Shao Yinong made his name in photography; these days he prefers to paint in the clouds. The Qingdao-born lecturer in oils at Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts has moved on to a more traditional theme than the haunting Assembly Hall photographs of former Red Guard congregation spaces that made him and his wife Muchen famous. From Thursday, Shao highlights the passage of time and the rotation of the seasons in his solo exhibition, Between Earth and Sky - White Dew, at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery in Central.
The White Dew of the title is taken from the 24 Solar Terms in the traditional lunar calendar that has been used by Chinese farmers since the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC). And while White Dew alerts farmers to the time of year when the water droplets gather on the ground as the summer's heat fades, the calendar's 24 Solar Terms highlight other periods such as the Summer Solstice, the End of Heat, the Frost's Descent and the Great Cold.
The five-week White Dew show is the second in a series that will comprise all 24 Solar Terms and their social significance, divided into seasonal sequences with colourful clouds, lucky clouds and dark clouds, Shao says. Having opened with the Beginning of Summer in Beijing earlier this year, the series celebrates the significance of the weather and land in Chinese culture, the artist says.
'Because of the immediate relations between the weather and the agriculture, our ancestors had accumulated abundant experience in farming in accordance with the weather changes shown in the 24 Solar Terms,' Shao says.
'The elements, for instance, the colourful clouds, the lucky clouds and the dark clouds are found and extracted from Chinese traditions, but with new explanations of the ideology from the heavens to the earth and the chi philosophy.'
These terms are still relevant to modern society since the Chinese people are mostly still reliant on the land, he says, adding that their sense of being is strongly connected to its changes in moods, personalities and life cycles.
Shao has literally used the gallery as his canvas for White Dew, painting his lucky clouds in a continuum across the walls, ceilings and passageways.