On February 18, artist Damien Dufresne's exhibition "One Eye, One Scene" was presented to the public free of charge at MD ART CONTAINER in Shanghai. During the exhibition, it is presented in the form of photography, installation, dance performance, etc., opening up a world of oriental colors for the audience, and perceiving the beauty of life and color.
Curated by Mary Deja and Cui Xiaohong, founder of The Art Lab, the exhibition is hosted by MD The Art Lab, co-sponsored by MD ART CONTAINER, and co-organized by JV Communication.
"The first time a human opens his eyes, he can perceive color from the light." The exhibition "One Eye, One Scene" stems from the artist Damien Dufran's conception of his book of the same name, One Eye, One Scene. Inspiration then spread until it collided with the traditional Chinese five-color system, giving birth to the color creation on the face.
China's unique color system is actually a five-color system, behind which is the crystallization of ancient Chinese wisdom. The five positive colors are: blue is the beginning of the five colors, red is the glory of the five colors, yellow is the lord of the five colors, white is the origin of the five colors, and black is the end of the five colors.
Entering the exhibition hall, the white veil projects the artist's photographic creations, as if they were real. Entering the main exhibition hall, along the moving line of the exhibition, you can see some of the photographic works of the white series, black series, and red series in the book of the same name.
In the artist's eyes, white means a kind of purity and transparency, black symbolizes a sense of strength and dignity, and red represents vitality and Chinese spirit. Damien Dufran explains: "White is actually a color, I use a pure face, looking for a sense of transparency; black for me is the color of dignity, the color of power, the color of prudence, I through the introverted background, not to show anything, but to express it in form; red is so important, it is the color of celebration, the color of festivals, here with close-ups to express a pure texture." ”
Using makeup paints of different textures, the artist interprets the perception of color on the oriental face through artistic techniques such as color superposition and contrast, giving each color a different emotional tension.
The exhibition also intersperses and extends the color parts in the chapters of solid color, including yellow and cyan in the five colors other than red, white and black.
In the center of the exhibition hall, surrounded by red acrylic installations, a large open book "One Eye and One Realm" art limited edition provides the audience with a glimpse of the rich content of the original book. The five-color system-inspired book One Eye, One Scene will be published by the French publisher Editions de La Martinière and the Chinese Photography Press, and will be distributed worldwide.
Born in Paris and now living and working in Shanghai, Damien Dufran is a makeup artist, photographer and art director. From childhood, country life has cultivated his sensitivity to the color changes of nature, and the experience of living and working in different countries as an adult has given him the opportunity to contact and perceive different color cultures.
As an atypical photographer of neo-surrealistism, Damien Dufran has reached the tip of the pyramid in the makeup world in the first half of his life, known as the "godfather of French makeup". Brands he has worked with include Dior, Chanel, YSL and more. In 2017, Damien Dufran officially joined marie deija from China as a global artistic director. Cui Xiaohong, founder of Mary Deja, described him this way: "Abandoning experience and communicating with intuition and color, Damien is a person who paints poetry novels on his face and body. ”
"When Damien Dufran came up with the idea of making a book of color, we locked the theme together on the collision of Chinese color culture and contemporary creative makeup, which gave birth to the color creation on the face, which took two years through the eyes and hands of a French artist." Cui Xiaohong introduced.
Color was also Damien Dufran's first perception after coming to Shanghai. He keenly grasped the emotions of oriental colors and eagerly expressed them on the skin of human faces through his hands, a pair of hands with more than thirty years of experience in makeup, and then photographed, recorded and created a world through his own visual art language.
The exhibition site specially planned the performance session, modern dancers are placed in different color chapters, staging the art of time in light and shadow. The 60-minute performance tells the story of the perception of Chinese color. In the process of viewing the exhibition, the audience can see the five colors of China unfolding and changing on the bodies and faces of models with oriental aesthetics, and experience the color culture belonging to the East.