Zhang Yiguo

I Am in It - Contemporary Chinese Art Expressions

Opening 9^th December 08 through 20^th January 09

6.00 - 7.30 hours

With the special collaboration of Dr. Zhang Yiguo, Florida Gulf Coast University’s Executive Professor and Curator of Asian Art, Alisan Fine Arts is delighted to present I Am in It: Contemporary Chinese Art Expressions. The exhibition was first shown at Florida Gulf Coast University last January. The four participating artists are Shao Yan (b.1962 Shandong), Pu Lieping (b.1959 Sichuan), Lan Zhenghui (b.1959 Sichuan), and Yi Liao (b.1970 Gansu).

Throughout his many years of studying ancient Chinese art, Zhang Yiguo has paid close attention to the development of contemporary Chinese art and its relationship to Western traditions. His study of Chinese contemporary art has led him to examine the background and evolution of calligraphic and writing culture as a critique and curator. One of Zhang’s most successful curatorial project is the exhibition Brushed Voices: Calligraphy in Contemporary China (Columbia University, 1998) that received favourable reviews from the New York Times; the exhibition catalogue was a ‘best seller’ in its field. Zhang Yiguo is an internationally recognized expert in Asian art and an important calligraphic artist in his own right.  He is the author of Calligraphy: the Art of Heart and Soul (Peking University Press, 1991; Taipei, 1992), which was recently selected as the reference book for China secondary schools.  He served as a Research Fellow at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (1998-2004).

This year, Zhang chose four Mainland Chinese artists with completely individual approaches. From the Florida exhibition, Zhang has selected 11 works, with the addition of new artworks, our exhibition will be showing more than 20 works.

Shao Yan has sought out the future of calligraphy and writing. Seeing what others overlook, he has drawn from traditional calligraphy and carried it further. Shao especially lays emphasis on the concept of time in the act of writing, as space has no sequentiality. He uses rubbings, writing in ink and adjustments in colour. Pu Lieping’s Chinese character-centered art removes the condition of reading from the process of writing, making Chinese characters without any meaning and opening the work to unlimited interpretations. The architectural spatiality of Chinese characters is a dominant theme in Pu’s works that are often created through pure melody. Lan Zhenghui first studied science, and later switched to art. Inspired by the American expressionist Franz Klein, Lan’s work is created out of large blocks, which gives his style a weighty, sculpted feel: the black and white space thus becomes a wide open medium.  Deeply influenced by Zen Buddhism, Yi Liao believes that people live imprisoned by desire until they obtain the wisdom through discipline and meditation to escape into higher realms of consciousness. Yi Liao’s works are typical of conceptual calligraphy, always leading the viewer to think about his own condition of existence.

The exhibition expands the range of approaches to include abstraction by four Mainland artists whose works have attracted audiences at home and abroad, received outstanding prizes, and belong to public collections.

Interviews with Dr. Zhang Yiguo can be arranged on request.

2001 PhD Columbia University

1994 MA Ohio University

1983 BA Nankai University

藝倡畫廊　

舉辦

自有我在 : 當代中國藝術表現

邵岩  濮列平  藍正輝  一了  

四人聯展

2008年12月9日至2009年1月20日

    藝倡畫廊於2008年12月9日至2009年1月20日舉行〝自有我在－當代中國藝術表現〞畫展, 展出四位年輕中國抽象水墨畫家邵岩、濮列平、藍正輝、一了共二十三件作品，展示了中國新水墨藝術的面貌。我們更特別邀請美國佛羅里達海灣海岸大學教授、亞洲藝術主任張以國博士担任客席策展人。〝自有我在－當代中國藝術表現〞曾於2008年1月10日至2月18日首次於美國佛羅里達海灣海岸大學展出,其中12件作品移師香港藝倡畫廊與11件2008年新作一同展出, 表現了這四位畫家〝在傳統和現代之間, 在東方和西方之間,尋找‘自我’的追求與觀念〞。畫家濮列平將專程從北京來香港出席12月9日晚上六時至七時半舉行的開幕禮。

客席策展人張以國博士, 國際著名亞洲藝術專家,亦是中國書畫鑑賞家。1983年畢棊於中國天津南開大學,1994年獲美國俄亥俄州大學碩士,2001年獲美國哥倫比亞大學博士。1998年由他策劃於美國哥倫比亞大學舉行的〝筆底傳情: 當代中國書法展〞受到《紐約時報》的高度評價, 展覽圖錄在美國學術界甚受重視。1998至2004年間, 張博士於美國波士頓藝術館和紐約大都會藝術博物館出任研究員。

邵岩生於1962年山東文登,現居北京,是中國1980年代〝現代書法運動〞重要畫家之一,近年他突破現代書法的範疇,強調書法性線條的質感和動感,是次展出的4件作品中有3件是2008年新作, 筆法精妙,意念前衛,即使不認識漢字的西方人,也一樣可以感受到其作品的感染力。他的作品獲美國路絲金會、意大利東北銀行集團、澳洲悉尼大學、中國北京今日美術館、中美術學院美術館等收藏。

濮列平生於1959年四川成都,現居北京,1987年開始現在書法的創作,他把漢字的結構重整,沒有任何字義的漢字成了新的抽象样式, 像建築結構一样。他又從音樂中取靈感,把建築和音樂表現在作品中, 使墨線和暈彩充滿韻律、節奏的變化。他的作品曾獲大英博物館等收藏。這次展出的8件展作品中有2件是2008年新作。

藍正輝生於1959年四川,現居北京,1978年考入沈陽冶金機械專科,1983年考入四川美術學院, 亦曾設廠從商。他深受美國抽象表現主義藝術家克萊茵(Frank Klein)影響,擅於運用黑色大面積的墨塊進行創作,強調水墨的重量感和雕塑感,他把這種書寫藝術稱為〝體量水墨〞。他的作品曾獲中國美術館、廣東美術館等及、私人收藏。這次展出的5件怍品中有3件是2008年新作。

一了生於1970年甘肅皋蘭, 現居河南鄭州,他深受佛教禪學的影響,作品風格氣魄宏偉,線條粗獷,瞬間的爆發力,強烈的感染力,顯示了他對人生和社會的感悟與理解,這次展出6件作品中3件〝囚境系列〞於2008年作, 是他新的探索。