Exhibited
Zhou Chunya Exhibition, Contemporary Art Museum, Italy, 2002
China Contemporary Art Exhibition, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2003

“IN THE PAST I PAINTED FLOWERS SOLELY TO PRACTICE THE USE OF COLOR, THEN I REALIZED THAT IT COULD BECOME A SUBJECT IN AND OF ITSELF.”

ZHOU CHUNYA

A RARE SUBJECT MATTER IN ZHOU’S OEUVRE

Flowers are eternal subject matter as the timeless beauty of nature remains a much-appreciated pictorial subject among old masters and contemporary artists alike. Zhou Chunya’s appreciation of the natural world is fully portrayed through the vitality and exacerbated sensuality in Lotus. In retrospect, there have been two works of Zhou with Lotus as the subject matter, both of which were executed in the mid-nineties. The present lot’s scenic depiction coincides with the nostalgic sentiments expressed in a poet’s appreciation for the timeless beauty of the lotus pond, reminiscent of old masters Claude Monet’s Impressionist oil painting of water lilies. In this regard, Zhou masterfully depicts the lotus at its various blossoming stages through board, swift and powerful brushstrokes that testify to the artists unique artistic sensibility. Beneath a dreamy blue ground appears spontaneous free flowing lines of pale icy blues in resemblance to the evening moonlight shining quietly across the lotus pond as the delicate lotus petals sway and dance delicately like rippling pebbles amidst the lotus leaves in shades of blue and turquoise blue. There is a tremendous sense of activity in the painting, as the knotted branches bearing various navy blue and a pale white blossom in the foreground exuberantly dangle from their branches bent in angles, thus strategically forming a framework that leads the viewers’ eyes to the delicate magenta lotus blossom nearby that acts as a nexus of energy. This artistic approach further connotative of the notion of distant, one that extends beyond the confines of the canvas and into the subjective imagination of the viewer, enticing one to ponder upon the imaginative realms of the lotus scenery.

SYMBOLISM OF THE LOTUS IN CLASSICAL LITERATURE

Zhou was greatly inspired by the artworks of Kiefer and Baselitz in Germany and realized that Neo-expressionism was an exceptional approach in channeling one’s state of mind directly and honestly, a quality that greatly differs from the formulaic mode of propaganda artistic production he was once exposed to during his youth. Upon his return to his homeland, Zhou was enchanted with the grandeur and delicacy unique to traditional Chinese wash painting and re-evaluated literati paintings of masters such as Wang Meng, Ba Da Shan-ren and Huang Binhong from an expressionist perspective. The artist invested a long time on exploring these Chinese traditional literati paintings. This in-depth knowledge may have had an influence on Zhou’s selection of subject matter as epitomizes by the present lot. Historically, the lotus is a divine symbol according to Chinese pedigree as it is one of the eight auspicious signs in numerous Dharmic traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. In the classical literature, there is a plethora of poems that praises the lotus for its elegance, beauty, perfection, purity, and grace. The ethereal beauty and ample vitality of the lotus is thus portrayed on Zhou’s canvas through an integrated synthesis of a strong will absorbed from the west with a traditional sense of graceful tenderness derivative of the oriental elements. The famous Li Bai composed a poem dated to the Tang dynasty appreciating the beauty of the lotus:

LI BAI (Tang dynasty)
Lotus beside the Secluded Spring

碧荷生幽泉，朝日豔且鮮。
Lotus in bluish green grows beside the secluded spring.

秋花冒綠水，密葉羅青煙。
The blossom beams in the rising sun.

秀色空絕世，馨香為誰傳
It cranes over the teal water, with the bushy leaves flourish in the mist.

坐看飛霜滿，凋此紅芳年。
Unprecedented charm, the pretty flowers with a delicate scent;

結根未得所，願托華池邊。
but who can help disseminate its fragrance?

讚揚貞潔之士有美德，
Bit by bit and soundlessly, the lotus wither away in the autumn frost.

惜其才不得見用，位不得其處。
Wish it roots at the abode of immortals, with its ethereal beauty.

THE WELDING OF TWO CULTURES

When Zhou’s father pasted away, the artist inherited numerous Chinese Classics and western art theories titles in addition to a painting by the artist Chang Da chien and Dong Chi-Chang dated to the Ming Dynasty. Zhou began to ponder upon his identity of being a Chinese artist after a short alienated feeling with his three years of study experience in Germany. Although expressionism offered a well of inspiration for Zhou’s art, his attachment to Chinese tradition is visible in his the present lot, particular in the arrangement of the composition with attributes that parallels the ink leaves rendered by Chang Da chien. The artist has thus managed to revamp qualities of the overly mild and slightly introverted characteristics of Classical literati painting and instead further develop on the exquisiteness and sensitivity of which he admired. By synthesizing elements from the passionate and carefree stylistic approach of expressionism and classical principles of traditional Chinese painting by dipping into the existing iconographic patrimony but without feeling restricted. Zhou has manifested an exuberant sensibility that remains inline with the artist’s theory “rather than seizing a right way towards the past, I would pioneer a new way suitable for myself towards the future.” In essence, Lotus epitomizes how Zhou magnificently synthesizes Western attributes and oriental elements harmoniously in a Contemporary Expressionist manner, thus reflecting his unique subjective interpretation about traditions and its place in the Global context. Zhou’s work transcends beyond the limits of tradition while reflecting upon the delicate nature of a culture that is not only refined, but simultaneously “ancient and contemporary, traditional and revolutionary, individual and shared.”

TACTILITY OF BRUSHWORKS

From the inception of Zhou’s earlier paintings of Tibetans, remote grassland, the Hongyuan marches to his subsequent green dog, flowers have always been an inspiration for the artist in freeing his pictorial impetus. Zhou never fails to adheres to the beautiful and truthful aspects of life as each free flowing line constructing Zhou’s lotus scene is recognizable and in turn builds the souls of the blossoms and pods in a manner that not one extra stroke is required to make it more incisive. The artist entrusts the expression of his subjective consciousness through the deliberate utilization of only a few shades of blues and magenta, this talented use of colors reflects the artist’s liberal soul. Furthermore, Zhou applied the narrative nature of Classical ink paintings to denote the flowing spaces through his meticulous arrangement of light and shadows, as he imbues the foreground with lotus leaves and turbulent angular stems bearing further buds, the empty space in the background is magnificently used to delineate space and distance, which ultimately emphasize the dynamics of the magenta blossom that occupied the upper part of the canvas, inciting the sensation of the spectators. Zhou is indeed a spiritual liberal who operates upon a dual grounding. While he balances artistic elements from his Western or and Eastern cultural experiences, he simultaneously asserts individual integrity by traveling in between modernity and tradition, nostalgia and avant-garde without any formal restrictions. Zhou Chun-ya’s Lotus reflects a spontaneous and imaginatively expressive composition that echoes the pious praise of traditional literati aesthetics.