Connoisseur Art Gallery is proud to present the solo exhibition of our most important and highly acclaimed Chinese contemporary female artist, JIA Juan Li. Born in Hangzhou, China in 1960, JIA received her BFA from the renowned Sichuan Academy of Fine Art and her MFA with first class honour from the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts. Upon her completion of her studies at the Ecole d’Art d’Aix-en-Provence, JIA moved to Paris and has been based there for more than ten years. Her works have been auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong as well as China Guardian Auction, and are much sought-after by both museum and private collectors worldwide.
Among most mainland-based Chinese artists born in the 1960s, JIA is a rarity. She opted to give up a comfortable life in Beijing where she was fast gaining recognition and fame as an artist, to move to a foreign land in France in 1996 on a full two-year scholarship by the French government to study at the Ecole d’Art d’Aix-en-Provence. Not knowing a word of French, she resided in low profile and dedicated all her passion towards painting. Although she took a different path from her peers, her dedication towards her passion paid off. One of the most outstanding artists of today, JIA has made significant contributions to the growing importance of Chinese female artists; becoming one of the few Chinese female names known in the international art scene. Among the many awards she has received in recognition of her excellence was the Prix de l’Auteur dans les Arts Graphiques et Plastique (Monte Carlo in 2004), one of the most respected honours on the international art scene.
This exhibition will showcase a dazzling collection of paintings by JIA Juan Li, inspired by the Forbidden City in Beijing set in the Qing Dynasty. Having once lived in close proximity of the Forbidden City, JIA used to wander through the palace by herself in different seasons and was so captivated by the splendor and mysterious ambience of the palace that she felt compelled to transfer her impressions into paintings. In the artist’s own words, “I try to capture the nostalgia for something forever gone, a sentiment you could describe as melancholic, an elegant era that is achingly beautiful, but now lost”.
More than mere impressionist portrayals of the elegant Qing court nobilities, the splendid palace interiors and the dreamy garden scenes amidst colourful flowers and white cranes, JIA’s artworks invite viewers to go beyond these figurative representations and to listen to the soliloquies of each Qing princess. In her palace interiors, JIA often depicts women floating around the palace behind dividing screens, giving her audience a glimpse of the life of women within the Imperial Court, and the grandeur and immensity of the palace, yet at the same time, highlighting intricate artifacts and architecture of the imperial age.
JIA’s garden scenes reveal another aspect of life in the Imperial Court. Again these ethereal women
appear to be floating around, this time amidst lotus seed cups, white cranes, tall plants and multi-coloured flowers. Sometimes JIA uses broad, abstract brushstrokes to paint the background a bluish tone, depicting the movement and colour of water in the garden. The result is an added element of transience and lyrical symbolism. At other times she portrays a close-up of a single lady reaching out to touch or smell a flower, or simply gazing at the objects of nature around her.
The Qing ladies in JIA’s portraits are often dressed in fine traditional robes, sometimes clad in highcollared costumes and elaborate headdresses. Sometimes despite the small formats used by JIA for her portraits, the subjects’ frontal pose, accentuated by the costumes of their era, and the framing of the subjects in a confined space, give the portraits extraordinary monumentality. Expressionless, they invoke a sense of loneliness and provide a subtle hint of the artist’s own melancholic personality.
Through the artist’s impressionistic and delicate works, be transported into the historic era and catch a glimpse of court life during China’s last dynasty.
