Past Exhibition
State of Transition: Contemporary Paintings from Shanghai Revisited
15 Aug - 21 Sep | 2006
Wang DalinLeng Hong Liu Jian Introduction
Alisan Fine Arts was the first professional gallery to stage an exhibition of contemporary Chinese art in Hong Kong in 1987. The exhibition “State of Transition, Contemporary Painting from Shanghai” featuring 14 Shanghai artists was presented at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Among these artists, Liu Jian was then only 26 while Chen Jialing, the oldest was 50. We are happy to announce that starting from August 15 until September 30, we will show recent works in both ink and oil of ten artists who have remained with the gallery. Their works reflect that their evolution is a gradual one, it is not affected by current fashion in the art world. Starting with canvas works by Liu Jian and Wang Dalin, we will continue with Chinese ink paintings by Han Tianheng, Mao Guolun, Zhang Jianjun, landscape paintings by Leng Hong, canvas works by Li Shan, Zhang Jiemin, and conclude with Chen Jialing's poetic lotuses & birds and Zhang Guiming's colourful folk theme.
Liu Jian, born in Shanghai in 1961, graduated from the Art Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 1983 and thereafter became a lecturer at the Chinese Painting Academy of Shanghai. He was the first runner-up in the National Calligraphy Competition in China. In 1990, he left China for Toronto, Canada, where he has been living ever since, marking a new stage of his artistic career. Evolving into an international abstract artist, he became more subjective, favouring unsystematic and vague composition, using oil on paper and on canvas. Over the years he has had numerous solo exhibitions in Europe, North America and Hong Kong. In this exhibition, Liu's Chinese ink paintings “Black Sunflower 1” and “Italian Journey, Toronto” (both 1995) which were shown in the highly attended 1st and 3rd International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen in 1998, and 2002, will be exciting to witness again, especially his development from traditional Chinese brushstrokes to abstract expressionist gestural effects on the surface of the paintings.
Wang Dalin, born in Shanghai in 1949, has been a student of the “Modern Master in oil on rice paper” Kong Baiji since 1982 and two years later studied at the Shanghai Jiaotong University, majoring in western painting. Wang was the head of the Exhibition Department at the Shenzhen Art Museum in 1995 and was promoted to art curator in 2005, where he designed the interior of the museum. Gifted in the techniques of painting and sculpture, he established a personal style characterized by a superb sense of colour and a sophisticated approach to composition. This exhibition includes Wang's recent oil paintings and drawings. “Apple” has been his most famous subject since the “Square Apple” sculpture was shown at the exhibition “Selected Contemporary Sculpture from China” at the Oriental Plaza, Beijing in 2000.
Liu Jian, born in Shanghai in 1961, graduated from the Art Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 1983 and thereafter became a lecturer at the Chinese Painting Academy of Shanghai. He was the first runner-up in the National Calligraphy Competition in China. In 1990, he left China for Toronto, Canada, where he has been living ever since, marking a new stage of his artistic career. Evolving into an international abstract artist, he became more subjective, favouring unsystematic and vague composition, using oil on paper and on canvas. Over the years he has had numerous solo exhibitions in Europe, North America and Hong Kong. In this exhibition, Liu's Chinese ink paintings “Black Sunflower 1” and “Italian Journey, Toronto” (both 1995) which were shown in the highly attended 1st and 3rd International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen in 1998, and 2002, will be exciting to witness again, especially his development from traditional Chinese brushstrokes to abstract expressionist gestural effects on the surface of the paintings.
Wang Dalin, born in Shanghai in 1949, has been a student of the “Modern Master in oil on rice paper” Kong Baiji since 1982 and two years later studied at the Shanghai Jiaotong University, majoring in western painting. Wang was the head of the Exhibition Department at the Shenzhen Art Museum in 1995 and was promoted to art curator in 2005, where he designed the interior of the museum. Gifted in the techniques of painting and sculpture, he established a personal style characterized by a superb sense of colour and a sophisticated approach to composition. This exhibition includes Wang's recent oil paintings and drawings. “Apple” has been his most famous subject since the “Square Apple” sculpture was shown at the exhibition “Selected Contemporary Sculpture from China” at the Oriental Plaza, Beijing in 2000.