Alice Amati is pleased to present Warship in Bloom / Five Sons Ascendant – the first solo exhibition in the UK of Chinese Venice-based painter Jingge Dong (b. 1989, Beijing, CN). 

 

Jingge Dong’s paintings inhabit the in-between state of tangible reality and fantastic possibilities, appearing suspended in an oneiric atmosphere charged by both hopeful expectations and uncertain futures. Seemingly delicate and romantic - with a colour palette predominantly made of pastel and soft, muted tones - Dong's compositions are imbued with references that speak to reality’s contradictions and contemporary social issues. The title of the exhibition Warship in Bloom, Five Sons Ascendant, builds a layered metaphor that unfolds across the canvases as a negotiation between reality and imagination, abstraction and figuration, empty and densely painted areas. It alludes to two opposite scenarios: the faint probability of life emerging within a hostile ecosystem and humanity’s eternal longing for prosperity, which the artist attempts to reconcile on the same picture plane.

 

The phrase ‘Warship in Bloom’ refers to the threatening consequences of capitalism, industrial civilization and its ethical dilemmas, in a world where technology seems to have replaced human connections. It hints at the current climate of global tensions and the increase of conflicts worldwide – which ultimately provoke a constant state of alert and unease. Yet, amidst this looming scenario, hope resists in the form of a blooming sprout: even in environments designed for destruction and control, the possibility of renewal and humanity persists. The works Flower and Warship#2 and #3 (2025) lay out this plot with a myriad of flowers adorning the faint silhouette of a warship.

 

From a geopolitical sphere, Dong shifts to the private, familial realm, where the fragile sprout has blossomed into a new life with a series of paintings populated by references to children and symbols of prosperity from within Chinese beliefs and painting tradition. The new series was developed as the artist was expecting his first child, a particular time in his life full of hope and expectations as well as worries for what the future might hold. Hence the wish for ‘Five Sons Ascendant /五子登科’ – a phrase that expresses the ultimate desire for the children of a family to be numerous and thrive for many generations to come. 

 

The body of work presented in the exhibition rotates around three reappearing symbols which merge and dissolve into one another: the child, the flower and the warship. In Stop!, 2025 childlike figures appear to be playing between the towers of a British Royal Navy aircraft carrier. Moonchild, 2025 depicts them driving a Lunar Roving Vehicle decorated with flowers and buds. In Blue Twins, 2025 and in the diptych Pomegranates bloom / Filling the hall with prosperity, 2025 these symbols are rearranged in symmetrical dialogue, referencing the ancient Chinese concept of ‘Yin-Yang’ – the idea that opposite forces complement and complete each other. In these works, Dong leaves large portions of the canvas seemingly bare or unfinished, allowing room to breathe and a pause to let thoughts wander, such as a meaningful silence during a difficult conversation. 

 

It is precisely in these pauses that Dong invites us to believe that imagination is still possible, that sensitivity is still an option, and that wonder can offer refuge when reality fails to bring us closer. The collective anxieties and desires of our era converge and collapse on the canvas to spark debates on how we shall image and build the society of tomorrow.