluent in English as well as Japanese. He is well versed in Western art and theory as well as Chinese art, history and culture. In 201O,  Joseph Allen a China Scholar introduced both artists. A succinct first collaborative project was completed, “Secrets” in 2012, a group of eight of photographic constructed images by Rose accompanied by Lo Ch’ing’s poems, hand printed in English and Chinese.

The current project, “Nocturnal Whispers of Pan”, began with a discussion by both artist regarding Chinese and Western difference and similarity with theories of transition, memory and mythological histories. Rose was, at the time photographing dollhouse furniture, toys, and miscellaneous common objects on his studio worktable. These simple images of the open frame—geometrical borderline, hollow steel structures—of a see through house as memory exercise, transfigured into metaphors of personal transfiguration from raw childhood to self-awareness. First as images in a dark and ambiguous space, then incorporating sections from ‘The Villa of The Mysteries’ in Pompeii where in the mid 1990’s Rose had done a group of photos of the wall paintings.

In 2017 Rose sent a few of these to Lo Ch’ing in Taiwan and his excitement suggested the potential to explore where this might go. He in turn created ink paintings corresponding to the images I sent. His images are abstract with the intent of capturing something of the feel he observed in the woks I sent.  Rose’s Beijing gallerist Lu Xiao was interested in an exhibition and using the book as a catalog. Along the way the “book” transformed into the layered work seen in these images. The artists have made pairings based on the order of sending Rose’s completed works to Lo Ch’ing. It is there for not a continuous narrative but a personal narrative nonetheless, involving self-cognition, self-knowledge, initiation, and transfiguration.

The proposed exhibition includes the original works accompanied by the “book’ itself as well as some preliminary studies. The book itself is hand made, bound, type set by hand and letterpress printed. Each aspect is considered as a aspect of both Eastern and Western material and process. Lo Ch’ing’s original work was scanned full size and reduced for the “book”, idem for Rose’s. Lo Ch’ing’s  square and Rose’s rectangular formats. The book is an edition of 20, a good number already being purchased in both China and here in the US by institutions. Lo Ch’ing’s originals are one of a kind, while Rose’s are an edition of 3. There will be a book launch during the exhibition.