Lu Jun & Tan Jian Chung: The Ink ‧ Voyageurs

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Galerie Koo is delighted to announce its exciting exhibition “The Ink ‧ Voyageurs” by Chinese artist Lu Jun and Taiwanese – French artist Tan Jian Chung. The exhibition is an associated project with French May Arts Festival 2022.

Ink is a unique medium for Chinese painting and has been studied by literati and artists throughout the ages for its subtle use on paper. In contemporary times, many artists have sought new ways out of ink and wash art.

Lu Jun and Tan Jian Chung both are obsessed with exploring the innovation of Chinese ink and wash. They combine traditional concepts and techniques, incorporate Western abstract painting concepts, breakthrough the traditional forms and compositions, and allow the contrast of the coloured inks and gradations to produce different visual imageries. In search of life and forms of nature in this kaleidoscopic world, both artists present their own views on France and nature with ink.

Lu Jun’s photographs draw on the three basic elements of Chinese ink painting (water, ink and paper) and combine them with modern photographic techniques to create a new kind of ink photography that is dynamic and poetic in form and colour. Under the artist’s manipulation, the essence of traditional ink and wash is brought to life in the photographs, blending in with the dreamy clouds of colour, reinterpreting and sublimating one of the most iconic forms of traditional Chinese art.

Tan Jian Chung’s main focus is on painting, combining theories and forms of Eastern and Western art. In different series of works, the main theme is natural landscape: mountains, sea, rivers, clouds and mist… etc. The painting is a combination of traditional and modern styles, such as the colours of the Dunhuang cave paintings and the chromatic theory. The combination of figurative and abstract forms of expression indicates the realm sought by the ancients.

“We are delighted to showcase Lu Jun’s and Tan Jian Chung’s artworks to art and culture enthusiasts in Hong Kong,” says Cecilia Koo, gallerist of Galerie Koo. “The artworks and exhibition are designed to show how the artists embrace, change and combine; accepting and blending Eastern, Western, traditional and contemporary cultures… breaking down the symbols of appearances, deconstructing traditional patterns and contemporary fashions, and thus creating artworks with life and soul.”

Galerie Koo continues to promote contemporary art with beauty and colours to art lovers of all levels domestically and internationally. The exhibition continues to make a contribution to promote Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Lu Jun
Graduated from Wuhan Institute of Technology (now Wuhan Polytechnic University) in 1983, he started to engage in experimental and conceptual photographic creation in 1994 and combined ink painting with photography and computer technology to create the series "Chinese Real Estate Dreams" in 2005. In 2009, Lu was honoured in London as one of the World’s top 100 artists—Creative Genius: 100 Contemporary Artists. In 2015, he won the Silver Award for Digital Art at the 10th Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art.

Tan Jian Chung
Born in 1976 in Tainan, Taiwan. During his four years at university, he worked mainly with ink and wash and participated in exhibitions throughout Taiwan, winning numerous awards from 1995 to 2001. In 2001, he went to study French in France. From 2002 to 2003, he studied art history at the Second University of South Western France. In 2003, he entered the Department of Plastic Arts at the Strasbourg Higher School of Decorative Arts, and in 2005, he obtained the National Diploma in Plastic Arts (DNAP) and in 2007, he obtained the Higher Diploma in Plastic Expression (DNSEP). In 2009 he continued his PhD in Fine Arts at the University of Lorraine, where his thesis research focused on curatorial, modern and contemporary art historical theories, on interdisciplinary curatorial and cultural geographic trends in the context of exhibitions at the Centre d'art et de culture de Pompidou in Paris, France. After completing his PhD thesis in 2016, he has been actively involved in exhibitions across Europe.