Hong Zhu An

Biography

The Colour of Memory - Hong Zhu An and New Chinese Brush Painting

W.Y. Choy, Art Critic & Artist, Singapore, August 2000

The ancient garden city of Wuxi, situated noth of Shanghai, has a history of 3000 years. Its residents enjoy views of the breathtaking freshwater lake Tai Hu, stunning vistas and timeless garden park. Yixing, the pottery town, and the beautiful cultural cities of Hangzhou and Suzhou are within easy reach. Such is the environment in which the artisit Hong Zhu An grew up. Imbued with nature, history, culture, art and industry, Wuxi has been a fundamental source of inspiration for the artist.

Bada Shanren, the charismatic artist genius who survived terrible ordeals during the era which spanned the twlight of the Ming Dynasty and the dawn of the Qing Dynasty, is another important influence on Hong Zhu An. Hong was introduced to the works of Bada Shanren by his tutor, the art historian and theorist Wang Zidou who specialises in the subject and whose dedication to the artist is so obessive that he has all the details of the artist life and every significant work at his fingers tips. Wangs incisive analysis underlines Badas historical role in Chinese painting, the impact of which has not diminished after 300 years. Indeed, Bada is today idolised by a surging wave of radical contemporary Chinese ink painters.

As part of the overall development of his paintings, Hong also studied and worked in other modes. The Russian Realist movement impressed him with impeccable skills. Van Gogh showed the way towards a vibrant and forceful style. Matisse with his originality, clarity and versatility was admired in a class of his own. But as his own art sharpened, Hong found himself returning to Bada Shanren again and again for inspiration.

In the late 1970s while at the Shanghai Art and Craft Institute, Hong Zhu An rediscovered Chinese calligraphy. He had practised it since the age of four but began to reassess it as a mature, critical artist in searcg of fresh inspiration. The immensity of the full dimension of calligraphy came to Hong as an awe-inspiring revelation. Chinese calligraphy has since the Tang Dynasty succeeded resoundingly in creating breakthrough after breakthrough, putting it on par with Chinese painting in terms of importance and innovation. A discipline favoured by scholars, poets, politicians, administrators, warriors and emperors in ancient China, has been a critical vehicle for the rejuvenation of artistic creativity. Adventurous contemporary visual artists today perceive Chinese calligraphy as a timeless art form which has adapted to the times. Because of its dynamism, it may well emerge again as one of the most creative art forms of our age.

An extension of Hongs interest in calligraphy is his emphasis on line. Picasso once captured the drama of the bullfight with swift, eloquent lines. Its immediacy and spontaneity spurred great artists of diverse backgrounds to produce drawings, etchings or paintings with moving vitality and rare brillance. Degas gave us his dancers; Qi Baishi, crabs; Morandi, still-lifes; Hokusai, Mount Fuji; Klee, his abstractions. There are many more.

It has been said that you can tell the work of Bada Shanren by a single brushstroke. Indeed, the artists intention, style, character, strength and weakness are all encapsulated in the brushstroke. Because of its nature, and thousands and thousands of painters and calligraphers attempts to shape it, the brushstroke today offers possbilities beyond imagination. Literally, you can talk, dance, sing, run, mediate with it.

Because of its historical significance enriched by traditions and its potential in influencing a work of art, Hong has given the line a central role in his art. But his line is not a decorative element or illustration. It is a line that has emerged from experiments to harness calligraphys full potential. The line now assumes a strategic role in his paintings, and he sees his line as calligraphy. Hong says - Without calligraphy, my paintings are nothing.

The two potent sources of inspiration for Hongs sense of colour are nature and antiquity. The magnificent natural flora of China offers the artist endless creative possibilities. He trekked through rivers and hills, gardens and forests to immerse himself in natures glorious spectrum of colour. Always uplifting, autumn has a special significance for it brings with it a resonating symphony of colour. What intrigues the artist is the spellbinding process of change and renewal. Red Maples epitomises the fascination with this process. This painting is a blaze of warm colours - red, oranges, browns - against a backdrop of cool blues, evoking intense light and fiery energy.

The other potent source is Chinas wealth of antiquities. THe Dunhuang Frescoes and the Han bronzes alike have great power and timelessness, and a rich patina and sense of colour. The key to Hong Zhu Ans relentness discoveries emerge. The nuances of brushmarks are capable of continuous simplification of the painting creates a contemplative kind of minimalism and liberalisation, yet nourished by tradition, its depth is not compromised. Hong Zhu An is now in the throes of an exciting new language in Chinese ink painting.

In 1980 after years of reflection over the direction of his art, and emboldened by Bada Shanrens heroism and the support of his tutors, Hong arrived at a decision about his long term artisitic goal. The clarity of his insight and its sheer obviousness surprised even himself. His self-imposed mission has been to take traditional Chinese Painting into the 21st century, The cultural environment before him was already wide open. Since China implemented its open door policy, ambitious young artists in Beijing and Shanghai have been quick to respond to the exciting new prospects. Within a decade, avante garde art movements were in full swing with the prrepressible promise that daring young high achievers in the field of art could gain notice in the international art capitals, such as New York or Paris. In China, with the frenzy of experimentation the order of the day, ambitious art movements flowed out in quick succession like a torrent. Chinese Expressionism was followed by Chinese Surrealism, which was then followed by Chinese Pop Art. Then in the 1980s, the Beijing School of Super-realist with their faultless techniques emerged, stunning the public. But uncompromisingly, Hong, then only in his mid-20s, rejected them all with charactieristic aloofness.

His own vision is in essense Chinese, entrenched in Daoist philosophy, and he is cynical about instant success or ready-made recipes from the West. While evolution and change are crucial elements, the key artistic driving force for Hong is the quintessential Chinese ethos in Chinese art, a timeless and integral part of Chinas enduring, formidable cultural heritage, which he is determined to take forward into the 21st century.
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Serene, Poetic and Beautiful - a critique of paintings by Hong Zhu An
Extracts from Professor Shao Dazhen

Professor, Central Art Academy
Head, Theory Committee , Chinese Artists Association
February 2005, Central Art Academy, Beijing.


Despite the absence of bright colours and prominent subjects in the work of Hong Zhu
An, the artist is able to captivate his viewers whom he gently draws into his artistic realm, encouraging them to delve into their own rich imagination. This process is undoubtedly the result of his excellent technique, ability to accurately express his feelings artistically, and more importantly, all-rounded knowledge and cultivation as an artist.

Hong Zhu An paints artworks that attest to his tireless effort and devotion to his craft. Not satisfied with producing works that are merely visually pleasing, he also pays meticulous attention to the underlying theory and spirit of artistic creation.

Hong, exploring how best to combine the spirit, form and technique of traditional Chinese art with the concepts of contemporary art has, after many years, succeeded. The result of his bold and diligent experimentation are pieces infused with individuality that nonetheless retain a contemporary feel.

Hong Zhu An is composed, steady and reserved. He also has a talent for expressing artistic passion in a rational manner. One can say that his artistic expression is a natural reflection of his personality.

Hong Zhu An paints with a distinctive style, attaining a remarkably high artistic standard as well as a very refined level of artistic appreciation.

The saying - there is no end to learning - contains a simple truth. Hong Zhu An, speaking of his own artistic creation, says that the path is long, continued effort is still necessary. His comments show Hong to be a sensible and realistic artist. With this attitude, coupled with his rigorous approach to art and his passion for creative effort, Hong Zhu An has a promising artistic future.

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AN EYE TO THE HEAVENS: NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE ART OF HONG ZHU AN

Iola Lenzi, June 2005

For many years Hong Zhu An has been at the forefront of new developments in Chinese painting, his innovative practice peerless within China and beyond in its unique play of colour, space and line. And as Chinese art has moved off in every conceivable direction, so has Hong Zhu An in his vision, ever steering a steadfast course, has pushed and tested the limits of Chinese traditional painting, defining new artistic frontiers in the use and subversion of the building blocks of Chinese graphic expression: paper, brush and ink.

Hong Zhu An paints in many ways that mirror China as she enters the 21st century: confident, brimming with energy, eagerly embracing the new, and influential as never before. Yet if contemporary China looks to the West in some respects, his art is no East/West cultural hybrid. And though some may claim to recognize the influence of colour-field painting in his work with its expressive quality and bold abstraction (1), or glimpse Western modernism in its formal rigour, both the sentiment and hand driving his expression undisputedly find their roots in China, his paintings are no less Chinese for its universal appeal.

The artist first experienced great breakthrough decades ago when he resolved his ground-space dilemma. Superimposed pigments, layered in thin washes, would anchor his line and in dialoguing with it, move beyond the age-old traditional Chinese formula of virgin-paper translating uncert