Asian Art in London is one of the major annual events in the global art and culture circles. It is also the largest annual Asian art event in Europe, with the longest history. This event takes place in the prime art districts of London, usually around October, and presents the most exquisite artworks to art enthusiasts worldwide. The invited art institutions and participating artists are among the cream of the crop from various Asian countries. Their artworks are diverse, forward-thinking, avant-garde, regionally distinct, and showcase a distinctive style with significant reputation.
Mo Hai Lou is honoured to be one of the few specially invited participants of this Asian Art in London event. This year, we are proud to introduce six renowned contemporary Asian artists, namely Fu YiYao, Tai XiangZhou, Grace Han, Vincent Fang, Ren TianJin, and Liang YungFei, to represent Mo Hai Lou in this grand event. Besides their remarkable artistic achievements, it is evident that these artists, with their profound Eastern cultural heritage, in the context of globalization and mutual influence, have used their unique open-minded thinking and accumulated artistic cultivation to create a new trend in contemporary Asian art, that is broader and more in line with the times.
Fu YiYao’s main painting themes are the temple mural, the Japanese festivity painting, the ‘poetic’ painting, snow/rain scene paintings born out of her father’s unique alum-sprinkling technique, and the emulation of her father’s paintings after inheriting his brushwork skills. The style of her works is grand, majestic and passionate; yet possesses subtlety, control and philosophical wisdom at the same time. Fu YiYao is an outstanding internationally acclaimed, ink-wash painting female artist of both sublimity and delicacy, with both unrestrained spirit and inward modesty. Her Japanese festival and poetic painting series bear rich regional artistic characteristics, as well as possessing significant historical and cultural value. Her works are widely exhibited and collected by art galleries and collectors around the world.
Taking a comprehensive view of these six artists, they each combine different creative mediums, visual elements, line textures, colour palettes, and aesthetic philosophies, and possess unique forms of artistic expression and spiritual content. For instance, Fu YiYao, who received the prestigious “Brilliance of China Award”, is the most beloved daughter of the late Grand Master artist Fu BaoShi. In 1979, in the wake of Chinese economic reform, she became the first student approved by then Chinese leader Deng Xiao-Ping to study in Japan on a government scholarship. She studied under Ikuo Hirayama Hideo Shioide and received guidance from Sanu Aoyama. She enjoys prestige amongst Japanese artists and around the world, and has held exhibitions in the United Nations. She is the only Chinese artist to have received Japan’s highest art award, the esteemed “Ringa Art Encouragement Prize” in Japan. Upon invitation, she has also given many televised lectures for the Japanese TV broadcaster NHK. NHK also produced a popular documentary of the entire painting process of the historical narrative painting “Buddhism to the East”, acclaimed as a bridge for Sino-Japanese artistic and cultural exchanges, and was frequently broadcast on NHK channels.
Dr. Tai XiangZhou’s ink art practice, on the other hand, integrates natural philosophy, historical perspective, and astronomical and physical research of ancient Chinese Taoist literature. He does this through his solid foundation of traditional Song and Yuan dynasty art techniques and his original ink art vocabulary. He interprets a series of magnificent, enigmatic, and highly mysterious works that are an interweaving of Eastern culture and observational science. Series such as “Cosmic Symphonies” and “Celestial Chaos” represent his unique approach. In this exhibition, he also presents his transition from macrocosmic concerns to the exploration of the microcosmic world in works such as ‘Taihu Stones,’ ‘Bronze Artifacts,’ and his recent rare Kunlun coloured ink paintings.
In 2015, as part of the celebration of its 140 anniversary, The Art Institute of Chicago purchased Tai’s “Celestial Tales 2014.1”, marking the first work the museum has ever bought from a living artist. The work can be found in the publication, “Paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the Collection”. In addition, his works are collected and displayed in over a dozen significant American museums, including the Freer Gallery of Art, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, as well as by prominent collectors around the world.
Then there is the fusion of art media, where the visual imagery on the painting medium extends beyond paper and canvas to appear in the form of leather. It distinguishes itself from the ordinary and the mundane nature of traditional craftsmanship, elevating visual art to an elegant and transcendent artistic realm. Through outstanding craftsmanship and quality, it reaches a wider audience in contemporary society, serving as one of the pathways in contemporary art expression. For instance, Grace, was inspired by her artist mother, Ms. Anita Wong, to create her line of unique leather bags. One of her black calf leather handbags, favoured by HRH Princess Kate Middleton of the United Kingdom, helped her fashion brand, Grace Han, gain global attention in the high-end fashion community.
Each series of works showcased in this exhibition are individually produced and one-of-a-kind leather bag creations, each possessing a unique aesthetic philosophy, stylistic techniques, and profound content. The ‘Wonderland’ series, for example, presents the flowing brushwork and harmonious beauty of colours on the leather medium. This collection is tailored to exude an elegant and timeless fashion statement with a strong sense of cultural heritage and human sentiment. Grace’s artistic creations have also been well-received and collected by Japanese political figures, European royal family members, celebrities, and art enthusiasts alike.
There’s also cross-disciplinary fusion where renowned Chinese lyricist and music award winner, Vincent Fang, ingeniously incorporates the mechanical and steam-punk aesthetics into the traditional Chinese bronze vessels that represent millennia-old ceremonial culture. Using his original and exquisite song lyrics as the inscriptions on these vessels, he creates a series of transcendent artworks that go beyond time and space, showcasing a perfect translation of creative innovation that extends beyond the realms of music and art. His intent is to create a distinct world view within his visual art, subverting traditional aesthetic concepts through the fusion of Eastern and Western imagery.
For example, “The Su-Mei Landscape” and “The Towering Noble in Grandeur”, infuse traditional literati landscape elements with innovative steampunk stylistic elements, transforming traditional landscape paintings into entirely new three-dimensional visual spaces, while preserving the richness and harmony of the spatial experience. It allows the viewer to feel as if they can reside and wander within these unique, towering, majestic, and masculine landscapes.
In addition to the obvious amalgamation of mediums, subjects, and vessels in artistic expression, there is also a combination of aesthetic philosophies. This involves the artist simplifying, transferring, and even deconstructing concepts, presenting a seamless and boundary-crossing artistic perspective while still maintaining a unique personal style.
For instance, Ren TianJin breaks free from traditional ink painting and develops his own unique style. His sculptures and oil paintings mirror his approach to ink art, embodying the essence of various aesthetic theories and practical creation methods. Each of his works exudes a natural and distinct personality. His artistic creation is open-ended, holding the pure beauty of returning to the basics of tradition while incorporating the simplicity and exuberance of Western modernism. He is unafraid to innovate, making his works highly narrative and visually engaging.
Liang YungFei, former director of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of History, seamlessly combines calligraphy and painting, resulting in works that are both calligraphy and painting. Pieces like ‘Sunlit Mountains No.2’ and ‘Cool Moon Realm No.2’ use flowing calligraphy strokes to depict the texture of mountains and dense forests. This brings out the beauty of flowing characters in the artwork, along with the metaphors conveyed by his abstract symbols, opening up a vast space for viewers to let their imagination roam freely. The calligraphic lines in his paintings often use techniques such as layering, simplification, complexity, deconstruction, as well as variations in weight, speed, saturation, and dryness, creating a harmonious blend of musicality, rhythm, and emotion within the realm of calligraphy and painting.
The achievements of influential artists, like the timeline of history, have been advancing alongside time. They continuously build upon the depth and quality of art and culture, perpetually engaged in dynamic, exploratory, and experimental endeavours. I also hope that the artists participating in this event will use their individual visual languages to not only describe a part of the evolution of Asian modern and contemporary art but also transform and evolve existing artistic methods and forms. By harnessing their unique creative philosophies and aesthetic expertise and blending the spirit of both Eastern and Western aesthetics, they can achieve a state of ‘self-existence.’ Together with Mo Hai Lou, they are writing an indispensable chapter in art history.
