Institute of Contemporary Art Miami ICA Miami

“Ding Shilun: Janus” debuts a group of newly commissioned paintings and a site-specific installation in the artist’s first solo US museum exhibition. Shilun’s ethereal and at times ominous works feature idiosyncratic mythologies inspired by his everyday life. Each painting acts as an individual vignette, depicting self-contained and often ambiguous scenes that utilize figuration to convey rousing emotion and simple anecdotes rather than elaborate narratives.

The artist refers to this storytelling as a “personal fable”; the protagonists of his paintings are avatars of the artist, which he refers to as “projections and embodiments of my inner self, reflecting my confusion living across different cultures and ideologies, as well as my desire to construct my own reality.” The show takes its title, “Janus,” from the Roman god of beginnings and endings, chosen by the artist to evoke this paradox in his works.

Shilun’s paintings draw from a wide range of reference images, traditions, and techniques. The works’ pageantry as well as their supernatural and satirical themes are influenced by Nuo opera—performances from the Chinese folk religion Nuoism––as well as by prominent collections of Chinese folklore and the celebrated prints of Francisco Goya, such as the series Los caprichos (The Caprices, 1797–98). To mimic the water-based pigments of traditional Chinese gongbi painting, Shilun applies numerous thin layers of diluted oil paint. This delicate method belies the volatile iconography of his works, evoking the contradictions and frictions of day-to-day life.

Ding Shilun (b. 1998, Guangzhou, China) graduated with an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2022, and earned a BA in painting from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China, in 2020. He has participated in solo exhibitions at the Zabludowicz Collection, London, and the Guangdong Museum, Guangzhou, China. Shilun’s work is in the collections of ICA Miami; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Dallas Museum of Art; Albertina Museum, Vienna; and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas; among others.

“Ding Shilun: Janus” is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, and curated by Amanda Morgan, Assistant Curator, Exhibitions and Publications.