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Qiu Shihua: Dawn Light

Exhibition details

Opening / Event Date:
31 August, 2018
Time:
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Closing / End Date:
6 October, 2018
Event Category:
Website:
http://www.hanart.com

Imagine the mind tuned down to a dormant state, degree zero; then the world would look so clear, so vivid. It would be like having taste buds so sensitive that even a glass of water would taste sharp. Start from the beginning, annihilate the worldly self: then the original self will become truly sensitive.

When I paint I do not think of structure or theme; what I seek is a certain ‘flavour’ – a rhythm of spirit and energy, so that the soul drifts in the painting, like a shadow of the mind. Everything is flat and calm.

—— Qiu Shihua

 

Hanart TZ Gallery is honoured to present celebrated painter Qiu Shihua’s latest solo exhibition, Dawn Light. The opening reception will take place on Friday, 31 August 2018, from 6-8pm, at Hanart TZ Gallery.

One enters Qiu Shihua’s paintings as if slipping into the morning mist. Whiteness dominates, shifting in a variety of shades. By pushing the contrast of form and colour to an absolute minimum, even to the point where it can hardly be differentiated, Qiu has changed the act of viewing from an active solicitation to an alert envisioning. Yet, because his faintly painted landscapes cannot be discerned at a glance, it is necessary first to relax the mind before the image in the painting slowly floats into view: in this way a meditative state becomes the prerequisite condition for viewing the work. Gradually the eyes make out the view: the vague fold of trees, and fainter woods afar. Eventually one seems to see, or sense, every detail, down to the play of light on the tufts of grassy fodder. In many of Qiu’s paintings the qualities of breath-rhythm (qiyun) and inner vitality (lingdong) are palpable. They give the impression of entering the world at a moment of fullness when its mysteries are about to be revealed: light at daybreak, first darkness at dusk, or the moment when sound breaks the fullness of silence.

—— Chang Tsong-zung

 

Artist’s Biography

Born in Sichuan Province in 1940, Qiu Shihua graduated from the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts in 1962, where he trained in both oil painting and Chinese traditional ink painting. His intriguing minimalist landscapes are strongly influenced by the deserts and open pastures of northwest China, where he lived for over 20 years. Qiu currently lives and works in Beijing and Shenzhen.

Qiu’s distinctive style has won him wide acclaim and he has exhibited in major solo and group exhibitions in China and internationally. Major group exhibitions include the groundbreaking China’s New Art, Post-1989 (1993-1997), which debuted in Hong Kong and toured internationally to Australia, Canada and the United States; China! at Kunstmuseum Bonn in Bonn, Germany (1996); the 23rd International Biennial of São Paulo (1996), where he participated in the main exhibition event by special invitation and was awarded a major art prize; and the 48th Venice Biennale (1999).

Important solo exhibitions include Qiu Shihua, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (1999); Landscape–Painting on the Edge of Visibility, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic (2000); White Field, a major retrospective at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany (2012); and Landscape, Light and Silence, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany (2012).

Recent exhibitions in Hong Kong include the major group shows M+ Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art, ArtisTree (2016); and Rehearsal, the debut exhibition celebrating the opening of Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts (March 2018).

Venue

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