MoCA Shanghai celebrates its 19th anniversary with a significant solo exhibition by the young artist Lu Mao, titled “Gaze of Flowers and Leopards.” This comprehensive exhibition covers a range of art forms, including painting, sculpture, video, and installation, and traces Lu Mao’s decade-long creative evolution from a freelance illustrator to a contemporary artist.
In addition to Lu Mao’s works, the exhibition also presents a collaborative piece, “Qi Sheng,” a cross-disciplinary AI video installation art by new media artist Fu Tong and Lu Mao. The “Tree of Life,” a three-dimensional green wall installation, is supported by Shanghai Garden Group Co., Ltd., and the exhibition is further enhanced by special floral designs custom-made by florists Za Xi Sangzhu and Zhu Wenqin.
Lu Mao, a well-known freelance illustrator in China, has been devoting his attention to oil painting, sculpture, and contemporary art in recent years. His art is characterized by a life-affirming observational perspective, vivid colors, and soft brushstrokes. Lu Mao skillfully integrates nature and humanities into his creations, offering a simple and pure reflection of life that is rich in emotion.
His paintings encompass the four seasons of nature, depicting distant glaciers and forests, as well as intimate close-ups of every blade of grass and tree. They also tell stories of people traveling and wandering through the city. With the eyes of a little prince, Lu Mao infuses his art with innocence and philosophy, bringing a sense of romance, warmth, and reverie to the viewer.
The main visual of the exhibition is set in a greenhouse garden, where a person illuminated, a leopard, and a garden full of fragrance come together to form a captivating scene.As the leopard gazes at the flower, the flower also looks back at it. This is a scene that embodies the harmony and mutual care among all things, reflecting Lu Mao’s deep love and poetic longing for nature and humanity. Just as the leopard quietly watches a flower bloom, Lu Mao’s works capture those fleeting beautiful moments in life, allowing the power and beauty of life to flow from the brush and become eternal.
This exhibition serves not only as a complete review of Lu Mao’s ten-year creation but also as a mutual gaze and dialogue of the soul. MoCA Shanghai, always committed to supporting young Chinese artists, invites you to walk into Lu Mao’s art garden on a summer afternoon and feel his love for life and his uninhibited freedom. ‘See a flower, borrow a summer.’ Dream into a midsummer night and bloom the flower of your own soul.
Opening hours for the exhibition are Tuesday-Sunday, 13:30-21:30; Monday is closed. The exhibition runs from July 27 to October 26. Please note that the visit duration is subject to the actual situation on site.
