Opposites: When Chinese Art meets Abstract Art

Season of Paralysing Strokes. Image courtesy of Pearl Lam Galleries.

When one thinks of Chinese Art, one thinks of free flowing lines of black ink elegantly depicting a scene of nature. Then, here comes an artist breaking the boundaries, creating artistic expressions that do not simply emulate Occidental Art forms, but to instil specifically traditional Chinese art characteristics of free brush and ink painting for what has been described as a ‘dense tapestries of interconnected experience’. Artist Zhu Jinshi’s work is not only strongly influenced by his Chinese roots, but also by the avant-garde Abstract Art pioneer Kandinsky from his days working in the city of Berlin after his exile from his homeland in the ’80s.

Wind in Lhasa. Image courtesy of Pearl Lam Galleries.

The Chinese Abstract Master’s upcoming solo exhibition, named ‘The Reality of Paint’, is presented at the Pearl Lam Galleries during the Art Basel in Hong Kong. It features 26 new oil paintings. ‘Zhu’s engaging and unmistakable paintings attempt to reconcile two traditions and underline how Chinese abstract has been a major undiscovered force in contemporary art,’ states Althea Viafora-Kress, international gallery director of Pearl Lam Galleries.

“Although these painting are not able to move mountains or break stones, the exceptional power of these paintings lies in their ability to clear the mind of all worries… [unblocking] creative and spiritual pathways,” says Zhu.

Zhu Jinshi’s exhibition ‘The Reality of Paint’ will open to the public on Wednesday 22 May 2013 till 13 July 2013 at Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong.