Art Experience Gallery is delighted to present “Landscape De Novo”, the solo exhibition of young Chinese artist, Nan Chao from 6 October to 6 November 2012. Recent oil paintings and sculptures of Nan Chao will be displayed.
As a Chinese artist of the new generation, Nan Chao likes to explore the adaptability of materials and is constantly engaged in the search for new creative techniques. According to him, “Artistic creation has two perspectives: first, innovation in language; second, outstepping of concepts that will be found agreeable in the future.” Although Nan Chao is committed to innovation, he remains deeply concerned about the succession of Chinese culture as he has practised ink and wash painting for years. His approach is to provide new interpretation of Chinese culture through merging the past and present, which is composed of three aspects: the shifts of materials, handling of space and reconstruction of early works.
In order to achieve innovation in language in ink and wash painting, Nan Chao has tried to “substitute paper with canvas and water with oil”. He has abandoned the traditional Chinese colour ink for oil paint. Moreover, he has used canvas instead of rice paper. He, therefore, has recreated the images of Chinese ink and wash paintings on painting materials of the West. Originally, in ink and wash painting, brush and ink are skillfully used to express the complexity of changing colours and scenes. Yet the distinct effects, black, white, dry, wet, thick and pale are conveyed by Nan Chao’s oil paint brush. This has broken through the conventional rules of ink and wash painting. Nan Chao has given the common objects of landscapes, waters, birds and fishes in Chinese paintings a new dimension of meaning and mood, which also provides a new visual experience for the audience.
In recent years, Nan Chao has embarked on an unprecedented creative experiment—using three-dimensional space to convey the planar ink and wash images. Since ancient times, Chinese ink and wash painters have recreated the scenes before their eyes on paper vividly. Such is a translation of three-dimensional space to two-dimensional art, and the audience simply tries to feel the three-dimensional scene observed by the painter through the two-dimensional painting. This is again a breakthrough achieved by Nan Chao, which he began by researching different materials and techniques. After five years of persistent applications and correction, he finally acquired the more accurate know-how and successfully transformed two-dimensional ink and wash paintings into three-dimensional sculpture works. He has thus incepted this novel form of artistic expression which we can describe it as “three-dimensional ink and wash”. This quest representative of our times, together with the unconventional creative breakthrough comprising the juxtaposition of ink and wash paintings, oil paintings and sculptures, has not only opened up for the audience an unknown art domain but also brought more possibilities to the succession and development of ink and wash painting.
In addition to transforming materials and forms of expression, Nan Chao has altered and reconstructed the elements of Badashanren’s original works to create new scenes and substances. Despite the fact that Badashanren lived in a much earlier time than Nan Chao, the “cynical” thinking hidden in the works of Badashanren is shared by Nan Chao. He therefore expresses his encounters with the present moment making use of the images of the works of Badashanren, into which he also blends in new tenors. Nan Chao inter-mixes his interpretation of “life” and enlightenment of Zen into his works that the images in Badashanren’s paintings are re-translated to become a fallen sick crow, a dying fish, wilted flowers in vase, leading the audience to immerse in the thoughts of “life”, “death”, “prosperity” and “failure”.
“Penetrating Chinese ink and reconstructing the space” is Nan Chao’s conclusion to his works. It is not only an expression of the images of his works but also, on a deeper level, a reflection of the artist’s holistic understanding of ink and wash painting and devotion to continuous innovation. Nan Chao has truly broken out of conventional ways of expression and opened up a new space beyond the essence of traditional Chinese art and culture. He also strives to put art and culture in endless exchanges of succession and creation to realize perpetual vitality in art.
