SENS Gallery is pleased to announce its debut participation in the 2023 edition of Art021 Shanghai, with a presentation of works from international artists across the gallery’s program. The booth will feature works by David Surman, Sara Bonache, Emily Pope, Jess Xiaoyi Han, Bart Kok, Masao Nakahara, Andrés Lozano, and Ye Zhaofeng. In their first ever participation at the fair, SENS Gallery introduces their diverse program of artists from across the globe, showcasing their talents to a new audience outside of Hong Kong.

Jess Xiaoyi Han (b. 1997 in Dalian, China, lives in New York City)’s paintings examine her self-described ‘streams of consciousness’, manifesting feelings of happiness and content, stemmed from her experiences of growing up between China and the United States. Her practice explores innermost emotions and experiences visualized through streams of string-like elements dancing across the canvas, their colorful and whimsical forms coming together to form an abstract visual of the soul.

Emily Pope (b. 1993, lives in Toronto) creates paintings that reflect on the struggles of womanhood. A self-taught artist, Pope’s work explores the experiences of womanhood through stylistic approaches that are reminiscent of neorealism. Her paintings create a life brought out from the ethereal world she dreams about, combining physical presence with symbolic elements. Her paintings reflect on the luxuries of discomfort, and how one navigates through pain and longing.

David Surman (b. 1981 in Barnstaple, lives in London) creates animals that are enlivening and eccentric at once, emphasizing their dynamic movements through strong brushstrokes and splattered paint that often form on the canvas. Each of his work is an invigorating exploration of personality, emotion, and dynamic bodies. Surman practices a distinct painterly economy, creating works by minimal means that can be universally understood. His unique works explore our complex twenty-first century relationship to the natural world.  

Masao Nakahara (b. 1956 in Saitama, Japan, lives in Dusseldorf)’s oeuvre focuses on ageless humanlike figures interacting with the diverse terrains they stand upon, questioning what it means to be human. Enriched in fantasy and based on childhood memories, Nakahara’s work explores the complexities of human nature and the meaning of existence. His identity as a Japanese artist based in Germany forged his creative identity, synergizing Japanese culture, Surrealism, and German Neo-Expressionism.

Andrés Lozano (b. 1992, lives in Madrid) creates paintings that highlight the respites of solitude within vivacities of flora and fauna. His artistic practice involves paintings and drawings that explore the link between art making and improvisation, visualising a world of lonely character surrounded by nature and interiors. His paintings feature bright and vivid colours with near two-dimensional shapes.

Ye Zhaofeng (b. 1996 in Wuxi, lives in Hangzhou)’s paintings pay attention to the contradictions and conflicts that exist in our reality, aware of the impact of digital technology and how it has been a major change in the course of human history. He explores a mind that is an ideal life, which is simultaneously near yet far, and attempts to find balance in a stressful life.