Fight & Care: Elena Bulycheva & Zixu Wang

K146, Hamburg, Germany

By Maxime Foucquet

December 24, 2023

K146 Kunstraum, a newly established contemporary art exhibition platform in Hamburg, Germany, proudly announces its inaugural exhibition, Fight and Care, a collaborative showcase featuring the works of Elena Bulycheva and Zixu Wang. Drawing inspiration from the artistic legacy of figures like Ellsworth Kelly, Kenneth Noland, and Imi Knoebel, the exhibition explores the intersection of painting, care, and struggle in painting and beyond.

In the tradition of artists who have redefined the canvas as both a battleground and an object of care, Bulycheva and Wang utilize irregularly shaped canvases to explore the sculptural qualities of painting. The exhibition reflects on the canvas’s dual nature, embodying conflict and care—a concept rooted in the Latin origins of ‘to curate,’ meaning ‘to care’ or ‘to take care of.’ This intertwining of fighting and caring resonates within the artist’s studio, the art world, and broader contexts.

Elena Bulycheva, the visionary behind K146 Kunstraum, inaugurates the exhibition with her abstract paintings characterized by vibrant color, texture, and irregular forms; Bulycheva employs unconventional processes, such as using a washing machine, resulting in unique erosion patterns. Her work challenges the historical hierarchy of painting, examining gendered values and societal conventions associated with activities deemed inferior, evoking analogies for interpretation from motherhood and female labor.

Zixu Wang, a Chinese painter, contributes to the exhibition with a distinctive approach to irregularly shaped canvases, blending digital modeling and painting. Wang’s trompe-l’oeil depictions of elementary forms play with the flatness of the picture plane, creating visual illusions and challenging the deceptive nature of perception. Using airbrush techniques to manipulate light and shadow, Wang carefully composes these forms into an ambiguous spatial presence, captivating the viewer’s eye and mind. His meticulous process explores the treachery of images and the artist’s role in shaping perception.