Ruoyu Gong

Artist Statement

Painting embodies a distillation process through which I can uncover the veiled tensions within my psyche. My interest in capturing the essence of poetic ambiguity through figures’ symbolic gestures dovetails with the mysterious abyss of our collective unconscious. In each work, I stage allegorical spectacles that oscillate between enigmatic absurdity and comprehensible reality to evoke a sense of foreignness among familiar forms. Weaving abstraction through pictorial narrative, I meld the spontaneous and rational to beckon viewers into a dream-like arena.

My current works are inspired by monoprints as I believe the enduring allure of a painting resides as much in meticulous details as it is in painterly serendipity. The contingent motifs lend themselves to a psychoanalytical state in which the composition takes shape without the constraints of excessive premeditation. Irony is a recurring theme in my work. It serves as both a thematic cornerstone and a personal exploration of powerlessness in my Chinese cultural heritage. Navigating the discordance of competing political ideologies and cultural hierarchies instilled a sense of alienation from my adolescence to adulthood. With brushes in hand, I long to re-embrace the serenity – a consonant sense of self – hidden in the shadow of my mind.

Biography

Ruoyu Gong, a Chinese painter based in New York, delves into the complexity of the human psyche through figurative narrative in the theme of personal symbolism. Currently pursuing his MFA in painting at the esteemed New York Academy of Art, Ruoyu earned his BFA with honors in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2023.

In 2020, during the pandemic, Ruoyu returned to his roots in Beijing for a year and enrolled in an Advanced Painting Seminar at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Since then, His works have been exhibited in the Oil Painting Thesis Show in Beijing and the OMNI Art Expo in Shanghai.

After returning to the States, his works were exhibited at the Gelman Gallery, Illustration Study Building Gallery, and Woods-Gerry Gallery in Providence, Rhode Island. In addition, Ruoyu’s works were featured in Audubon Artists, Inc. 81st Annual Exhibition (Online), Everyday Rituals group show at the New York Academy of Art, as well as Why Do You Do It? at Boomer Gallery in London, UK. In 2024, his work The Farce won the 1st place of the International Contest of Contemporary Art – YICCA 23/24 in Milan, Italy.

Tiger's Butt Can Never Be Touched_2024_Oil on Canvas_48 x 36 inches
Perpetual Vigilance_2024_Oil on Canvas_41.5 x 54.5 inches
Untitled (pond)_2023_Oil on Canvas_30 x 24 inches
Wanderers at Sunrise_2022_Oil on Canvas_40 x 60 inches
Without a Splash_2022_Oil on Canvas_60 x 48 inches
Nighttime Laughter_2022_Oil on Canvas_18 x 24 inches
The Farce_2021_Oil on Canvas_ 39.3 x 29.5 inches