Exhibition Review: Bibi Lei’s “BLOOMBAYA”

As an art enthusiast, I’ve viewed and adored shows presented by Ross + Kramer Gallery for years. The artworks placed on display would have you returning every few days so that you could sit in awe. Experiences with bigger than life-size bronze sculptures left you wondering; how did the gallery manage to bring these sculptures inside?

Bibi Lei has created a universe that embraces her “childlike soul that never grows old.” Bright acrylic pigments lay upon canvas, with an overlay of texture protruding. The solo exhibition “Bloombaya” curated by City of Talents, is said to represent constraints within society by displaying “the children” or “girls” squeezed within the confinements of the canvas and growing too big for their space. Bibi Lei interestingly describes the children: “They are like primal beasts, naughtier than ever” and “more wild and out of control.”

Stepping inside the gallery this week led to a surprise. The large canvases in the gallery looked like a collector didn’t have adequate funds to purchase an authentic Ayako Rokkaku and instead bought a look-alike off Wish.com. In the same way, we understand that consumers purchase inauthentic Takashi Murakami pillows. Emerging Art can be a commodity to those who may not want to invest capital into an artist with an established style or career and would like to fill the void with a work that looks “similar.”

The playful pastels within the works are inviting and welcoming within the construction of children and their playfulness. While the artworks display the subject of social constraints and confinements, the limitations “the children” encounter since they are painted on canvas within a specific size feel primitive and redundant. Every artwork displayed within this show was titled “Bloom” with a numerical value alongside the title.

If you buy a 5×5 canvas and paint a figure with a sad face inside the canvas’s constructed barriers that are too big to fit, is this the same context? How are the children the “primal beast” & “naughty” if society places these restrictions and constraints upon them?