RONG BAO IS ME

23 FEB – 12 MAY 2024, GALLERY 4

Saatchi Gallery, London

Rong Bao is a contemporary installation and sculptor artist from Beijing, China. I came across her work through Tik Tok as it fits into a lot of the work I personally love, very playful, colourful, and experimental. Rong Bao incorporates a lot of different practices into her exhibitions, from sculpture, video, and painting. Bao’s work was currently in the Saatchi Gallery in London, at the time so I travelled down to see it.

‘Rong Bao Is Me pays testament to Bao’s playful transformation of familiar objects through sculptural practice, prompting us to question our perception of the physical world. The exhibition will invite sensory interactions between audience and artwork, creating a playground of gestures that poke fun at the absurdity of posing order on society. Viewers should prepare to connect with their mischievous sides and participate in a world that pushes the boundaries of acceptability.’ – Saatchi Gallery

Seeing Bao’s work in person really gave me a new look on art, because it was overly playful, childish even and before looking into contemporary art, and art history overall, I assumed art was academic and only for a certain type of person. I also assumed Saatchi Gallery only hosted masterpieces, later learning it’s a gallery for contemporary artists.

Saatchi Gallery is a very clean, open space, with white walls in a very historical building. The exhibition was displayed in one room featuring paintings, sculptural pieces and installation pieces. I think the lack in decoration within Saatchi Gallery adds to the thought process more with analysing the art in front of you, there’s no distractions. I think it also amplifies the work more, in Rong Bao’s case because of the use of colour in her work and her messaging of overconsumption and sensory overload. The exhibition was a full body experience.

Another element to Bao’s work is her blend of Chinese culture within her work, mixing tradition with contemporary themes by taking familiar items and transforming them into mind bending art pieces. Bao’s use of defamiliarization made me think and learn of other similar artists like Marcel Duchamp.

As someone who would love to practice art myself but is yet to find a practice, I found the whole exhibition so refreshing, thought provoking and also inspirational. It was a great inspiration to see a woman of colour, exhibiting such playful art in such a huge establishment. The experience has since made me look into other contemporary artist, look into different crafts I’d potentially be interested in and opened my view to how art can be perceived.

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