麦勒画廊北京部荣幸地宣布，我们将推出艺术家陈思新（1995年生于中国广州）的个展“四只脚的动物很好”，该展览是艺术家于麦勒画廊举办的首次个展，将集中呈现艺术家近两年的创作成果。展览以“四只脚的动物很好”为题，带领观众进入一个充满艺术家个人特色的异象空间：以彩色铅笔为创作媒介，以动物异形为灵感载体，在回忆与想象之间孕育惊奇。介质的色彩是轻盈的，其饱满的视觉效果及繁复的笔触却揭示了背后致密的身体劳作；而超越常规的意象，则似乎在回应观众心中若隐若现于日常生活的，对于精彩、危险与出格的期待。
《白色恐怖》| White Terror
2023
纸本彩铅 | colored pencil on paper
148 × 192 cm
《龙卷风》（2024，纸本彩铅，176 × 150 cm）中的奶牛，《烈日行走》（2024，纸本彩铅，129 × 186 cm）中燃烧的行人，《鸟》（2023，纸本彩铅，46 × 61 cm）中的山坡，《戈尔 型号一》（2023，纸本彩铅，91.5 × 74 cm）与《丝尔 型号一》（2023，纸本彩铅，91.5 × 73.5 cm）中的机器人，《战地》（2023，纸本彩铅，131 × 188 cm）里的士兵，《白色恐怖》（2023，纸本彩铅，148 × 192 cm）中的猿猴……艺术家巧妙地将看似毫不相干的元素在同一空间内汇集，看似揉杂，却因主题区域的划分而各司其职，在戏谑、中立、严肃的交响中，引领观者亲历一场非常际遇。
步入展厅，我们仿佛就已听见环绕四周的动物们所发出的宣言：“四只脚的动物很好。”陈思新和他所创作的龙卷风一起掀袭了观者的惯性思维，用戏谑的开篇悄然隐匿了人类的身份。此时此地，所有目光都诚恳地投向动物，或由动物望出。阴天的平原酝酿风暴，昏暗古怪的环境之中却氤氲着诙谐。人类眼中被吹上天空、深陷命运漩涡的牛羊，或许是在厌倦农场的保护之后，义无反顾地做出了投奔巨大吸引力的选择。
物种、形态、生存境遇皆无定则，一切在浪漫主义的超现实想象中对话，这是陈思新笔下文明末世的一幕必然。形体的不安与紧张因其稳定甚至工整的纹理而得到消解，呈现出一种立身于荒诞之世的微妙平衡。在这些作品中，肆意与克制的交织，恰是艺术家深思熟虑之后向观众展示出的私密的情感切片。
现实关切随着警报的拉响缓慢渗入，我们被推向战争与灾难频发的场域。在这个空间里，集体共享的记忆被唤醒。尽管我们深处社群之中，在宏大之下，个体经验却各有不同。于是，观众得以在展览空间中体会艺术家所谓“错位想象力”的魅力——这是一种经过内省与选择、极具主体意识的观看之道。而当这场视觉旅程终结之时，我们或许会对贯穿陈思新创作始终的价值判断拥有新的理解，并向那些很好的四只脚动物投去温情的一瞥。
八木教广的《大剑》、三浦健太郎的《烙印勇士》、荒木飞吕彦的《JoJo的奇妙冒险》……这些不遗余力地在幻想中建构真实的漫画家塑造了陈思新的艺术视野。同时，八、九十年代日本OVA以及欧美邪典电影中的黑暗末世氛围和对后人类主义的严肃讨论也启发了他的思想。随后，在巴尔的摩求学期间接触到的芝加哥图像派，以及Robert Crumb、Chris Ware等人的独立漫画出版物则进一步丰富了他的视觉语言与表达方式。陈思新将所有这些多元化的影响融入创作中，结合其敏锐的感知，逐渐形成了他独特的艺术风格。
《鲸球》| Whaloon
2024
纸本彩铅 | colored pencil on paper
148.5 × 187 cm
Galerie Urs Meile Beijing is pleased to announce the solo exhibition of emerging artist Chen Sixin (b.1995, Guangzhou), which marks his debut with Galerie Urs Meile. Titled "Four-footed Animals Are Great", this exhibition showcases a selection of artworks created by Chen over the past two years, inviting the viewers into an imaginative area brimming with the artist's distinctive style and personality: Utilizing colored pencils as his creative medium and alien animals as his muse, Chen breeds wonder between memory and fantasy. Despite of the medium's delicate colors, the lush visual impact and intricate strokes betray the intense labor that lies beneath. These unconventional images seem to echo the subtle yearnings of the audiences for the extraordinary, the dangerous, and the exceptional in their everyday life.
Cow in Tornado (2024, colored pencil on paper, 176 × 150 cm), burning pedestrians in Walking fire (2024, colored pencil on paper, 129 × 186 cm), mountain slope in Bird (2023, colored pencil on paper, 46 × 61 cm), robots in Gol ver.1 (2023, colored pencil on paper, 91.5 × 74 cm) and Sil ver.1 (2023, colored pencil on paper, 91.5 × 73.5 cm), soldiers in Battlefield (2023, colored pencil on paper, 131 × 188 cm), ape in White Terror (2023, colored pencil on paper, 148 × 192 cm)… The artist adeptly merges these seemingly unre-lated elements in one space: At first glance a jumble, yet each piece ultimately finds its purposes through the division of thematic areas, guiding the audience through an extraordinary encounter in a symphony of playfulness, moderation, and solemnity.
《战地》| Battlefield
2023
纸本彩铅 | colored pencil on paper
131 × 188 cm
Stepping into the gallery, we seem to hear the declaration of the animals surrounding us: "Four-footed animals are great." Chen Sixin, along with the tornado he has originated, sweeps across the viewers' conventional thinking, using a playful preface to subtly conceal the human identity.
Species, form, survival scenario—all exist without constraint, engaging in a dialogue within the sphere of romantic surrealism. This is the inevitable scene of the post-civilization era as envisioned by the artist. The figure's restlessness and tension are relieved by its consistent and orderly texture, achieving a delicate equilibrium amid a world of the absurd. The interweaving of the willfulness and the restraint within the artworks represents intimate fragments of the artist's emotions after his profound contemplation.
As the concerns of the real world slowly seep into the sound of sirens, we are pushed into a realm where wars and disasters occur frequently. Within this space, the collective's shared memories are stirred awake. Despite being deeply engaged in the community and part of the grand narrative, our individual experiences diverge. This allows the audience to experience the charm of what the artist calls "the dislocated imagination" —a mode of perception that is introspective and selective, imbued with a strong sense of subjectivity. When the visual journey concludes, we may be left with a new understanding of the value judgments that run through Chen Sixin's work, while casting a warm glimpse at those great four-footed animals.
Artists like Norihiro Yagi with Claymore, Kentaro Miura with Berserk, and Araki Hirohiko with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure—who spared no effort to build reality within the realm of fantasy—have shaped Chen's artistic vision. At the same time, the dark, apocalyptic atmosphere of Japanese OVA from the 1980s and 1990s along with the serious exploration of posthumanism in both those animations and Western Cult Films, has broadened his perspective. Later, during his studies in Baltimore, the exposure to the Chicago Imagists, as well as independent comics by artists like Robert Crumb and Chris Ware, further enriched his visual language and modes of expression. Chen Sixin has woven all these diverse influences into his work, combining them with his keen perception to gradually develop his distinctive artistic style.
陈思新
CHEN SIXIN
陈思新（1995年出生于中国广州），2017年本科毕业于广东工业大学，2021年硕士毕业于美国马里兰艺术学院，现工作、生活于重庆。他关注后人类主义，结合古早漫画与科幻小说封面的超现实主义元素。其画面展现了对于生态（环境）、地外生命和末日的想象。陈思新的创作以动物和异形为主。每件作品并不都有具体的动机，一些随机的反应和碎散的点子往往会在不知不觉中进入画面。在他的画面中，观者能感受到艺术家对于浪漫化的超现实想象。
其个展包括“牛之梦”（Common Place，中国北京，2023），“疲惫的夜晚”（五五画廊，中国上海，2022）。曾在一起画廊（中国合肥，2024）、四川美术学院罗中立美术馆（中国重庆，2023）、Leidy画廊（美国巴尔的摩，2019）等地参加联展。
Chen Sixin (b.1995, Guangzhou) graduated from Guangdong University of Technology in 2017 and received his master's degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2021. He currently lives and works in Chongqing, China. He focuses on posthumanism, combining the surrealistic elements of ancient comics and science fiction covers. His images show visions of ecology (the environment), extraterrestrial life and the end times. Chen's works focus on animals and aliens. Each work does not have a specific motivation, but random reactions and scattered ideas often enter the picture without being realised. In his paintings, the viewers can feel a certain surrealistic fantasy of romanticism.
His solo exhibitions include "Cow's Dream" (Common Place, Beijing, China, 2023) and "A Hard Day's Night" (55 Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2022). He has also participated in group exhibitions at Together Gallery (Hefei, China, 2024), Luozhongli Art Museum (Chongqing, China, 2023) and Leidy Gallery (Baltimore, USA, 2019).
