Preview | DETACHED FROM COLOUR: Zhu Jinshi

Dates｜?17 November, 2016 – 11 January, 2017?? ???

Vernissage｜17 November, 6-8pm

Hours｜Monday–Saturday, 10am–7pm

Venue?|?6/F, Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong

Reality Through Material, Oil on canvas, Triptych, 180 x 160 cm x 3, 2015

Pearl Lam Galleries is delighted to present Detached from Colour, a solo exhibition by Beijing-based artist Zhu Jinshi, at its Pedder Building space. The exhibition, which comes three years after Zhu’s previous solo show at the Hong Kong gallery, will include black and white abstract works from the 80s and 90s which have never been exhibited before and that were carefully selected after long discussions between the artist and Pearl Lam. It will also highlight 16 all-black, all-white, and black-and-white abstract works created by Zhu Jinshi around the year 2015. Pearl Lam believes the link between painting and installation is interpreted with a unique style in Zhu Jinshi's artwork. Unlike Anselm Kiefer, Zhu does not use the themes of painting and installation to work together with each other, nor does he use paintings to back up his installations such as in the work of Richard Serra; instead, he uses painting and installation as totally opposite forms to challenge one another. However, the continued appearance of black and white forms throughout the artist's career subtly defends the inextricable link between painting and installation, and, in a quiet way, reveals artworks that possess an extraordinary Eastern character.

Winter Solstice, Oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm, 2015

Winter SolsticeII, Oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm, 2015

The title of the exhibition emerged from the crux of Zhu’s dialogue with Josef Ng, the Galleries’ Managing Director – Asia, in which they discussed how Zhu is re-exploring the concept of painting’s visual form, using piles of black and white paint to fuse together contemporary abstract painting and non-Western modes of experience. The concept of “detached from colour” is not about removing the visual experience of colour; rather, it is about taking traditional aesthetics and transforming them into a contemporary concept. In regard to how a painting’s colour is defined, Eastern aesthetic theory is distinct from the West. The use of black and white is not only at the heart of traditional Eastern painting, but it is also a style of contemporary Chinese painting. Chinese ancient philosophy encourages returning to one’s true natural state. As concluded by aesthetician Zong Baihua, “When wonder and brilliance reach the very end, they become ordinary.” Detaching from colour can be understood as the artist pursuing in a spiritual state the idea of “non-abidance”. In view of this, Zhu Jinshi’s black and white paintings are not only conceptual abstract paintings, but are also an effort to fuse Eastern aesthetics into contemporary abstract art. It is within these overlapping contexts that Zhu’s colourless paintings provide the viewer with both a visual sensory experience and a non-visual meditative space.

The Sage Leaves Himself Out, but Lives On, Oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm, 2016

In Black Tile Temple, the artist pushes continuous, overlapping blocks of black paint from the bottom of the canvas to form three vertical lines that run parallel to the side edges of the painting. Each block of paint stands alone and only touches the other block at its edge. These rows are similar to the arrangement of roof tiles on courtyard houses in Beijing. Coincidentally, Zhu’s early years in Beijing were also spent in a courtyard house community that neighboured the secluded Guanghua Temple. The bell of this temple would frequently resound over the courtyard roofs; thus, the memory of this distant sky is preserved in the diagonal structure of Guanghua Temple.

Birds Flying Back to the Mountains, Oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm, 2015

Black Tile Temple, Oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm,? 2015

“Detached from colour” means not to abide in any one place and is situated between traditional aesthetics and contemporary concept. Colour becomes ordinary and na?ve, images melt into abstraction, blocks of paint and empty spaces shift and change, and concepts move between the senses and experience.

Born in Beijing, China in 1954, Zhu Jinshi is a pioneer of Chinese abstract art and installation art. Zhu began painting abstract works in the late 1970s and moved to Berlin in 1986, splitting his time between Berlin and Beijing since 1994 before settling in Beijing in 2010. The core of Zhu’s artistic practice is most fittingly characterised by traditional Chinese aesthetics, which emphasises the harmony between human beings and the natural world.

Zhu Jinshi’s artworks place emphasis on fluidity, where various creative processes interweave with different styles. His striking installation artworks are simple and unaffected, the materials he chooses are mostly from daily life and working environments: linen, rice paper, wood, iron plates, soy sauce, tea pots, bamboo, bicycles, light bulbs, paints, etc. However, he never imposes the concept of the readymade on these objects, rather through linking these artworks to a specific time and space bestows on them a spontaneous and original beauty.

After 30 years of unwavering efforts, Zhu Jinshi’s abstract art has taken the form of his unique style of “Thick Painting”. These images break the constraints of the flat canvas and undermine the traditional visual experience through the use of three dimensions. His painting style is highly distinctive, using a visual language of accumulation, layering, stirring, overturning, moulding to create stunning visual effects. His abstract paintings have absorbed traditions from both western and eastern culture, breathing a contemporary spirit into his paintings.

Zhu’s recent solo exhibitions include Zhu Jinshi (2016), Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China; Zhu Jinshi (2016), Blum & Poe, New York, New York, USA; Performance in Paint: Zhu Jinshi (2015–16), Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China; Zhu Jinshi: Boat, a Yi Pai installation (2015), organised by Pearl Lam Galleries and Hong kong Land at Exchange Square, Hong Kong, China; Zhu Jinshi: Simplicity (2014), Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore; Zhu Jinshi: The Reality of Paint (2013), Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong; and Zhu Jinshi (2012), Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, USA. Group shows include Black (2016), Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, California, USA; Perfection by Chance—A Yi Pai Series Exhibition (2015), Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong, China; Thick Paint: Jean Fautrier, Franz West, Zhu Jinshi (2014), Luxembourg & Dayan Gallery, New York, USA; 28 Chinese (2013–14), The Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA; Power and Territory (2008), Arario Gallery, Beijing, China; Orient/Ation, 4th International Istanbul Biennial in Turkey (1995), Istanbul, Turkey; Fang (1990), DAAD gallery, Berlin, Germany; and the 1st Xing Xing (Stars Group) Exhibition (1979), Gallery in Beihai Park, Beijing, China.

His works have been collected internationally by notable public and private collections, including the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, USA; Brooklyn Museum, USA; Busan Museum of Art, Korea; Delphine Arnault, France; Deutsche Bank, Germany; Mario Testino, UK; The Rubell Family Collection, USA; Guangdong Museum of Art, China; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; and White Rabbit Collection, Australia.

Origins of Emptiness, 1976, Oil on cardboard, 41.8 x 27 cm

White, 1983, Oil on canvas, 58 x 44 cm

Untitled, 1983, Oil on canvas, 167 x 87 cm

Black 85, 1985, Oil on canvas, Triptych: 110 x 90 cm x 3, Overall: 110 x 270 cm

Stone 86–2, 1986, Oil on canvas, 180 x 75 cm

Exhibition of Scribbles, 1985, Oil on canvas, 242 x 180 cm

Black and White 2, 1990, Oil on canvas, 65 x 65 cm

Whirlwind, 1990, Oil on canvas, 70 x 70 cm

Black and White 1, 1990, Oil on canvas, Diptych: 70 x 70 cm x 2, Overall: 70 x 140 cm

Jinshi 3, 1990, Oil on canvas, Triptych: 65 x 65 cm x 3, Overall: 65 x 195 cm

Jinshi 4, 1990, Oil on canvas, Triptych: 65 x 65 cm x 3, Overall: 65 x 195 cm

A Pile of Rice Paper, 1994, Rice paper, Dimensions variable. Gan Jiakou, Beijing, China.

Wuchang, 1996, Rice paper, Song dynasty bowl, water, white gourd, Dimensions variable. Capital Normal University Museum, Beijing, China.

The Tao of Rice Paper, 1997, Rice paper, 1800 x dia. 300 cm,
Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada

Soaking, 2007, Rice paper, ink, stainless steel box, 170 x 100 x 80 cm
Installation view, Mind Space: Maximalism in Contrasts, 2010, Contrasts Gallery (now Pearl Lam Galleries), Shanghai, China

Form of the Matter 1, 2012, Oil on canvas, 160 x 140 cm

Form of the Matter 2, 2012, Oil on canvas, 160 x 140 cm

Boat, 2012, Xuan paper, bamboo, cotton thread, 15 x 3.5 x 6m

Swimming 400 Meters, 2014, Oil on canvas, Triptych: 180 x 160 cm x 3 (70 7/8 x 63 in. x 3), Overall: 180 x 480 cm

Front: Work, 2010, Ink, xuan paper, Dimensions variable Back: Master of Walking, 2013, Oil on canvas, Triptych: 180 x 160 cm x 3, Overall: 180 x 480 cm
Installation view, Zhu Jinshi: Simplicity, 2015, Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore

Door to the Form of the Matter, 2012, Oil on canvas, Triptych: 160 x 140 cm x 3, Overall: 160 x 420 cm

Wall of Air, 2015, Canvas, frames, oil paint, metal racks, 267 x 2027 x 85.5 cm. Installation view, Performance in Paint: Zhu Jinshi, 2015–16, Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China

Black Brooklyn, 2014, Oil on canvas, Diptych: 180 x 160 cm x 2, Overall: 180 x 320 cm

Left: Bringing Food Upstairs with Both Hands, 2014, Oil on canvas, 180 x 160 cm

Right: Untitled, 1984, Cotton, oil paint, turpentine, 110 x 83 cm
Installation view, Zhu Jinshi, 2016, Blum & Poe, New York, USA

Nine Levels, 2015, Oil paint, canvas, frame
Nine parts: 20 x 60 x 50 cm (7 7/8 x 23 5/8 x 19 5/8 in.) each
Installation view, Zhu Jinshi, 2016, Blum & Poe, New York, USA

Wall of Air, 2015, Canvas, frames, oil paint, metal racks, 267 x 2027 x 85.5 cm (105 1/8 x 798 x 33 5/8 in.). Installation view, Black, 2016, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, USA

Endless Universe, 2014, Oil on canvas, Tetraptych: 180 x 160 cm x 4 (70 7/8 x 63 in. x 4). Installation view, Zhu Jinshi, 2016, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China.

Left: Untitled, 2016, Canvas, frames, wall paint, 500 x 690 cm Right: Untitled, 2016, 300 frames mounted with canvas, 17.1 x 1.6 x 1.8 m . Installation view, Zhu Jinshi, 2016, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China

Zhu Jinshi Studio

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