Tag Archives: Michael Goedhuis

Ink Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery

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Ink
The New Ink Art from China
at the Saatchi Gallery 16-28 June 2012
and at Asia House July 2012

Xu Lei, Tree of Blue Underglaze, 2008, Ink and color on xuan paper, (213 x 125 cm)

Ink is an exhibition featuring the finest examples of contemporary Chinese Ink art at London’s landmark Saatchi gallery and subsequently at Asia House. The exhibition, curated by Michael Goedhuis, is the first comprehensive display of this genre to be shown in a public gallery of international standing and draws together major examples from distinguished private collections. Timed to coincide with London in June when art and antique collectors from all over the world descend on the capital, this cutting-edge show will feature ground-breaking artists from the internationally recognized Xu Lei to the avant-garde Qiu Anxiong. Ink will run from Saturday 16 June to Thursday 28 June 2012 at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s Square, London, SW3 4SQ.

“I am delighted to be working with the Saatchi Gallery to finally be able to provide the general public access to The New Ink Art which is perhaps the boldest pictorial experiment in art today. Artists trained in, and deeply knowledgeable of classical painting, are meeting the challenge of creating a pictorial language that is a convincing expression of the world of TODAY and in particular the transformed world of China. It is the theme of this exhibition to define just how audacious and innovative the best of these artists are, despite, or perhaps because of, their deep study of the past. Just as Cezanne and Picasso assimilated the work of Poussin and Velazquez and other Old Masters in order to develop their own revolutionary language, so the ink artists are grappling with the same challenge – how to express the transformation of their society with works that are meaningful precisely because they take account of the past in order to make sense of the present”.

The New Ink Art is increasingly being recognised, not only in China but also internationally, as the most audacious and idealistic movement in contemporary culture and is poised to shortly enter the mainstream of the art-world’s focus.

Michael Goedhuis, who was the first dealer in the west to recognize the significance of these radical innovations in Chinese culture, has concentrated in the past eighteen months on identifying for this exhibition the artists who are in the process of shifting the axis of Chinese aesthetics. It is for this reason that informed art-lovers and collectors and indeed the public at large will be drawn to the Saatchi Gallery for this culturally ground-breaking initiative. Although this exhibition is a loan show and works will therefore not be for sale, it is significant that the price range for the best of contemporary ink paintings is still very accessible by international standards.

A highlight of the exhibition is Tree of Blue Underglaze by the internationally feted artist Xu Lei who last year was the chosen artist for the design of the 2008 vintage Chateau Mouton Rothschild wine label. Inspired by the significance of the year 2008 for the Chinese and to highlight Mouton’s stature in the Chinese wine market, Mouton selected a Chinese artist. Xu Lei himself is one of China’s foremost artists and a leader in the innovative field of ink painting; he serves as the art director of the Today Art Museum in Beijing and is the editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘Classics’.

Qiu Jie, Mao in the Cotton Field , 2007, pencil on paper, (150 x 168 cm)

Other works of note include Gao Xingjian represented by the painting Dream Mountain (La Montagne de Rêve), who was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province in 1940. A writer, translator and dramatist he moved to Paris in the 1980s as a political refugee. Here he immersed himself in nature creating semi- abstracted landscapes, believing that art should not be used for political activism, but instead should be an expression of the soul. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 2000. Qiu Jie, who was born in Shanghai in 1960, grew up during the most violent phase of the Cultural Revolution and by the age of 10 was nurturing his talent making copies of propaganda images from local newspapers. He creates images blending stark themes from the Cultural Revolution with striking elements from contemporary culture (see illustration).

Artists to be exhibited include:
Gao Xingjian (???), Gu Wenda (???), Huan Yong Ping (???),Jennifer Wen Ma (??), Li Huayi (???), Li Jin (??), Liu Dan (??), Liu Kuo-sung (???), Liu Qinghe (???), Liu Wei (??), Lo Ch’ing (??), Lu Hao (??), Qin Feng (??), Qiu Anxiong(???)?Qiu Deshu (???),Qiu Jie (??), Qiu Zhijie (???), Wang Dongling(???), Wei Ligang (???), Wilson Shieh ( ???), Wu Yi (??), Xu Bing (??),Xu Lei (??), Yang Jiechang (???), Yang Yanping (???), Yao Jui-chung (???), Zeng Shanqing (???), Zeng Xiaojun (???), and Zhang Huan (??).

After the Saatchi Gallery, the exhibition will travel to Asia House where it will remain until the end of July. Founded in London in 1996, Asia House is the leading pan-Asian, non-profit and non-political organisation in Britain.

Ground breaking artists exhibit New Ink Painting from China At Michael Goedhuis .

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The New Ink Painting from China is an exhibition carefully selected by Michael Goedhuis to reflect some of the finest contemporary works currently available on the market. The exhibition of 30 contemporary ink paintings is the first comprehensive display of Chinese New Ink Painting ever held in Britain and will take place at 16 Bloomfield Terrace, London SW1W 8PG. Timed to coincide with the internationally celebrated event Asian Art in London (4-13 November 2010), the exhibition will run from Friday, 5 November to 3 December 2010.

Ten ground breaking artists from internationally recognized Liu Kuo-sung to the new generation of the avant-garde, Qin Feng, will each exhibit three works. New Ink Painting is the genre poised to be China’s choice for the modern pictorial expression of Chinese civilization and as such is a must for collectors interested in this area. Michael Goedhuis was one of the first western dealers to enter the Chinese contemporary market. He identified artists previously unknown to the West such as Zhang Xiaogang, including one of his key works in the Estella collection which subsequently sold for $6million when the collection was offered at auction in 2008. These ten artists are Michael Goedhuis’ choice for where collectors and first time buyers, with an eye to the future, should now turn their attention. Prices range from $25,000 – $150,000.

“The New Ink Painting is perhaps the boldest pictorial experiment in contemporary Chinese culture. Artists trained rigorously in the traditional brush and ink on paper painting tradition, which is still considered the foundation stone of Chinese civilization, have, in the past few years, broken away from the classical canon and are making works which are meaningful for and relevant to society in modern China”, comments Michael Goedhuis.

Of the established figures Liu Kuo-sung, the most famous of the Taiwanese artists, is exhibiting works from both of his major styles: Snow Capped Mountain which is an example of his pioneering abstract expressionist period and Full Moon which draws on his interest in the cool colour-field works of the 1970’s.

Li Jin from Beijing has recently appeared on the front cover of the publication on ink painting Chinese Ink Painting Now and is known for his humorous and gently satirical brush paintings celebrating the good life in simpler times.

Qin Feng from Beijing and Qiu Deshu in Shanghai are both artists who are exploring ways in which to incorporate a clear link with tradition both technically and through the subject matter, but with a pictorial treatment that connects with society today. This is particularly illustrated in Qin Feng’s Desire Landscape, 2005 and Qiu Deshu’s Mountainscape (red), 2005.

The exceptional variety in this field is illustrated in the broad range of works from Xu Lei, whose blue figurative paintings evoke surrealism to the tough calligraphic abstraction of Wang Dongling.

The artists exhibited are from China or Taiwan and include Li Jin, Qin Feng, Liu Kuo-sung, Qiu Deshu, Lo Ch’ing, Wang Dongling, Zeng Shanqing, Zeng Xiaojun, Yao Jui-chung and Yang Yanping.

An illustrated catalogue of the exhibition is available.

www.michaelgoedhuis.com

Exhibition: New Ink Painting from China
16 Bloomfield Terrace
London SW1W 8PG
From the 5 November to the 3 December 2010
Open 11:00-17:00 Monday – Saturday