Qiu Deshu. Ink Painting from 1980 to 2012 at Asian Art in London

Transcription

1 Press Release October 2012 Qiu Deshu Ink Painting from 1980 to 2012 at Asian Art in London Private View: 1 November General Public: 2-15 November Bloomfield Terrace, London, SW1W 8PG (ill.1) Qiu Deshu, Mountainscape (red), 2005, ink, acrylic and xuan paper on canvas, (200 x 360 cm) Asian Art in London, 1-15 November FLAT 3, 61 CADOGAN SQUARE LONDON SW1X 0HZ EAST 93RD STREET NEW YORK (BY APPOINTMENT ONLY) 1

2 This is the first retrospective exhibition of Qiu Deshu s work ever held in the West. Twenty- five works dating from 1980 to 2012 describe an arc of aesthetic development from his first brave avant- garde works in the early 1980 s to the confident more optimistic examples in the past few years. (ill.2) Qiu Deshu, Substance, Self-Counsciousness: Self Portrait, 1982 (66 x cm) Born in Shanghai in 1948, he is one of the few Chinese artists who have inspired international recognition since the 1980 s. He studied traditional ink painting and seal carving when he was a child, but his career in art was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution when he was sent to work at a plastics factory. When the turmoil ended, he picked up ink painting again and co- founded the Grass Painting Society (cao cao hua she), one of China s first experimental art societies in the post- Mao period. By the early 1980 s, he had developed his signature style called fissuring (leibian). The concept of fissuring, which literally means tearing and change in Chinese, is a pictorial metaphor for the artist s life and his artistic career, both of which experienced dramatic disruptions and setbacks, from his 2

3 childhood through the Cultural Revolution. In these works, he applies vivid colours to xuan paper, which he tears up and mounts the fragments to a base layer, often leaving space between to create a pictorial field with the cracks that he feels are symbolic of life s journey. (ill.3) Qiu Deshu, Buddhist, ink and acrylic on paper and canvas, (146 x 244 cm) He is one of the few Chinese contemporary artists who have consistently experimented with fresh styles and subject matters over the past 30 years, eschewing the temptation to recycle commercially popular themes. What has been constant is his determination to express his own personal vision. His defiance in the face of political retaliation was evident in his avant- garde experimental Grass Painting Society (1980) and subsequently in his indifference to aesthetic fashion, commercial value or popular appeal. 3

4 (ill.4) Qiu Deshu, Hope, 1988, ink and acrylic on xuan paper and canvas, (96.5 x 68.6 cm) His entrenched concept of life experience as harsh, unpredictable and distressing was fuelled by the tragic experiences he underwent during the Cultural Revolution. And he expressed this central vision in a variety of ways, from the dark and anthropological works of the early 1980 s (ill.2), the later spiritual works with Buddhist themes (ill.3), the experiments with colour (ill.4) and abstraction (ill.5) to the more recent examples inspired by the great landscape paintings of China s Song dynasty in the 12th century (ill.6). The only pictorial feature that he never abandoned is his fissuring - the poignant articulation of his life s journey and indeed his understanding of all our journeys. (ill.5) Qiu Deshu, Fissuring- Landscape No.8, , acrylic and xuan paper on canvas, (121 x 243 cm) 4

5 Although Qiu Deshu has, more than any of his peers, constructed a body of work that lies beyond the boundaries of contemporary cultural discourse, he is nevertheless one of the key figures in the evolution of Chinese ink art. He joins other ink artists in his deep study of classical paintings and culture with its objective of expressing the transformation of Chinese society with works that are meaningful precisely because they take account of the past in order to make sense of the present. (ill.6) Qiu Deshu, Fissuring: Red Rock and Snowy Mountain, 2011, acrylic and xuan paper on canvas, (182 x 182 cm) For further information please contact the gallery: T +44 (0) Cell: F +44 (0) East 93rd Street london@michaelgoedhuis.com New York United States 61 Cadogan Square (by appointment only) London SW1X 0H 5

6 Works by Qiu Deshu have been acquired by the following institutions (among others): Shanghai Art Museum, China University of Arizona Museum of Art, USA Asian Art Museum, South Korea Taichung Provincial Art Museum, Taiwan Linden Museum, Germany Shenzhen Museum, China Shanghai Library, China Tufts University, USA Town Hall of Hamburg, Germany Siemens, China Olenska Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland Princeton University Art Museum, USA Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA Massachusetts Smith College Museum Yale University Art Gallery Asian Art Museum, Korea Seoul Maili Art Museum, Korea Sullivan Showroom of Oxford University, UK Nusa Art Centre, Australia ICBC Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China 6