申凡 | 第七届广州三年展·艺术家

The Punctuation series is both an analysis of and an experiment on language falsehood which is an embedded mechanism in the functioning of the linguistic system. The artist challenges the audience's capacity to appreciate a subversive kind of language that overwrites text - that is, the main subject of interpretation - with punctuations, which produce a semiotic void if displaced from the original context. In this manner, both misunderstandings and understandings are made impossible, therefore a truly open-ended proposition may be restored.

Shen fan's RIVER series comprise pure visual language and a harmonious whole, devoid of indulgence or superfluous elements. For Shen Fan, the surface of the canvas is a platform on which color plays the leading role. This series of work is composed of monochromatic tones forming a restrained structure. Well-balanced geometric patterns bespeak a beautiful simplicity of decorative repetition. He always composes his works with not only rare passion, but also consistency, precision, and perfection. Shen Fan deliberately ignores narrative expression, instead focusing on a pure and concise expression methodology in the creative process. Shen Fan thus creates a "pure" world, one that points to the self and follows an inner logic. Silence becomes a powerful concept, expressing the closeness between the artist's mind and the society that inspires it.