Alisan Fine Arts is honored to present “Recent Work by Chinyee,” a Chinese New York- based female artist whose work has been esteemed by critics as “Lyrical Abstraction.” The exhibition features around 15 of her recent work, including oil paintings, watercolor, and collage. Her colors are playful, yet controlled, with compounding layers of meaning referencing to the Eastern concept of “nothingness.” The visual effect is both sensual and powerful, inspired by Mark Rothko’s forms. The Art of Mark Rothko: Selections from the National Gallery of Art, Washington is being shown at the Hong Kong Museum of Art from 31 March to 4 June 2006.
Chinyee was born in Nanjing in 1929 to Mr. Tze-Yuan Ho, a member of the Republic of China’s National Assembly. Influenced by her parent’s artistic endeavors, Chinyee was involved in the arts at an early age and was later rewarded a four-year scholarship in 1947 to study Fine arts at the collage of Mount St. Vincent, New York. Afterwards, she continued to stay in New York for over 50 years after receiving a master in Art Education from the New York University in 1952.
Through Chinyee’s work one can see the influence of the East and West. Her loose unformulated brushstrokes reflect both Asian brush techniques and years of careful study of modernist abstraction. The lyrical, colorful, and optimistic aura of her works is occasionally tinted with edgy turbulence. Perfection in imperfection, one may see, in the spirit of abstract expressionism, Chinyee’s display of self; a combination of a quiet, serene, but deep emotional intensity. Through her work, one may glimpse the spontaneity of De kooning, the poignancy of Joan Mitchell, and the spaciousness of Mark Rothko.
“Paintings by Chinyee ...the artist’s quick strokes would hint at a natural motif....an abbreviated landscape would emerge.”---------Jeffrey Wechsler
Quoted from Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions, Asian American Artists and Abstraction 1945-1970, Rutgers University, USA, 1999, p.95
Chinyee’s first solo exhibition came in 1965, at the prestigious Mi Chou Gallery in Manhattan. This followed with many solo and group exhibitions, including a 1997 international traveling exhibition entitled “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions.” In addition, her work has been honored by UNICEF in its educational films and by the U.S. Department of States “Art in Embassies Program.” At the end of April this year, Chinyee will be having an open studio exhibition at her New York studio.