Games People Play

Borrowing its premise and title from Eric Berne’s seminal book Games People Play, the exhibition explores the subtle, often unspoken psychological strategies that shape human relationships, social roles, and cultural performance.

Created around the time of the Shanghai COVID lockdown, this body of work sees Ge Hui  deepen his longstanding interest in interpersonal behavior, translating Berne’s theories of  transactional analysis into a visual language that is at once playful, introspective, and quietly  provocative. The works in the exhibition come from the artist’s personal collection and are  complemented by a new large-scale painting created specifically for this presentation. Across his  oeuvre, Ge Hui explores the rituals, negotiations, and coded interactions that shape daily life—revealing how individuals perform, compete, collaborate, and conceal within both intimate and  public spheres. 

Rather than illustrating psychological concepts directly, Ge Hui reimagines “games” as poetic  metaphors: shifting spatial arrangements that suggest power dynamics; distorted silhouettes that  hint at emotional distance; repeated gestures that evoke the cyclical nature of human patterns.  His works invite viewer to consider not only the games we play with others, but also the ones we  play with ourselves—out of habit, fear, desire, or hope. 

The painting Shadow Self depicts a dreamy woman accompanied by a monkey. Could the monkey be her totem animal, or perhaps a reflection of her inner state of mind? The term  “shadow self,” popularized by psychologist Carl Jung, refers to the unconscious aspects of one’s  personality that have been rejected or suppressed—emotions, desires, or traits considered  unacceptable. Jung believed that integrating the shadow self through a process known as shadow  work involves recognizing and accepting these hidden parts in order to become a more complete  and balanced individual. 

Figure Three portrays three intertwined characters, suggesting a close bond that might exist  among friends, or perhaps hinting at a love triangle. It may also allude to psychological  triangulation—a manipulation tactic in which a third person is drawn into a two-person  relationship or conflict to control communication, create division, or gain power. 

The paintings Big Fish and A Little Bird Told Me are installed facing each other, establishing a  visual dialogue. One depicts a self-assured male figure resting comfortably on a giant red fish;  the other features a gender-fluid figure posing with a bird—long a symbol of freedom or a bearer  of secret messages in classical painting traditions. 

The two-panel work Lion’s Gate serves as the focal point of the exhibition, portraying a group of  friends enjoying their time in a surreal landscape. The orchid-laden tree and the lion both reference Singapore’s iconic symbols—the “jungle city” and the Merlion. The title also echoes  the concept of the “Lion’s Gate Portal”, a moment in astrology believed to offer powerful  opportunities for manifestation, clarity, and transformation, with origins tracing back to the  beliefs and wisdom of ancient cultures. 

About Artist 

Born in Jiangsu in 1983, Ge Hui lives and works in Shanghai. His practice centers on an  exploration of the body and its forms. He approaches images of the human figure, animals, and  plants as distinct formal elements, assembling them through continual shifts in perspective and  focus. By recombining these components into structures charged with tension, Ge Hui creates a  new visual order—one that challenges conventional ways of seeing and resists habitual  interpretation. Ge Hui works are held in private and institutional collections in China and  internationally.  

About Curator 

Irina Stark is a Los Angeles-based art advisor and curator with a particular focus on the Asia  Pacific region. In the last three consecutive years, she was included in ARTnews’s lists of ‘The  Top 75 Art World Professionals’ and ‘The 135 Top Art World Professionals’. Prior to establishing  her creative consultancy, Irina worked for over 15 years at leading European and American  commercial art galleries and institutions. She holds an MA in Art History and Curatorial Studies  from University of Sorbonne Paris 1 as well as an MPhil in Geopolitics from French Institute of  Geopolitics.