Painting of Entropy
Liu Guofu (China)
In “Painting of Entropy”, Liu Guofu (China) transforms a scientific concept into a poetic vision. In physics, entropy describes the movement of energy within a system – the shift from order to disorder, from structure to dispersion. Yet entropy is also transformation – the invisible law governing change and renewal. In Liu’s art, entropy becomes a cosmological metaphor: a meditation on how form emerges, dissolves and reconfigures across time.
Standing before his paintings, we sense a slow diffusion across the canvas. Vast fields of seemingly monochrome colour are, on closer view, composed of thousands of nuanced brushstrokes. Light appears to breathe from within the surface. What seems restrained and tranquil carries a deep internal momentum – an energy flowing in quiet accord with the universe. Instead of dramatising chaos, Liu shows the subtle threshold where order and disorder coexist. His paintings embody entropy not as destruction, but as a quiet negotiation between control and release, density and void.
Bridging Eastern philosophy and Western abstraction, Liu internalises the rhythms of clouds, water, mountains and mist, translating them into luminous spatial fields. The disciplined spirit of Chinese calligraphy – its unity of heart and hand – merges with the material depth and plasticity of oil painting. Through meticulous layering, washing, and modulation of light, Liu constructs what appears to be stillness, yet is in fact a suspended state of becoming. Time lingers in his surfaces; each mark is both a trace and a transition.
The exhibition presents key classical series including “Open Space”, “Pervasion”, “Trace”, “Cold Mountain” and “Flower”, alongside new works whose abstract formations evoke the cadence of musical notes. Together with Liu’s contemporary ink on paper, they reflect the artist’s ongoing exploration of material and medium, grounded in his core principle: to seek the underlying order within flux and to reveal the silent vitality within dispersion.
As Liu reflects:
“I do not paint objects; I paint the movement of energy. On the canvas, order and chaos breathe together – like the flow of water, like the passage of time.”
Ultimately, “Painting of Entropy” invites the viewer into a quiet contemplative space. In an age marked by uncertainty and acceleration, Liu’s work offers a different tempo – one of attentiveness and inner equilibrium. His paintings remind us that entropy is not only a law of dissolution, but also a condition for transformation. Within dispersion lies potential; within stillness, infinite motion.
Calvin Hui, curator of the exhibition
Liu Guofu (b. 1964, Nanjing, China) graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Nanjing University of the Arts in 1985 and lives and works in Nanjing. He has presented major solo exhibitions in China and internationally, including at Shanghai Art Museum, Today Art Museum in Beijing, Jiangsu Art Museum in Nanjing, and Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery. His works are held in prominent private and institutional collections worldwide, including in China, Europe, and the United States.
05/06–30/08/2026
Curated by Calvin Hui and Farida Zaletilo
Organised by 3812 Gallery and the Rothko Museum
Supported by MGM
Publicity image: Liu Guofu. Cold Mountain No. 10, oil on canvas, diptych, 150 x 190 cm (detail), 2021
