Osage Gallery is pleased to present Beyond the Image, an exhibition of three of the most established abstract painters in the region, Liang Quan, Lui Chunkwong, and Yan Shanchun. The exhibition is a rare opportunity to bring together works by the three masters to audiences in Hong Kong. Although distinctly different in their approaches to painting, their works explore the intricate relationships between tradition and innovation, abstraction and representation, real space and poetic imagination.

 

Liang Quan’s paintings employ collage instead of traditional forms of painting to express his affection for classicality. The craft of collage is transformed by Liang into an act of great character, mediated by the concept behind the act — a kind of inner cultivation akin to an old monk sewing old clothes. Thus, his paintings are characterized by a sense of calm, freshness and vagary. His works are accumulations of delicate details, murmuring, opposing and cancelling out each other, yet resulting in emptiness as a whole.

 

Lui Chunkwong’s recent paintings have taken on a more abstract and reductive approach, returning painting to its origin. Lui’s paintings shift the focus away from the subject matter of the painting, to the question of ‘what is painting’ – a shift that is a direct reflection of his living attitude. In the intensity of the lines, their tonal variations and hues, the viewer can almost picture the water, the mountain, the landscape Lui is trying to portray, not in a figurative sense but in a metaphysical level. Between the different types of lines Lui employs in his paintings, lies a spiritual space in which the artist invites his audience to roam and share.

 

Yan Shanchun’s paintings explore “contradiction”. His paintings are simultaneously extemporaneous and narrative, but never without refrain. In terms of style, he pursues elegance while retaining a touch of rawness and rusticity – “immature and delicate” in his own words.  His recent works draw inspiration from memories of his childhood visual experience and his hometown, the West Lake, using ink, acrylic and fresco.

 

About Liang Quan

Liang was born in 1948 in Shanghai. He graduated from San Francisco Academy of Fine Arts in 1983, and began teaching at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. He became a professional painter in Shenzhen Fine Art Institute in 1995 and is currently a member of China Artists Association. His exhibitions include: “East+West” Exhibition of Contemporary Art in China (2002, Vienna, Austria), Liang Quan Solo Exhibition (2004, Mies van Der Rohe Haus, Berlin, Germany), The Exhibition of Chinese Painting Documentaries (2006, Nanjing museum, Nanjing, China).

 

About Lui Chunkwong

Graduated from the National Taiwan Normal University in 1980, Lui then acquired his Masters degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1994. In Taipei, he won a Gold Medal in Western Painting in the The 41st Taiyang Art Exhibition in 1978 as well as the 1st Prize in Watercolor in the The 9th National Taiwan Art Exhibition in 1980. He is currently honorary museum advisor of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and associate professor of the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His exhibitions include: Arts Centre 25 and Beyond (2001, Pao Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong), Mapping Asia (2003, The Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong), New Ink Art (2008, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong).

 

About Yan Shanchun

Yan was born in Hang Zhou in 1957, graduated with his B.A. from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1983 and began teaching at Hubei Fine Art Institute. He is currently deputy director and a first class artist of Shenzhen Fine Art Institute and the curator of Shenzhen International Ink Painting Biennale. His exhibitions include: Searching for West Lake in My Dreams: Yan Shanchun 2004 Paper Paintings (2005, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong), “West Lake” series (2006, Contemporary Ink Painting Methods, Tianjin, China), Yan Shanchun Exhibition (2006, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China).

 

About Osage Gallery

Osage Gallery is an international gallery group with major exhibition spaces in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. Osage Gallery represents some of the most exciting and significant artists in Asia and works closely with international critics and curators to present exhibitions and projects that addresses themes and issues relevant to our times.

 

For more information,

 

Opening Reception: 29 May 2009, 6.00pm  

Tel:  (852) 2793 4817 

Web: http://www.osagegallery.com/

 

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[Editor] Elemy Liu