Vanguard Gallery is pleased to present “Riverbed”, Jin Haofan’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on 11 November. Evolved from his previous series “Normal Temperature” and “Islands”, the exhibition features four series of newly created works. In “Riverbed”, Jin continues exploring consciousness in relation to shaping memories and perceptions, drifting along the border between dusk and dawn, probing the layered sediment formed by the passage of time and flux, and seeking to grasp one’s existence through the ceaseless entanglement of past and present.

In Jin Haofan’s works, fragmented elements are often extracted from memory and transferred into a quiet dimension, where human figures are either absent or distorted into obscure shadows. Objects, images, and light in this dimension do not comply with the fundamental rules of time and physics. They are purely subjective reflections of the artist’s bodily perception, where the concept of time is no longer identified as a linear measurement: it suspends, accelerates, and alters gravity. In his memory-driven practice, Jin Haofan recreates subtle impressions and fragmented frictions from his past, aiming to trace and situate one’s existence and sense of self amidst ever-changing reality.

The featured new series “Riverbed” shares its title with the exhibition. In this series, the artist immerses viewers in the river, where the surging current quiets down and merges with the shifting color and light above. Gleaming, gem-like cobbles pile on the ground. The image of the stone, evolved from the “Normal Temperature” series, has become a condensation of causes and encounters within an abstract temporality. The river, in its fullness, brushes against and carries the cobbles as the constant of fate. The past, present, and future of all things are continuously dissolved and reconstructed in this dimension, turning the river into a living existence without a fixed form amid endless cycles, where the artist seeks to orient himself within the flowing water.

On the other side, three thin vertical paintings come from Jin Haofan’s continuing series “Shadow”. An unrecognizable figure walks under water; his shattered body seems to resonate with the oscillation of river water, moving with unhurried grace as he accepts the constant yet unpredictable wash of fate, mirroring the artist’s acceptance of chaos. In the “Room” series, sharp mountains appear repeatedly, layer upon layer, standing beyond the boundary between outside and inside. Acting as the pointy fence that separates yet shelters, they present a dual possibility that is at once alluring and frightening. Bathed in the gentle light of the sun or moon at some indeterminate hour outside the window, the works draw the viewer into a moment of hesitant quiet before transformation—a fleeting instant laden with both anticipation and apprehension of what is yet to come.

The small-scale works in the exhibition serve as footnotes. In “Phase 1” and “Phase 2”(2025) , the changes of the moon mirror the passage of time, while “Coexistence”(2025) employs the hourglass as a model to convey the cyclical, non-hierarchical nature of time. “Tense Games” and “A Thought”(2025) resemble an introspective observation of the mind. Through the depiction of indirect cues, such as light, stone, and distorted figures, the artist guides viewers to sense the rhythm of life circulating with every breath in the river of time, and to perceive this intangible constant that marks each individual’s bodily perception in varied ways.