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A New Look at Freehand Oil Painting

Text / Li Chiao

As one of the key participants in the Scar Art and 85 Avant-Garde Art Movements, Zhou Chunya has since the early 1990's worked on creative painting series such as "Mountain Rock", "Green Dog" and "Peach Blossom". His art has gradually shifted from Realism to Expressionism, gradually establishing a style that combined expression with abstraction in oil painting. The appearance of this work established Zhou Chuya's position and influence as one of the top freehand painters, creating a new avenue of exploration for Expressionism in freehand oil paintings.

The core focus of Zhou Chunya's abstract oil paintings is to apply to traditional cultural elements a creative interpretation, restructuring and transformation. This changes them into the simple and free creations that exist within the artist's imagination, be it mountain rock, animals, the human body or peach blossom over the series of artworks their shapes have become more general and refined, with the format becoming free and unrestrained while suffused with a burning passion and sincerity.?The scarlet mountain rock, the green dog, the red or black human body and the blushing peach blossom gives the audience a strong sense of Abstractionism's intention and color expression - this is the painter's classic expressionistic style within the freehand oil painting. Corresponding to this is the overriding artistic theme that focuses on life and human destiny.

In fact, these efforts to realize a new style of art are still rooted in the deep cultural traditions that exist within the painter. This is where the main cultural context for his abstractionist oil paintings exist. Upon combining graphics and colors, these artistic themes enable the content of the painting to transform from the traditional graphical elements into a world of symbolism where language becomes abstract. Since the 1990's Zhou Chunya has changed and restructured the traditional mountain rock format through the use of unrestrained brush strokes and esoteric colors. This provides a re-interpretation of the literati's mental and spiritual freedom. Through fantastic connections and recollections that transcend the boundaries of culture, time and space, the result is a fusion of the traditional abstract approach and Western expression.

Whether it was mountain rock or other subjects, the painter is submersed in the free creative processes of this form language. Between the thickness of paint, freedom of brush strokes and the uneven texture, the painter's unrestrained style and use of strong colors result in a liberating and magical visual experience that is filled with artistic tension. Through his own experience and expertise, Zhou Chunya's art becomes all about the motifs of traditional concepts and vivid colors blazing a new trail. One of the fun parts of creative painting is to enable a subtle transition between the set theme and the odd surprises. This balance between reason and improvisation can be found in how his artwork expresses to different extents pain and joy, expansion and restriction, relaxation and tension. The traces on the canvas show the flexibility and responsiveness of indirect and direct painting techniques. These expressions of formal language are in fact all related to the realization of new themes in art.

This new realization theme demonstrates that between the concrete of Realism and the Abstract compositions there are still many variations awaiting discovery within oil painting's artistic language.The transformations and boosting of motifs and colors within the artist's work as well as the subtle shifts between the set theme and improvised effects bring him enjoyment during the creative process.This kind of fun requires semi-abstract changes in language through differing levels of tension within the painting.This in return results in reason and improvisation being expressed to different extents in all of their paintings. In this,Zhou Chunya's creative endeavors are showing signs of pushing at the boundaries in the language expression of freehand oil paintings.This is not only the result of his artistic nature, but also due to his in-depth examination and experience of both traditional culture and Western art.