ART CITIES:London-The world is yours, as well as ours
The history of abstraction in the West charts a clear trajectory, beginning in the early 20th Century and the work of artists such as Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian. In China, however, abstraction is simply one of the many parallel styles available to contemporary Chinese artists, considered neither in opposition to, nor independent of an alternative figurative form of practice.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: White Cube Gallery Archive
The exhibition “The world is yours, as well as ours”, at White Cube Gallery in London presents paintings by: Jiang Zhi, Liang Quan, Liu Wentao, Qian Jiahua, Qin Yifeng, Su Xiaobai, Tang Guo, Yu Youhan and Zhou Li. Abstraction in China developed independently, through diverse influences including traditional calligraphic aesthetics, Taoist philosophy and as a challenge to dominant forms of painting promoted during the Cultural Revolution. An appreciation of abstract forms is deeply embedded in Taoist thought, while the arrangements of calligraphy, arguably the most abstract of traditional Chinese painting styles has, in part, shaped the discourse around contemporary abstraction. In the works of Jiang Zhi, the “System errors” from a computer screen, where a data glitch causes a corrupted or fractured image, are rendered in large-scale to create complex patterns and forms. Liu Wentao also takes inspiration from the minimalism of Agnes Martin and Ellsworth Kelly, whose work he encountered when he studied in the US. Qian Jiahua’s spatial compositions comprise solid blocks of colour, anchored with borders and lines that subtly disrupt the flatness of the image. Echoing the structure of traditional Chinese calligraphy, where characters are formed around vertical columns, the monochromatic paintings of Qin Yifeng feature perpendicular stripes, interrupted by sinuous brush marks. The paintings of Zhou Li take nature as their starting point, particularly the mountainous landscape of southern China. The congruent structures of Yu Youhan’s ‘Circle’ paintings are an exploration of the harmonious unity expressed in Taoism (yin and yang) as well as, in Yu’s words, “A metaphor for both the fleeting moment and eternity”. Liang Quan refers to his mixed media collages, which incorporate rice paper and ink, as “Abstract diagrams of traditional Chinese landscape”. Also inspired by Zen Buddhism and meditation, the emptiness in Liang’s work is realised with intricate, subtle details. Using the ancient techniques of Chinese lacquerwork, Su Xiaobai’s monochrome paintings are informed by the traditions of Buddhist philosophy and its notion of “Everything is nothing, nothing is everything”, as well as by Western Abstraction. The ink wash paintings of Tang Guo have their roots in ancient traditions. Using both the element of chance and a controlled brushstroke, the paintings are formed using colour gradations and a decentralised perspective, resulting in works that resonate with ideas of post-painterly abstraction.
Info: White Cube Mason’s Yard, 25-26 Mason’s Yard, London, Duration 15/7-17/9/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, http://whitecube.com
