This solo exhibition by Huang Benrui features a total of 26 new paintings. Notably, ‘Nini’ steps out of the canvas and transforms into a wool felt sculpture, donning a magnificent red woven cape and embarking on an adventure to find ‘The Big Bad Wolf’. In 2021, as the pandemic swept the world, Huang Benrui responded to the impact of the pandemic on life and social operations through her exhibition ‘Three Attitudes with Reflection’. Concurrently, her daily life became quieter due to social distancing. Now, with the pandemic receding, the sense of tranquility remains, and Huang Benrui has excavated thoughts she wanted to create in the past but failed to address. After rumination, she has now materialized them, with the wool felt sculpture ‘In Search of Her Wolf’ being one of them, also engaging in dialogue with her 2014 painting ‘The Temptation of Little Red’. The story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ inspired Huang Benrui, who painted Nini, the Little Red Riding Hood, being tempted by the light scattered on the stairs ten years ago, but isn’t this a situation we have all experienced? As time passes, fairy tales give rise to deeper thoughts, and she bestows different interpretations: Little Red Riding Hood ‘Nini’ dons a splendid red cape and sets off to find her wolf. Huang Benrui uses ‘wolf’ as a symbol of temptation, fear, and the exploration of the unknown. The chaos of the environment evokes mixed feelings and a sense of helplessness. On the surface, it can be as light as ‘Nini’ in ‘Nothing to Worry About, All is Well’, or it can be seen as a test of destiny. In ‘Surviving the Tribulation Rule No.1: Discarding the Excess’, Huang Benrui has ‘Nini’ abandon her beloved flowers, sofas, and other worldly possessions to face the trial of tribulation alone. Only by ‘surviving the tribulation’ can one enter a higher path of cultivation. The English title ‘Valhalla’ is derived from the Nordic mythology, where it is the heaven where the souls of brave warriors reside. Born in Taipei in 1959, Huang Benrui graduated from the Western Painting Department of the National Taiwan Normal University’s Art Department in 1982, then went to the United States for further studies, and graduated from the School of Visual Arts Illustration Institute in New York in 1992. She worked on picture books and illustrations in the United States, and her new work ‘Sheep Don’t Count Sheep, Nini Does’ is a tribute to the classic children’s book ‘Sheep Don’t Count Sheep’ by American author Margaret Wise Brown, which she was invited to illustrate in 2003. The ‘Nini’ character, which debuted in 2008, is Huang Benrui’s best creative partner. This time, it expresses the current social culture, such as: ‘Silly Rabbit Check-in’, ‘I’m Fashionable, Deliberately Late’, and ‘The Unspeakable Love of Introverts’ depicting the intricate emotions of introverted ‘I’ types in the MBTI 16 personality types; ‘Cake Master Work Site Live’ inspired by live streaming on the internet; ‘Eye Test’ and ‘Floaters Rhapsody’ expressing the voice of many people with blurred vision; ‘Embrace Tonight!’ series, where ‘Nini’ interacts with a geometric sculpture until they become one, symbolizing the close relationship between partners in life and career.
Although the world is unpredictable, Huang Benrui travels with ‘Nini’ and continuously pursues the spiritual land of life on the journey.
Opening hours from November 9 to December 14. The specific business status is subject to the opening situation on that day.
