ZHUANG HONG YI
Flower Splashes

Galerie Martina Kaiser is once again looking forward to Zhuang Hong-Yi, whose exhibition "Flower Splashes" builds a bridge from Chinese tradition to Western vision; and in doing so, brings the genre of the spill painting into focus.
 
Citing Fluxus art and Viennese Actionism, Zhuang Hong-Yi's new works focus on an essential element of these movements and declare the pouring of paint to be the significant feature of his famous Flower Fields. Here, the orderly principle of the flowers applied to canvas, previously folded from rice paper, is broken by the act of pouring paint, which can only be controlled to a limited extent and is thus free of instructions; this culminates in hitherto unseen textures that appear both lucid and diffuse.
 
Meditation meets action, control meets arbitrariness, order meets chaos, tradition meets revolution - with which the Chinese artist deliberately juggles antipodes, but does not play them off against each other, but balances them equally and brings them together in a coherent overall composition. The possible complaisance of the floral texture is eliminated by the spilling of paint; at the same time, the spilled paint enhances the sensual aura of the Flower Fields. And increases both their radiance and their three-dimensional impression. 
The exhibition "Flower Splashes" shows works in elliptical form for the first time, proving once again that Zhuang's principle of colour change induced by movement works in any format.
 
Where pourings represent an escalation of drip paintings, which originated with Max Ernst and then reached their climax with the abstract expressionists around Jackson Pollock, Zhuang Hong-Yi transfers them into naturally abstract, albeit impressionistic-looking pictorial worlds. He thus uses elements of Action Painting and Fluxus to create a contemporary form of Impressionism. Free of narration, figurativeness and any stylistic affiliation, the works of the Swiss-by-choice artist stand on their own - and beguile the viewer solely through their materiality and their sublime colourfulness. (Yorca Schmidt-Junker)
 
As of today, he splits his time between his studio in China and his residence in Switzerland. He studied at the Sichuan College of Fine Arts in China and followed up with studies at the Minerva Academy in Groningen/Netherlands. In addition to numerous exhibitions around the world, he looks back on museum exhibitions at the Found Museum/Beijing, the Groninger Museum (NL), the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Petersburg and the Museum Ulm. He has been represented at Art Basel Miami and Expo Chicago. 
His works can be found in public and private collections worldwide, including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and Australia. 
He lives in Switzerland with his wife Lu Luo, who is also an artist.

 

 

Zhuang Hong Yi – In Bloom – May 2022

On the occasion of his 60. birthday the Martina Kaiser Gallery will dedicate a special solo show to Zhuang Hong Yi. With “In Bloom” the Chinese artist who is renowned for his iconic flower fields works refers to the ancient discipline of flower painting in his homeland. And focuses on the deeply symbolic cherry blossom.

Like a relief it stands out of a sea of colors and flowers, carefully revealing itself with the beholder’s movement and his change of perspective: The cherry blossom, regarded as a symbol for courage and steadfastness, marks the centre of Zhuang Hing Yi’s new works. In doing so he weaves the twigs, branches and blossoms into the three-dimensional structure of his flower fields, multiplying the color changing effect and intensifying the moment of sudden insight.  
It’s a double-dealing with kinetics, metamorphosis and development where the color harmonies of the flower fields dramatically change while at the same time creating the illusion of a blooming cherry tree.  

The tree, which was cultivated 2500 ago in the Chinese mountains of the Himalaya, was iconized in the Far Eastern culture for centuries. Blooming by the end of winter defying the adversities of nature the cherry blossom advanced to a symbol for courage and steadfastness. Both poets and artists praised its’ beauty while the symbolic context could be interpreted as an appeal to mankind to stay brave and virtuous.  
During the Song dynasty (960 – 1279 A.D.) the landscapes representation experienced its’ climax and on top paintings of flowers and animals became part of the canon as independent genres. Cuī Bái (ca. 1050-1080) is still renowned as one of the great masters of this discipline while during later Qing dynasty Yun Shouping (1633-1690) set new standards in the representation of plants and flowers. Zhuang Hong Yi pays tribute to both of them transposing their style into the 21. century in his own specific way. As a result he uses the traditional materials of his homeland choosing rice paper, ink and silk while on the same hand he implements the art of paper folding which also arose during Song dynasty.
In his color language he cites artists of the European modern age; both impressionists like Monet and Cézanne and expressionists like Kirchner, Marc and Nolde inspire him on his way to dramatic color effects.  

“In Bloom” is an ode to the beauty of nature as well as to the relevance of Eastern and Western art with all its’ history and tradition. And in challenging times like those we experience right now this ode could also be meant as an act of encouragement and empowerment, once more symbolized by the iconic cherry blossom. (Yorca Schmidt-Junker)

Zhuang Hong Hi works in Ticino/CH and Beijing. He studied at Sichuan College of Fine Arts in China and at the Minerva Akademie in Groningen/Netherlands. Showcasing his art worldwide he also had exhibitions at Found Museum/Peking, at Groninger Museum (NL), at Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Petersburg and at Museum Ulm. The Power Long Museum, Shanghai will follow with a grand solo show by the end of this year.  
His works are part of public and private collections all over the world, e.g. in the US, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and Australia.  
Being married to Chinese artist Lu Luo he currently lives in Switzerland.

 

 

Zhuang Hong Yi

Zhuang Hong Yi, geb. 1962, in Sichuan,China, studierte sowohl in seiner Heimat als auch in Europa. Erstmalig stellte er seine Werke 1993 in den Niederlanden aus. Danach war er mit zahlreichen Ausstellungen in Asien und Europa erfolgreich. Das Groninger Museum zeigte seine Werke bereits 2001 und 2008. Das Stadtmuseum Zoetermeer widmete Zhuang Hong Yi 2010 eine Einzelausstellung, weitere Einzelausstellungen folgten 2013 im Found Museum in Beijing und zur Biennale in Venedig.

Zhuang Hong Yi ist ein Reisender zwischen den Welten, er bewegt sich zwischen seiner asiatischen Kultur und den Einflüssen seiner Europäischen Wahlheimat. Traditionell arbeitet er mit Reispapier und Tusche und so verschmelzen hier fernöstliche und westliche Elemente zu ganz neuen poetischen Bildern. So entstehen bei Zhuang Hong Yi Landschaften in leuchtenden Farben, die aus unzähligen Papierblüten förmlich aus der Leinwand zu wachsen scheinen oder monochrome Arbeiten mit organischen Mustern.  

Die tief greifenden gesellschaftlichen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Veränderungen in seinem Heimatland regten ihn im Jahre 2007 dazu an, neben seinem Atelier in Den Haag, ein zweites in Beijing zu betreiben. Nachdrücklicher als bei den in den Niederlanden entstanden Werken spiegeln sich hier in der Verwendung von Farben, Themen und Materialien die Einflüsse seiner Heimat wider.


Bismarckstrasse 50
50672 Köln
Tue. - Fr. 1 am - 6 pm
Sa. 12 am - 4 pm
And by appointment

 

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