Chuang Che

1934, Beijing China

Introduction

It was in the late 1960s when Director Alice King first saw Chuang Che’s works in the home of a friend in New York. Painted in the style of Western Abstract Expressionism, the image remained vividly in her mind, and in 1982 the gallery began exhibiting his works. Born in 1934 in Beijing, China, Chuang’s early education was steeped in classical Chinese painting and calligraphy. His father, Chuang Shangyen, was the Vice-Director of the National Palace Museum in Beijing and so Chuang Che had many opportunities to see the museum’s collection first-hand.

In 1949, he immigrated to Taiwan with his family and graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the Taiwan Normal University in 1957 having studied drawing under Chu Teh-Chun. It was during this period that Chuang co-founded the Fifth Moon Group, which advocated that Chinese artists experiment with traditional Chinese art and Western avant-garde art – in particular Abstract Expressionism. The art historian Michael Sullivan wrote that Chuang Che artwork ”rejected the tien (dots) and ts’un (texture strokes) altogether” creating “[Franz] Kline-like gestures”. (The Meeting of Eastern and Western Art, pg. 199). By the 1960s, having won an Asian Cultural Council Fellowship to study in the United States, he began travelling to Europe and the United States. In 1973 he settled in Ann Harbour, Michigan, and in 1988 moved to New York where he continues to work. Since the 1960s, he has made a concerted attempt to revolutionise Chinese landscape painting, incorporating abstract elements in acrylic and oil.

Since 1982, Alisan Fine Arts has held five solo exhibitions for the artist. His works have also been included in several of the gallery’s important group exhibitions, such as Abstraction and Beyond held in 1997 at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and in the same year at the Shanghai Art Museum The Chinese Root: Works by Mainland and Overseas Chinese Artists. His works have been collected by the Cleveland Museum of Art; Detroit Institute of Art; Cornell University; Fine Art Museum, Flint, Michigan; National Museum of History, Taipei; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; China Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum; Guangdong Museum of Art; Hong Kong Museum of Art, M+, Hong Kong.



BIOGRAPHY
1934 Born in Beijing, to Chuang Shang-Yen, a scholar and calligrapher who worked at the National Palace Museum, Beijing, China
1948 Moved to Taiwan
1954 Studied under Chu Teh-chun at Fine Arts Department, National Taiwan Normal University
1958 Graduated from Fine Arts Department at the National Taiwan Normal University and joined the Fifth Moon Group
Took part in the Premiere Biennale de Paris, and the Biennial de Sao Paulo, Brazil
1960-64 Travelled Europe, met Zao Wou-ki and Chu Teh-chun in Paris, and met Antonio Tapis in Sapin

1962 Took part in the International Painting Salon in Hong Kong
1963-73 Professor of Art, Tunghai University, Taiwan
1965 Solo exhibitions in USA, Canada, Germany, Singapore, Taiwa, and Hong Kong
1966 Awarded a John D. Rockefeller III Foundation Fellowship to study in the USA
Stayed at Iowa University and became the assistant of sculptor S. Lipton in New York, USA
1967 One-man show, Ann Arbor, Michigan; travelled to Europe
1968 Spent six months in Paris, France
1972 Received award to study Art History in Michigan University, USA
1973 Moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
1985 Fulbright Fellow as Visiting Professor, National Arts Institute, Taipei, Taiwan
1986 Travelled to Mainland China; exhibited in Beijing, China
1988 Moved to New York, USA
1992 Set up studio in Manhattan, New York, USA
Present Lived in New York, USA

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023

  • Chuang Che, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong

2020

  • Chuang Che Anniverary Solo Exhibition: As Lofty as a Mountain, Asia Art Centre, Taipei, Taiwan

2015

  • Effusive Vitality: Chuuang Che Retrospective Exhibition, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

2007-08

  • Deep Ridge, Remote Way, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2005

  • Primal Form: An Exhibition of Chuang Che’s Painting, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan

2002

  • Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
  • The Song of the Earth: Chuang Che, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1999

  • Kaohsiung Musem of Fine Arts, Kaosiung, Taiwan
  • Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1998

  • Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, New York, USA

1993

  • Recent Paintings by Chuang Che, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1992

  • Retrospective, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1989

  • Chuang Che, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1986

  • Abstract Paintings on Canvas by Chuang Che, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1982

  • Paintings by Chuang Che, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1980

  • National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan

1977

  • Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, Michigan, USA
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

1974

  • Oberlin College Asian Society, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA

1972

  • Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, USA
  • Newark Art Museum, Newark, New Jersey, USA

1970

  • Fine Art Museum, Flint, Michigan, USA

1965

  • National Taiwan Arts Hall, Taipei, Taiwan


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022-2023      

  • Ink in Motion: A History of Chinese Painting in the 20th Century, Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France

2021-2022        

  • Individuals, Networks, Expressions, South Galleries, M+, Hong Kong

2018

2017  

2016  

2006        

  • The Third Space: Chinese Text of Abstract Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Ningbo Art Museum, Ningbo; 798 Art District, Beijing, China

2005      

  • Abstraction Gesture, Tenri Cultural Center, New York, USA
  • China Contemporary Art, University of Minnesota Art Museum, Minnesota, USA
  • Modern art in Taiwan: the heroes of Guandu in 2005, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

2004       

  • Beyond Representation, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2003        

  • Taiwan Paintings in the Sixties, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

2002        

  • Oriental Essence: The Abstraction of Overseas Chinese Artists, Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, USA
  • International Exhibition of Abstract Art by Overseas Chinese Artists, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China; Artist Commune, Hong Kong
  • Autumn Salon, Paris, France

2000       

  • International Art Symposium & Exhibition of Painting, Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, Canada
  • Gallery 456, Chinese-American Arts Council, New York, USA

1998       

  • 2nd Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
  • 1st Shenzhen Biennial, Shenzhen, China
  • Fundamental Elements, Art Beautus, Vancouver, Canada

1997-9    

  • Asian Tradition - Modern Expression, Zimmerli Art Museum of the Rutgers University, New Jersey; Chicago Cultural Center, IL; Fisher Gallery, The University of Southern California, CA; Dean Lesher Center of Arts, Walnut Creek, CA, USA; Kaohsiung Fine Arts, Taiwan; Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan; three museums in Japan

1997       

1996       

  • Mutations of Ink and Paper, Taipei Gallery, New York, USA
  • Horwitch-Newman Gallery, Scottsdale, USA

1995    

  • Wonders of Chinese Abstraction, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1994-5    

  • Between East and West: Transformation of Chinese Art in the late Twentieth Century, The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, USA

1994       

  • Haeneh-Kent Gallery, New York, USA

1992       

  • Louis Newman Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA, USA

1991       

  • David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, USA
  • Taipei: New York Confrontation of Modernism, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1990        

  • Forum of Hamburg International Art Festival, Hamburg, Germany

1989        

  • The Progressional Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan

1987        

  • The Progressional Arts Exhibitions in the Republic of China, Taipei Provincial Art Museum, Taichung, Taiwan

1986       

  • A Retrospective Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1985        

  • David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, USA; Lungmen Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1983        

  • Overseas Chinese Artists, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1982        

  • Chuang Che, Hao Ma, Chen Ting-Shih: Exhibition of Three Artists, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong

1981        

  • Fifth Moon and Ton Fan 25th Anniversary Joint Exhibition, Taiwan Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1979        

  • Contemporary Chinese and Japanese Art, Summit Art Center, Summit, New Jersey, USA
  • An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Asia Foundation Art Gallery San Francisco, California, uSA

1976       

  • Three Contemporary Artists, Foot Hills Art Center, Golden, Colorado, USA

1975      

  • 10 Chinese Leading Artists, Metropolitan Museum, Tokyo, Japan

1973      

  • The Bienal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Contemporary Chinese Paintings, Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA

1970      

  • Contemporary Chinese Art, The Claremont and Pomona College, California, USA

1969     

  • Pintura China Contemporana, Madrid, Spain

1966-68     

  • The New Chinese Landscape: Travelling Exhibition of Six Chinese Artists, Taiwan and USA 

1965     

  • Chinese Modern Art Exhibition, Galleria Del Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma, Italy
  • Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Laren Zwolle, Gravenhage, Delft, The Netherlands
  • Modern Chinese Paintings, Woodrow Wilson Society, Princeton University, New jersey, USA

1963     

  • The Bienal de Sao Paulo, San Paulo, Brazil
  • The Premiere Biennale de Paris, Paris, France
  • Chinese Avant Garde Exhibition, Dominion Gallery, Sydney, Australia
  • Modern Art Exhibition From Taiwan, Chatham Gallery, Hong Kong

1962   

  • First International Art Exhibition, Saigon, Vietnam
  • Chinese Modern Painting Exhibition, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
  • International Salon of Painting, Hong Kong

1961  

  • The Bienal de Sao Paulo, San Paulo, Brazil

1959  

  • The Bienal de Sao Paulo, San Paulo, Brazil

1958-63  

  • Fifth Moon Group Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan

1958  

  • ist International Exhibition of Young Artist in Paris, Paris, France

 

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, USA
Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
Spencer Art Museum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
The Art Museum, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Detroit Art Institute, MI, USA
Saginaw Art Museum, MI, USA
Lehman Brothers, USA
Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
M+, Hong Kong