Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present
A selection of works by 7 artists at
ASIA GALLERY ART FAIR
Stand: 20
Exhibition Dates: 28 – 30 June 2013
General Hours: Friday, 28 June – Saturday, 29 June, 10am – 5pm, Sunday, 30 June, 10am – 4pm
Shanghai Exhibition Center (1000 Middle Yan’an Road)
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Shanghai—Pearl Lam Galleries will present a selection of artworks by Chinese
contemporary artists Zhu Jinshi, Juju Sun, Qiu Zhenzhong, Zheng Chongbin, Wang
Tiande and Li Xiaojing alongside British artist Michael Wilkinson at Asia Gallery Art
Fair at the Shanghai Exhibition Center from 27 to 30 June, 2013.
No.1319 is from Juju Sun’s new series of work from 2013. Sun’s works vibrate
with vivid color and draw their inspiration from metropolitan New York, where the
artist lived for many years.
Thick Strokes 8 by the renowned artist Zhu Jinshi will also be presented at the
fair. Paul Moorhouse, curator of Zhu’s current solo show at Pearl Lam Galleries
Hong Kong and Curator of 20th Century at the National Portrait Gallery, London
describes Zhu Jinshi as “one of China’s leading contemporary artists. His highly
distinctive approach was apparent from the early 1980s, when he made his first
abstract paintings. His paintings assert themselves on their own terms, but they
are not simply inert. Colour, light, texture and atmosphere are vital elements that
animate these extraordinary works, informing them with the mysterious aura of
life.”
Ink brush paintings from the three contemporary Chinese master artists Qiu
Zhenzhong, Zheng Chongbin, and Wang Tiande will also be shown by Pearl Lam
Galleries at the fair. These artists continue to inherit the essence of traditional,
literati art whilst reinterpreting the language of ink in a contemporary context.
Even today, the Chinese philosophy, aesthetics and literati spirit embraced in ink
art remains relevant.
The selection also includes work from the emerging artist Li Xiaojing and etched
mirror pieces from British artist Michael Wilkinson.
Zhu Jinshi
Zhu Jinshi (b. 1954, Beijing, China) studied painting under Li Zongjin at the Central
Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Germany in the mid-1980s. Zhu began
painting abstract works in the late 1970s and participated in the influential 1979
“Stars” group exhibition, the first avant-garde art show in China after the Cultural
Revolution. Beginning in the 1980s, he started producing large numbers of
installation works, particularly pieces made with xuan paper. It is through direct
contact with his chosen materials that Zhu’s perception and understanding of the
world are expressed.
The core values of Zhu’s art are best represented by traditional Chinese aesthetics,
which emphasize the harmony between human beings and the natural world. He
also uses abstraction and freely-formed brushstrokes to represent reality, with
many of the titles of his works being surprisingly specific. These references are a
reminder that Zhu’s “mind-images” are rooted in metaphor.
Juju Sun
Juju Sun was born in 1973 in China and moved to the US at age 18. Received Art
Education through the Art Students’ League of New York and the Ottawa School
Pearl Lam Galleries 181 Middle Jiangxi Road G/F, Huangpu, Shanghai
Tel: 021 6323 1989 Fax: 021 6323 1988 www.pearllam.com
of Art; studied under the artist Larry Poons.
Most of Juju Sun’s works are abstract oil paintings. Her earlier works were based
on figural abstraction, later her works focused more on blocks and sections of
colour. Most recent works have strong colour backgrounds with lines visible over
them demonstrating an influence of Chinese characters and positive/negative
space.
Qiu Zhenzhong
Qiu Zhenzhong was born in Nanchang in 1947. He uses his unique style and subtle
control of space, time and line to combine elements of traditional Chinese ink
painting, calligraphy and modern art. Qiu’s paintings aim to liberate traditional
Chinese calligraphy and ink painting from its typical ideology, so as to transform
its aesthetic function into something more authentic and absolute.
Through his use of lyrical lines, form and composition, Qiu Zhenzhong reinterprets
these iconic images from Western and Chinese culture using this ancient ink brush
technique, and both poses and attempts to answer questions of tradition, art and
interpretation.
Li Xiaojing
Li Xiaojing was born in Shandong Province in 1981. She received her Bachelors
degree from the Department of Printmaking at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in
2001, and Masters degree from Department of Oil Painting in 2009. She currently
lives and works in Beijing.
Li Xiaojing is an emerging contemporary Chinese abstract artist. In contrast with
the politically-charged and grand narrative works of the 1980s, her paintings are
highly intimate and reflect the artist’s internal thoughts and feelings.
Encompassing universal themes—heaven, earth, humanity and natural forms—Li’s
quietly beautiful and diverse compositions are not restrained by the physical
confines of the painting, as she strives to build a relationship between what is
portrayed and what lies outside the boundaries of the image. The monochromatic
backgrounds and repeated lines of her paintings express particular details of daily
life. In this form of personal diary, Li Xiaojing instills her work with the philosophical
meditation of the 1980s.
Zheng Chongbin
Zheng Chongbin was born in Shanghai in 1961, he studied in China before traveling
to the USA where he received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1991.
Currently, the artist divides his time between China and the USA. His work reflects
inflences from both cultures. Zheng mainly works in ink and wash and has been
consistently involved with investigating the range of possibilities presented by the
medium. He studied figurative painting before moving on to the exploration of nonrepresentational
forms, and later abstract expressionism. Zheng’s abstract works
result from an examination of space, in which vocabulary is often conditioned by
scale and its tangibility, while aiming to produce a metaphysical dimension. His work
has been widely exhibited in China, the USA and abroad.
Wang Tiande was born in Shanghai in 1960. The artist aims to re-contextualize
tradition within a framework through ink paintings, digital compositions, and
thought-provoking installations. With ink paintings which largely reference
traditional Literati concepts, Wang Tiande captures a new form of expression that
reflects today’s contemporary culture while incorporating conceptual ideas. He
recreates ink brush painting for the twenty-first century. By burning symbols, which
resemble Chinese characters, onto rice paper, his works evoke the essence of
traditional Chinese art in a modern context. The burn marks are made with an
incense stick, creating shapes and spaces, similar to that of landscapes, water and
mountains.
Wang Tiande’s innovative approach does not dispel the significance and influence of
tradition in his work; rather, he embraces traditional concepts and methods while
injecting a modern perspective that is fresh and distinctly his own.
Michael Wilkinson
Michael Wilkinson was born in Merseyside, UK in 1965 and currently lives and
works in Glasgow, Scotland. Wilkinson creates subtly layered canvases and
sculptures, which cull references from art history, punk rock, popular culture, and
anarchism.
Wilkinson employs a sophisticated collage technique that reflects his multiple
subject references and includes as many disparate materials: acrylic, beeswax, oil,
string, digital prints, cellophane, audio-tape, Legos, and etched mirrors. His
apparently simple layering of elements and monochromatic color palate coalesce the varied subjects and media to enhance his use of historical motifs. Part canvas,
part mirror and part blackboard, these structures evoke the set of influences that
converged on popular culture during punk, holding up their heresies as a measure
of the present.
About Pearl Lam Galleries
Founded by Pearl Lam, the Galleries' mission is to stimulate cross-cultural dialogue
and cultural exchange between East and West by establishing distinct and rigorous
programming in each of its gallery spaces in Hong Kong, Shanghai and the
forthcoming Singapore gallery.
Pearl Lam Galleries is dedicated to championing Chinese artists who re-evaluate
the philosophy and perception of Chinese contemporary art, whilst also committed
to presenting major exhibitions by international artists. Jenny Holzer and Yinka
Shonibare are among the line-up of artists who will have solo exhibitions at the
Galleries in 2013.
Pearl Lam Design shows works by established and emerging international designers
including André Dubreuil, Maarten Baas, Mattia Bonetti, and Studio Makkink & Bey.
They are invited to push the boundaries of traditional Chinese art and craft
techniques and create new works that reflect their experiences in China.