Jingge Dong’s paintings inhabit the in-between state of tangible reality and fantastic possibilities, appearing suspended in an oneiric atmosphere charged by both hopeful expectations and uncertain futures. Seemingly delicate and romantic - with a colour palette predominantly made of pastel and soft, muted tones - Dong's compositions are imbued with references that speak to reality’s contradictions and contemporary social issues. The title of the exhibition Warship in Bloom / Five Sons Ascendant, builds a layered metaphor that unfolds across the canvases as a negotiation between reality and imagination, abstraction and figuration, empty and densely painted areas. It alludes to two opposite scenarios: the faint probability of life emerging within a hostile ecosystem and humanity’s eternal longing for prosperity, which the artist attempts to reconcile on the same picture plane.
Jingge Dong (b. 1989, Beijing, CN) currently lives and works between Venice, IT and Shanghai, CN. Dong received his BA from Shanghai Normal University in 2011 and holds an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (2019) and the Chinese National Academy of Arts (2015). Selected solo and duo exhibitions include: ‘Jingge Dong’, Simulacra, Beijing, China (2025); ‘Stop more feel more’, Palazzo Nani, Radisson Collection, Venice, IT (2024); ‘Coesistenze in Viaggio’, The Circle, Gorizia, IT (2024); ‘Enraptured’, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin, DE (2024). Dong’s work has been exhibited in group shows internationally at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, IT (2026); Barbati Gallery, Venice, IT (2026); Ettore Fico Museum, Turin, IT (2025); Tai Art Center, Shanghai, CN (2025); Spazio Berlendis, Venice, IT (2025) and Altro Mondo Creative Space, Makati City, PH (2025), amongst others. Dong was awarded 2nd Place in the ‘Artefici del Nostro Tempo’ Venice Art Prize, IT (2024) and was an artist-in-residence at Officina Malanotte, Tezze di Piave, IT in 2023. His work has been collected by Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Marval Collection, Collezione Paneghini and Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art, Venice. His work has been featured in JULIET Art Magazine, Artribune and exibart, amongst others.
Jingge Dong: Warship in Bloom / Five Sons Ascendant press release
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