Valentine Willie Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Press Release
This new body of work is marked by the artist’s fascination with both the immortality of youth and entropy as conflicting forces, that is embodied in popular culture.
Drawing from well-known media references, Jonathan delves into the question of expiry – whether a star personality or a cult figure knows when to quit. By depicting once powerful figures in popular media such as Muhammad Ali as an old man, a retired Lone Ranger sitting forlornly in a suburban living room, a ruined statue of Ferdinand Marcos, the artist also describes how energy (or the vitality of youth) is not destroyed in most cases, but drives on.
These lyrical images convey a balanced portrait of human strength and frailty, revealing the sad irony behind our youthful aspiration, tinged by an element of pathos. Days of Thunder underscores Jonathan Ching’s mastery of the oil paint as a poetic medium to express the poignancy of our human achievements and loss.
