In his first solo exhibition in the UK, Dong Jingge presents Warship in Bloom / Five Sons Ascendant at Alice Amati in London. 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.

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. The title of the exhibition builds a layered metaphor that unfolds across the canvases as a negotiation between reality and imagination, abstraction and figuration, empty and densely painted areas.

The phrase ‘Warship in Bloom’ refers to the threatening consequences of capitalism, industrial civilisation 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 gestures towards the increase of conflicts worldwide – which ultimately provoke a constant state of alert and unease.

There is a collective sense of anxiety that Dong alludes to – the feeling of impending turmoil, an inevitable turn towards chaos.

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 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. It suggests 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 works Flower and Warship #2 and Flower and Warship #3 (2025) lay out this plot with a myriad of flowers adorning the faint silhouette of a 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’ 阴阳 – the idea that opposite forces complement and complete each other.

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.

This new series of works was developed as the artist (currently living and working between Venice and Shanghai) 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.

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 imagine and build the society of tomorrow.

Dong Jingge (b. 1989, Beijing) received his BA from Shanghai Normal University in 2011 and holds an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (2019) and the Chinese National Academy of Arts (2015).

Selected solo and duo exhibitions include: ‘Jingge Dong’, Simulacra, Beijing, China (2025); ‘Stop more feel more’, Palazzo Nani, Radisson Collection, Venice, IT (2024); ‘Coesistenze in Viaggio’, The Circle, Gorizia, IT (2024); ‘Enraptured’, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin, DE (2024). Dong’s work has been exhibited in group shows internationally at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, IT (2026); Barbati Gallery, Venice, IT (2026); Ettore Fico Museum, Turin, IT (2025); Tai Art Center, Shanghai, CN (2025); Spazio Berlendis, Venice, IT (2025) and Altro Mondo Creative Space, Makati City, PH (2025), amongst others. Dong was awarded 2nd Place in the ‘Artefici del Nostro Tempo’ Venice Art Prize, IT (2024) and was an artist-in-residence at Officina Malanotte, Tezze di Piave, IT in 2023. His work has been collected by Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Marval Collection, Collezione Paneghini and Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art, Venice. His work has been featured in JULIET Art Magazine, Artribune and exibart, amongst others.

All images: Courtesy of the artist and Alice Amati, London. Photos Tom Carter.

Hyah!, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
27 1/2 x 23 5/8 in | 70 x 60 cm

Burst into bloom in the night, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
27 1/2 x 23 5/8 | 70 x 60 cm

Flower and Warship #2, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in | 50 x 40 cm
Photo Tom Carter

Flower and Warship #3, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in | 50 x 40 cm

Blue Twins, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in | 80 x 60 cm

Stop!, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
23 5/8 x 27 1/2 in | 60 x 70 cm
Photo Tom Carter

Moonchild, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
23 5/8 x 27 1/2 in | 60 x 70 cm
Photo Tom Carter

Pomegranates bloom / Filling the hall with prosperity, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
27 1/2 x 23 5/8 in | 70 x 120 cm (70 x 60 cm each)

Sunroom, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on canvas
35 3/8 x 27 1/2 in | 90 x 70 cm
Photo Tom Carter

Give me some space!, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
55 1/8 x 43 1/4 in | 140 x 110 cm

Blooming Carrier 65, 2025
Oil and Acrylic on linen
63 x 55 1/8 in | 160 x 140 cm