Chung Taifu: Flowering Rocks – Mineral-Pigment Painting

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Artists have been using pigments extracted from elements and ores as early as the prehistoric times, with the earliest mineral-pigment paintings being the Mogao Grottoes murals. Extracting the crème de la crop of these crystalline beauties, a|n Gallery brings to the city “Flowering Rocks – Chung Taifu’s Solo Exhibition: Mineral-Pigment Paintings”, which will showcase over 10 mineral pigment artworks. The exhibition will run from June 8 till July 8.

Mineral-pigment paintings are heralded “breathing art”. Their unique texture, luster, and water-insoluble properties mirror the primitive nature of minerals and their close connection with nature. Today, some mineral pigments may no longer exist as a number of ores have become rare gems. Such scarcity saturates mineral-pigment paintings with a precious aura – they feel almost like a quiet dialogue with different eras of civilisation.

Drawing from materials used to paint ancient murals, contemporary artistic techniques and his own expertise in print-making, artist Chung Taifu creates “Modern Dunhuang Art”. He masterfully combines the modest rawness of ancient Chinese murals, the delicate intricacy of Western paintings and the splendour of Japanese Ukiyo-e; creating paintings that transcend both time and spatial limits.

This exhibition showcases Chung Taifu’s latest mineral-pigment masterpieces, including the Salute to Van Gogh, Imprint and Nature’s Aquatic Dance series. Mineral pigments are hard and insoluble in nature. It is not possible to blend the colours. Artists can only use repeated stacking brushstrokes to pile the differently coloured mineral particles on top of on another, so as to create interweaved layers of rich hues. Surprisingly, Chung Taifu opts to challenge the innate “hardness” of mineral pigments, choosing to use these pigments to paint soft trailing flowers, floating leaves, light ripples and the suppleness of the human body. Contrasted with the vibrant tones of mineral pigments, his selection of painting subjects emanate an unexpected sense of warmth.

The Salute to Van Gogh series showcases Chung Taifu’s transformation and breakthrough in his artistic pursuits and style. Van Gogh’s early works adopted darker, restrained tones. Under the influence of Impressionism in his later days, Van Gogh gradually began using bolder, brighter tones and rougher brushstrokes which emanated a sense of unconstrained energy and freedom. Chung Taifu, who specialized in printmaking in Japan, usually creates pieces with subtly concealed emotions. To express his respect and gratitude towards Van Gogh, Chung Taifu uses a passionate painting style to present the beauty of sunflowers in full bloom. Coupled with the grainy texture of mineral pigments, Chung Taifu’s bold selection of colours and adoption of splashed-ink techniques aptly highlight the vigour of sunflowers.

With meticulous lines reminiscent of Chinese fine brush paintings, the Imprint series is a visual feast showcasing Chung Taifu’s mastery in delimiting precise details. Traces of Van Gogh can be found in the Imprint series – a little-known fact is that Van Gogh incorporated traditional Ukiyo-e elements into his portraits, as he was a big fan of Japanese art. Akin to Ukiyo-e, Van Gogh used flat coating techniques to paint large colour segments, so as to create silhouettes with clear-cut edges between light and shadow. He also adopted pigment-stacking methods to create sharp anatomical features and textured skin. Similarly, Chung Taifu creatively makes use of the stackable nature of mineral pigments to highlight distinct colour layers and to create depth. He skilfully highlights an angled, sharp silhouette using contrasting colours, all whilst preserving the fluidity of body lines. Chung Taifu adds dashes of personal flair into his artworks by adding the occasional gold leaf to highlight areas where light falls onto the body, giving the paintings a fantastical aura with its shimmering gleam.

Chung Tai Fu’s Nature’s Aquatic Dance series is also laced with Ukiyo-e elements and Van Gogh motifs. Traditional Japanese paintings have three key themes – in addition to portraits, landscape art and paintings of flowers and birds are commonly found. Chung Taifu’s thematic painting of the movement of water, living creatures, plants and lotus ponds are all the common subjects of Ukiyo-e paintings. With soft delicate brushstrokes, Chung Taifu exemplifies even the smallest ripple in the clear waters. With an exquisite selection of the traditional colours of Japan, his paintings brim with a sweet, romantic atmosphere reminiscent of midsummer nights and fairy tales. As a homage to Van Gogh, Chung Taifu specially chose to paint tulips as the subject of ‘April Lover”. Not only are tulips the national flower of the Netherlands, the homeland of Van Gogh; tulip fields are also the central subject of Van Gogh’s early masterpiece, “Flower Beds”. It is evident that Chung Taifu put a lot of thought into the selection of subjects for his paintings.

“Flowering Rocks – Chung Taifu’s Solo Exhibition: Mineral-Pigment Paintings” offers an insight into multiple parallel trajectories running through ancient and modern times, and criss-crosses between Chinese and foreign cultures. This exhibition is where nature and art comes together as one, with mineral-pigment paintings passing on the legend of Van Gogh.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Chung Taifu graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Fine Arts Department BA Degree, and was awarded a MFA degree from the Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music in 1990. He is the recipient of multiple international arts awards, such as the Printmaking Award of the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial 1985 and 89; the Honorable Mention Award of the 6th Seoul International Print Biennial; and the Silver Award of The Tokyo International Print Exhibition 1993. His works are widely collected by art museums and private collectors, and he has held solo exhibitions across the globe.