To celebrate the French May in Hong Kong, Opera Gallery is showcasing the latest paintings of French-Chinese artist Feng Xiao-Min in Brush of Light from 3 May to 1 June. In a somewhat chaotic world, the artist is wishing to express “purity and serenity” through his artworks.

We had the chance to discuss with Feng during his visit in Hong Kong, and the artist shared with us his artistic journey from Shanghai to Paris, his inspirations and constant creative evolution.

Feng Xiao-Min

Born in 1959 in Shanghai in a family of intellectuals, Feng’s passion for art started at a very young age, especially thanks to his father. When he was 6 years old, he started to study Chinese calligraphy, later followed by classical painting on Chinese paper. He received his first art price at 11 and organised his first exhibition in Shanghai at 17.

“Painting on Chinese paper requires different skills than painting on canvas. You need to adapt your techniques to the fragility of paper which also absorbs ink and paint,” Feng explains.

After studying at the Academy of Fine Art in Shanghai and at the Fine Art School in China, Feng decided to move to France (without speaking a word in French!) and enrolled as a student at the Beaux-Arts where he developed his skills in painting techniques. Lost in translation at his arrival in Paris, Feng recalls with a laugh that his luggage got stolen at Gare Montparnasse while he was trying to buy a train ticket!

Feng Xiao-Min in his studio in France

Almost a decade after moving to Paris, Feng was invited to teach (in French!) at the Beaux-Arts, from 1997 to 2000. Realising that he wanted to focus on his own creations, he decided to give up teaching to dedicate his life and time to painting.

Feng quickly understood that calligraphy and painting on Chinese paper were not popular in France and Europe, and that he would have to evolve from Chinese calligraphy to painting. “For my first solo exhibition in Nantes, I didn’t sell any of my 28 paintings ! But this nightmare drove me to a more interesting adventure,” he recalls.

Meeting the “ancients” Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun was fundamental in Feng’s artistic journey. The two masters in integrating traditional Chinese painting techniques into Western abstractionism helped Feng to give up calligraphy and focus on painting on canvas.

Feng Xiao-Min and Zao Wou-Ki

To evolve from Chinese paper to canvas, Feng first used the technique of “marouflage”, painting on paper then sticking the paper on canvas. After ten years of this method, he started to paint directly on canvas, still using water painting and acrylic.

Aware of the importance of education and transmission, Feng published numerous books on paintings and calligraphy. And, sign of his success, some of his paintings have been integrated into French school manuals.

Feng’s latest artworks, characterised by their profound interplay of form, light and colour, are now showcased in the exhibition Brush of Light at Opera Gallery Hong Kong. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition in Hong Kong after a show in 2019 at the gallery, which represents him worldwide.

Feng Xiao-Min, Composition N° 18.4.23, 2023

His canvases evoke ocean vistas, starless nights, hopeful dawns and dramatic dusks, drawing the viewer in with subtle washes of paint. Manipulating acrylic paint as a calligrapher manipulates ink, he precisely controls the flow of paint and water, only allowing some “happy accidents” when paint is naturally dripping and perfectly blending into his artwork.

The paintings showcased here can be perceived as an antidote to the claustrophobic modern life. “In a somewhat chaotic world today, I would like to bring and express through my works, and this exhibition in particular, a kind of balance, purity and serenity,” Feng explains. Warmth, softness, depth, wonder and tranquillity are the key words of his works.

Feng Xiao-Min, Composition N° 18.1.23, 2023

Feng invites his viewers to open their eyes and to contemplate with renewed wonder. To enable imagination and perception, Feng no longer gives titles to his paintings, believing that naming his works would trap the viewers’ minds and block their imagination.

At the end of our discussion, Feng shared how he was marked by the Covid pandemic and decided to bear witness to this suspended time by painting his autoportrait with his growing beard, away from his usual abstract style. And he kindly agreed to share it here for the first time!

Feng Xiao-Min, Autoportrait, 2020

Brush of Light at Opera Gallery Hong Kong – 3 May to 1 June 2024 – More details here.