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MALATJDG A L L E R Y
VOLTA New York | March 4-8, 2020
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As part of Armory Arts Week, JD Malat Gallery is proud to present a group show featuringwork by Swiss artist, Conrad Jon Godly, Chinese artist, Li Tianbing and Scottish artist,
Robert Montgomery for VOLTA New York.
Driven by the ambition to produce visually and thematically compelling art, each artist demonstrates their unique perspective on creativity. From the ethereal mountain landscapes by Conrad Jon Godly, the politically charged paintings by Li Tianbing, to the LED word installation inspired by poetry and contemporary life by Robert Montgomery, this exhibition aims to evoke an array of thoughts and emotions within its audience.
By bringing these three artists together, this exhibition underlines JD Malat Gallery’s widerinternational programme and seeks to strengthen the dialogue between artists and
viewers across the world.
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CONRAD JON GODLY
Nevertheless #1, 2020Oil on canvas
150 x 130 cm | 59 x 51 in
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CONRAD JON GODLY
Nevertheless #2, 2020Oil on canvas
150 x 130 cm | 59 x 51 in
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LI TIANBING
Envahisseur dans Mon Atelier, 2017Oil on canvas
198 x 244 cm | 78 x 96 in
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LI TIANBING
Grimper le Giraffe, 2017Oil on canvas
198 x 244 cm | 78 x 96 in
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LI TIANBING
Climbing the Elephant, 2019Oil on canvas
124 x 99 cm | 49 x 39 in
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LI TIANBING
Riding a crane, 2020Oil on canvas
198 x 245 cm | 78 x 96 in
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ROBERT MONTGOMERY
A HUNDRED YEARS, 2014Black Valchromat, filcris recycled PVC, wood,
paint, 12 volt LED lights and copper190 x 137 cm | 75 x 54 in
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Conrad Jon Godly
Born in 1962, in Davos, Switzerland, Conrad Jon Godly addresses the symbiotic relationshipbetween human nature and the sublime; finding a beauty in the awe and terror of nature.Godly’s paintings are a reminder of the futility of human existence, whose blunt expressionof natural forms are an exercise in capturing the intricacies of the dramatic. Godly’s workexposes the purity of nature; his heavily impastoed canvases are not only a recurring motif,but work to recreate the richness of one’s surrounding environment.
After graduating from Basel’s School of Art in 1986, Godly moved away from his nexus ofinspiration in Switzerland, changing both his surroundings and medium. From 1988-2004,Godly’s photographic work found international success both in magazines and advertising,and, on Godly’s brief return to Europe where he settled in Vienna, Austria, Godly migrated toJapan, where he currently lives and works.
Godly expresses the everlasting impact of the Swiss mountains in his two newly createdpieces. Working primarily from memory and imagination, Godly captures what he calls, the“essence” of Switzerland’s powerful nature. Godly’s work traverses its viewer to the summitof vertiginous proportions, giving over his canvases to the all-consuming elements of nature.
Nevertheless #2, 2020. Oil on canvas 150 x 130 cm | 59 x 51 in
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Li Tianbing
Born in 1974 in Guilin, China, Li Tianbing studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he formed a unique visual language to express his own cultural origins. Fusing traditional Chinese techniques with Contemporary Western references, Li does not limit himself to a single style in order to explore the boundaries of the medium.
This approach also reflects the artist’s cultural background, rooted in the Eastern philosophy that all things are in a constant state of flux. The ongoing advancement of the “self ” thus finds its reflection in Tianbing Li’s ever-changing artistic expression. On a personal level, the paintings offer an intimate portrait of a fantasized childhood: where fiction and fantasy seamlessly merge. Being an only child in China was a condition shared by many children of his generation, a deeply lonely experience with profound psychological effects. Consequently, the artist often sought refuge in his own imagination, inventing games inhabited by fictitious characters. Li‘s poetic childhood portraits reached its most vivid expression in 2006 with the introduction of an imagined brother to his painterly repertoire. Later works depict the artist accompanied by a host of brothers and playmates, which have come to form a complete yet entirely ‘imagined’ family album. On a general outlook, Li’s work articulates the shared loss of a generation who grew up under an authoritative government exercised at its most personal level. Moreover, his compositions interweave the dualities present in China today: East and West, communism and capitalism, ancient culture and modern consumerism. The artist quickly gained international attention exhibiting worldwide, i.e. at Stephen Friedman Gallery in London, L&M Arts Gallery in New York, and Galerie Albert Benamou in Paris.
Envahisseur dans Mon Atelier, 2017. Oil on canvas. 198 x 244 cm | 78 x 96 in
Grimper le Giraffe, 2017. Oil on canvas. 198 x 244cm | 78 x 96in
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Robert Montgomery
Born in 1972 in Chapelhall Scotland, Robert Montgomery brings a poetic voice and publicinterventionist strategies to the tradition of contemporary text art. Working across a diverserange of media, such as billboard pieces, solar powered light pieces, fire poems, woodcuts,and watercolours, Montgomery was selected for the Kochi Biennale 2012, as well as theYinchuan Biennale in 2016. A monograph of his work was published by Distanz in 2015,along with the architect’s Allied Works. Robert Montgomery was a shortlisted finalist for theUK National Holocaust Memorial in 2017 with the scheme exhibited at the V&A Museum in London. His recent solo show took place in the Aspen Art Museum in January 2019.
Writing in the Black and Blue Literary Journal, Dane Weatherman describes Montgomery’swork as follows, “To encounter the work of Robert Montgomery is to make a tenderencounter whose tenderness is enhanced by the public, communal quality of his work. Toencounter his work is to have your body filled with a sad thunder and your head filled with asad light. He is a complete artist and works in language, light, paper, space. He engagescompletely with the urban world with a translucent poetry. His work arrives at us through akind of lucid social violence. No one has blended language, form and light in such a direct way.”
Saalfelden Leogang Poem
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30 Davies Street, London W1K 4NB+ 44 203 746 68 30 www.jdmalat.com
Special Thanks: Victoria AboucayaMerva Bojaj Conrad Jon GodlyJean-David MalatRobert MontgomeryRichard MorrisseyAnnie PereiraLi Tianbing
Copyright © 2020 JD Malat Gallery
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