Past Solo Exhibition
Hong Zhu An: Ascetic Serenity 25.08.2012 — 22.09.2012
Information
Event has ended
25 August - 22 September 2012
About The Exhibition
In his continuing efforts to seek a greater harmony and the attainment of universal ideals, Singaporean artist Hong Zhu An has produced a new series of works in collaboration with STPI, bringing into view a landscape harkening of Zen and serenity. During his three-week residency, Hong explored papermaking from its most basic components, creating over 40 artworks that capture transient states and feelings, transcending language and cultural barriers.
In an age of globalisation, Hong’s works convey a modern sensibility anchored in the rich history of his Chinese roots. He combines spontaneous actions with an air of discipline – alternating sketching and pondering before grabbing handfuls of wet pulp and applying them with swift vigorous strokes. These masterful strokes, like those manifested in Dragon I and II, are a translation of energy rather than figurative or verbal idioms. Just as they exude a quintessential Chinese ethos integral to his heritage, the artist rejects not the influences of the 21st century, but rather reconciles the two into a visual language that has become his own.
Works like Memory and Tranquility further reveal the heightened sensitivity of the artist. Resilient and poignant, these portray a delicate line running horizontal or vertical across a dense field of colour. The colour field communicates emotion and states of mind through its character and permeability, and while the horizontal line conveys a sense of calm or repose, the vertical line communicates a feeling of loftiness and spirituality, extending upwards beyond human reach, as if heaven-bound. Like Man’s solitary journey to find his own place in the universe, their singularity and minuteness brings into awareness the vastness of space that enshrouds them.
“Throughout his entire residency, Hong was so involved in the process that his energy – both creative and spiritual – becomes crystallised in the work itself,” describes Emi Eu, Director of STPI. Having ever traversed continents, it can be said that the artist draws this energy from cultural ebbs and flows that permeate geographical and ideological borders of East and West. Combined with a vision that remains distinctly Chinese, these works embody a vacation from the material world, to a destination where time slows and stops, in a spiritual resonance that follows the union of one’s inner being and the greater cosmos.
About the artist
Hong Zhu An
Residencies in 2012, 2022
Hong Zhu An (b. 1955, Shanghai, China, based in Singapore) creates paintings that merge Chinese ink traditions with modernist approaches to colour and composition. Central to his practice is wuji, the Chinese concept of an infinite void, or a singular point in space. This guides his use of abstraction, which draws viewers into a meditative state of mind.
Following his early training in Chinese painting and calligraphy, Hong’s desire to advance these disciplines in new directions led to his further studies in Western oil painting techniques. Working with rice paper, his subtle use of linear elements and calligraphic components creates a visual rhythm that guides the viewer’s gaze across floating planes and washes of colour. This is demonstrated in paintings like Odyssey (2004), which also features the artist’s skillful application of grey tones—a nuanced palette that is historically challenging to master.
Hong obtained his BFA from the Shanghai School of Fine and Applied Art in 1976 and received further training at the Sichuan Art Academy, Chongqing (1982–1983). He then obtained his MFA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1997 and his PhD in Fine Art from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2001. His work is held in numerous collections including the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Princeton University Art Museum; and the Singapore Art Museum.
Notable solo exhibitions include Confluences (2019), Asia Art Center, Taipei; Fluid Transitions (2003), The Esplanade, Singapore; Ancient Hues (2002), Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs; and Hong Zhu An (1987), National Art Museum, Shanghai. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including 5th Shenzhen International Ink Painting Biennale (2006); and 2nd Beijing International Art Biennale (2005).
Hong has had two residencies at the STPI Workshop in 2012 and 2022, with the former resulting in the exhibition Ascetic Serenity (2012) and the latter in Departures | New Releases: Yanyun Chen, Hong Zhu An, Prabhavathi Meppayil (2024).
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