In Tang Ke's work over the last year, the macaw has taken centre stage, superseding the diverse animal figures formerly favoured by the artist. He continues to paint with acrylic on transparencies, which are mounted on silvery aluminium boards. Works of this series, mostly characterised by a sketchy background, ensconce the vividly colourful birds in extensive blank space where the extravagant metallic gloss of aluminium shines through. The reflection of the viewer's surroundings on the smooth pictorial surface under varying light changes according to one's position, endowing the overall image with a dazing and fluid quality. The macaws, frozen in time, stand or fly in an icy world flooded with a metallic sheen – a world that seems boundless, one may say, to both macaws and men. The all-metal effect projected through the transparencies and the polychromatic richness of the birds interweave to form a psychedelic rave that not only packs an incredibly splendid visual punch, but also serves as a metaphor for our urban life today.

A huge triptych, created specially for the Macaws exhibition, stands in Tang Ke's studio. Its depiction of abundant greenery transports us to the home of the macaws, the primitive Amazonian jungles where we can almost hear the macaws calling as they fleet from tree to tree. The naturalistic style here contrasts distinctly with Tang's other works.

Taking advantage of the solubility of acrylic paint in water, Tang Ke's technique – akin to a freely expressive xieyi approach that refrains from setting clear outlines – produces a delightfully smooth flow of lines and colours on the transparent plastic surfaces. This result can be attributed to Tang Ke's natural gift for and, to a greater extent, his many years of studying traditional Chinese painting. In comparison to traditional flower-and-bird paintings, Tang's works demonstrate substantial breakthroughs in terms of experimentation with different media as well as their social critical aspect. The life-sized or oversized macaws in the pictures whisper to each other or frolic in pairs, or find themselves foraging, scratching an itch and calling alone. Yet, in spite of the dynamic lifelike activity, one can still discern an expression of ennui and helplessness in the parrots in every piece of artwork. For Tang Ke, a lover and keeper of birds since his youth, accurate portrayal of the appearance and propensities of macaws comes effortlessly. The artist manages to remain faithful to that which expresses itself through him, without altering ornithological realities. Perhaps he has been guided by a keen intuition all along to linger on the edge of both reality and non-reality.

The macaw, native to South America, is a rather large bird as it can reach a length of 90 centimetres when fully grown. It is a kind of parrot not only capable of imitating human speech, but also remarkable for its likeable nature and lush look. Having come to be a pricey pet favoured by the nouveaux riches, its popularity plants in Tang Ke's mind an association with ironic symbolic significances for our society. The artist is perplexed by the macaw's ambiguous existence, as well as attracted by its external flamboyance. Ultimately, he fuses aesthetic taste and metaphoric social contemplations together.

Like all other living things in the world, humans have long been manipulating everything around themselves. People believe that the ability to overcome and remodel Nature represents progress and civilisation. Tang Ke's deep affections for Nature and animals, however, keep him constantly worried about the state of the natural world. Humanity's manipulation of Nature has been madness since the Industrial Revolution, rapidly escalating into utterly destructive ravage against Gaia. With his paintbrush, the artist expresses to the public his palpitations in response to this dire situation, but he takes an incisive approach, handling grave issues with lightness. For instance, his 36 works featured in the joint exhibition Another Attitude in Shanghai during the spring of 2007 clearly display and assimilate the current psychic state of various “animals”. As the title of that exhibition suggests, the attitude of these creatures is revealed in all its authenticity in every one of Tang's pieces.

On a certain day in May, as Tang Ke stood by the lake beside his new studio admiring the view of the lotus-covered water, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble all of a sudden. In a brief moment, hundreds of birds burst forth from amongst the lotuses, dashing into the sky where they wheeled and cried aloud. The surface of the water ceased to be serene, but became disturbed by violent quakes as massive ripples rose and fell ... At this point in time, what Tang Ke perceived with all his heart and visual faculty was nothing less than the sheer power of Nature itself.

Cao Weijun