Zhou Fan is a rising star in the Chinese art scene - he is a relatively young, yet extremely creative Chinese contemporary painter. His vibrant use of colour, remarkable compositions and the intricate detail within his work are very impressive. He has recently participated in successful exhibitions in New York, Germany and Shanghai. At the Chinese Art Prize 2007, Zhou Fan was selected as one of the top 3 emerging Chinese contemporary artists (out of over 1300 entries into the art prize) by Gerard Goodrow, Director of Art Cologne, Jeff Kelley, Curator of the Asian Art Museum in California and other important judges.
The first thing that strikes people when they view Zhou Fan's work is that his paintings are very colourful and detailed. Zhou Fan spends many hours carefully painting the details and tiny lines which compose his subjects. Some people have remarked that the paintings have a "Japanese quality" to them, which could stem fromt he fact that Zhou Fan is in fact ¾ Chinese and ¼ Japanese. Zhou has explained that one of his priorities is to make his works attractive and that "visual effect" is one of the priorities of any artist, as well as having enjoying painting.
Zhou Fan has been very inspired by his childhood. While the artist has always had a strong fascination for jellyfish, Zhou's "Love of Jellyfish" series of paintings is based on dreams that he had as a young boy of many jellyfish floating in the sky. Within the dreams, some of the jellyfish fell to the ground on parachutes and became mushrooms. These dreams had a strong impact on the artist, and he remembers them vividly. Indeed, in some pieces, jellyfish are shown falling from the sky on parachutes and mushrooms are plentiful. The artist explains, "Somehow I feel that it is easier to focus on dreams than reality". According to psychologists, our daily fantasies and dreams are actually extensions and expansion of our reality.
Zhou Fan says that he has been influenced by paintings from the Qing Dynasty, when they combined all sorts of unrelated "flowers and birds" in order to create an atmosphere within the works. In his newest series of paintings, several of Zhou Fan's paintings are of women wearing hats composed of a wide variety of living things, which seem to be unrelated, such as ladybugs, plants, flowers, fish and jellyfish. At first glance, it seems to be surprising that these things have been placed together - it gives a very interesting effect, and it provides much food for thought. Yet after looking at the works and pondering them for a while, these things are painted together so harmoniously that they seem to fit together, like pieces in a fantasy puzzle. Zhou also paints patches of his creatures and plants somehow floating in the sky above, like clouds, with people looking up at them – much as we are looking at them, too. Whereas the clouds are below the Zhou’s floating animals, a reversal of reality, and the plain clouds serve to fill in part of the empty space and balance the images, positive and negative space within the canvas.
In Zhou Fan's newest series, often tentacles of the jellyfish are dangling down from the women's headwear, and in one painting the tentacles are reaching down, holding up an object in front of a woman, like a carrot held on a stick in front of a donkey. The various, twisted tentacles could be said to represent the complications of life and how twists and entanglements of even small things can tie people down. But also, they are simply the result of wearing a hat made of jellyfish.
Looking for Mountains and Rivers - Chen Jing Art Scene CLASSIC Oct 30 - Nov 12, 2008
Chen Jing paints or 'advertises' traditional Chinese landscapes within a modern scene. Within her pieces, modern, trendy clothed women hold handbags, which are decorated with traditional Chinese ink paintings of mountains and water. She paints the modern women very attractively, but in black and white so that the focus is squarely on the Chinese ink paintings. Chen Jing also places such traditional Chinese mountain and water ink paintings onto posters at bus-stops or as patterns for clothing, etc. Such juxtapositions of the modern with the traditional indicate that traditional art in China is being used by the contemporary Chinese society in a very commercial way. It’s a double edged sword because on the one hand it’s good to have such artwork being shown to the general public, but on the other hand being used commercially takes away the original purpose of the pieces, commercializes them and makes them somewhat superficial. Indeed, in modern society, many things are being used in commercial ways that disregard their original purpose. Chen Jing is clearly very aware of this and is commenting on it within her work. Should fine art be used commercially?
Jin Jian Art Scene WAREHOUSE Nov 2 - Nov 14, 2008
At Art Scene Warehouse, one can appreciate the interesting and experimental work of Jin Jian. The young artist was chosen out of more than 1000 applicants to participate with only 25 others in the internationally renowned “Chinese Art Prize”. He was also chosen to feature at Art Cologne (2008). Jin paints ordinary vehicles – trucks and tractors among them – to convey his feelings about contemporary China. In one piece, a cargo truck carries yet another load to somewhere unknown. His oil paintings are mysterious and extraordinary. The use of negative space juxtaposed with dripping paint (his signature mode) adds a certain ambiance which creates a lonely mood. There is much more than meets the eye to Jin’s work.
