Capsule is pleased to present Honey, Ding Zhi’s (b. 1992, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China) first solo exhibition at the gallery, featuring her recent oil paintings on canvas and wood. Drawing on the familiar and direct visual language of children’s picture books, comic strips, and popular media, the artist situates unassuming and relatable figures within narratives that remain unresolved. Her protagonists carry out missions through observation, disguise, hiding, and pursuit, using crude yet temporarily effective props. Their actions are at once comic and earnest: sometimes compelled by circumstance, at other moments prompted by a voluntary entry into illusion and a desire to empower themselves. Cuteness and absurdity, therefore, are no longer merely stylized elements, but portals into questions of identity, desire, and power dynamics. The works reveal how ordinary individuals navigate systems that were not designed for them, yet in which they must nevertheless participate. Rooted in her personal experiences, Ding’s paintings reflect the predicament, failures, self-contentment, and quiet resilience that accompany the search for one’s place in the world.
Ding Zhi: Honey: Shanghai
Current exhibition
