Visual and Poetic – An Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Painting
Exhibition Dates: November 30 – December 12, 2024
Opening Ceremony: 4:30 PM, November 30
Exhibition Venue: Dante House Museum, Florence
Participating Artists:
Zhong Biao, Lei Ziren, Guo Zhigang, Feng Xiaohong, Qing Taimao, Zhang Meng
Curators: Zhang Siyong, Lin Hongyu
Academic Host: Guo Yuanping
Invited Commentator: Silvia Ranzi
Exhibition Coordinator: Tao Tao
Organizer:
Florence Dante House Art Association
Co-organizer:
Italy-China Women’s Cultural Friendship Association
Beijing Millennium Time Gallery
Support:
Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Florence
Florence City Government
Tuscany Region
Cultural Memory
Visual and Poetic – Introduction to the Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Painting
Guo Yuanping is honored to hold this exhibition of contemporary Chinese art in the historically and culturally significant venue of the Dante House Artists Association in Florence. The curator and I titled this exhibition “Vision and Poetry – An Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Painting” because of the inherent connection between poetry and painting in Chinese art. Another reason was that I was somewhat puzzled when I saw that the six participating artists of different ages had almost all chosen to use the context of Chinese culture and the expressive form of ink painting, as many of the participating artists were well-known oil painters. As I delved deeper into each artist’s work, I sensed the immense passion within their creations. They needed to express themselves freely, quickly, and without restraint, and ink painting was perhaps the best medium for expressing these emotions. The large-scale paintings of these works present moving poetic verses. In the past decade or so, contemporary Chinese art has experienced the collision of globalization. Chinese artists have had more opportunities to go abroad and participate in international art exhibitions, which has allowed them to see the state of Western contemporary art. This has enabled them to more calmly rethink and re-select contemporary art. Some young artists have begun to consciously break away from expressing ideological stances, exploring broader themes related to nature, life, and human destiny, and integrating these themes with their artistic forms. This has been a trend in Chinese art and culture in recent years. Zhong Biao, as a tracer of contemporary art, has recently turned his attention to expressing the ontology of nature. His works emphasize the creation of fantastical spaces, fragmenting realistic images and contrasting them with various past and future scenes to create a mystical and ethereal world. The ink paintings by Zhong Biao exhibited here are separated from his oil paintings. The permeability of the Xuan paper and the diffusion effect of the ink allow for a freer and more unrestrained expression. The misty clouds and psychedelic light and shadow effects in the paintings resonate with the themes he expresses. In exploring the formal sense of contemporary art, Qing Taimao offers a practical solution: traditional imagery + material language + spatial installation. His paintings of Taihu stones contain ancient pines and bamboos, their branches intertwined and coexisting with the natural landscape. He uses thick ink to reveal the unadorned tranquility of the natural materials of the rocks, accompanied by a sense of vicissitude, as if he has traveled through time. To maintain the originality of the natural form, the artist cropped and reconstructed the complete picture, turning it into a polygon, forming an extendable and freely recombinable form, giving the static picture a wonderful sense of drama. Feng Xiaohong’s paintings strive to emotionalize color, and he wants to express the relationship between photography and painting. His “All Things Immersed” series explores the pure essence of color to express the two visual experiences of “broad” and “micro”. Through the fusion, immersion, conflict, and transformation of color, he expresses a free, accidental, and random creative state. In the process of finding a new language logic for his works, he also gains more possibilities and unknowns beyond the inherent experience of the language of art itself. At the same time, through painting, he establishes an emotional connection with the viewer, guiding the viewer to think about their relationship with the surrounding world, and the life emotions and feelings experienced in this relationship. An artist’s era, life experiences, and artistic journey determine their artistic path and style. Chinese artists born in the 1960s experienced the reform and opening up of the 1980s, the rapid development of modern cities, commercial spaces, and lifestyles. They were drawn to Western contemporary art. Those Chinese artists who had received traditional Western painting training pondered: how to meet contemporary aesthetic demands? How to showcase contemporary Chinese culture in international art galleries? Guo Zhigang, from the ancient cultural capital of Xi’an and having taught painting in Wuhan and Yichang for over a decade, is an artist with profound painting skills. For the past ten years, he has devoted himself to exploring the expression of Chinese aesthetic thought in different cultural contexts, integrating traditional Chinese ink painting with contemporary aesthetic needs, presenting it with new compositions and techniques. His magnificent four-panel screen, , expresses the timeless eternity of nature. The painting is exquisite and profound, the free-flowing brushstrokes evoking a poetic language of painting. This exhibition showcases his ideal of “Oriental” artistic qualities, namely, the profound and extensive inheritance of historical and cultural traditions. The two long scroll paintings in the exhibition hall, imbued with the context of traditional Chinese culture, are works by artist Lei Ziren. He utilizes the extensibility and variability of colors in traditional Chinese woodblock printing to express the artist’s inner emotions amidst the changing seasons: “Early spring in February, grass grows and orioles fly,” “Every year I tread the snow to seek plum blossoms, this year in February I finally see plum blossoms,” poetic statements filled with introspection and a yearning for a new life, like hoping for the growth of all things. Lei Ziren says: “The image I understand is only a possibility; it is not a realistic depiction tightly bound to a theme, nor a purely imagined poetic design. It is an existence where poetry and social imagery mutually translate yet remain elusive.” For the new generation of artists, Zhang Meng, born in the 1990s, experiments with oil paints, her use of color subtle and sensitive, even thin, a medium through which she uses her brush to express her understanding of the world. Her paintings are abstract, yet her emotions are so vivid, concrete, and perceptible. One can feel the presence of an “aura” of energy in her works. The white clouds on the mountains she depicts are serene, a distant and unattainable scene far removed from the chaos of the world in the peaceful high sky; while in her depictions of magnificent rivers, she focuses on the surging waves, evoking the lines of the Song Dynasty poet Su Shi: “The great river flows eastward, its waves sweeping away countless heroes of the past.” This highlights the enduring and ever-renewing meaning of history and culture. In the “Visual and Poetic – Contemporary Chinese Painting Exhibition,” we showcased the current state of contemporary Chinese artists through six artists from different backgrounds, bringing us a new visual experience. In Beijing, there is also a “gathering place for contemporary Chinese artists,” similar to the “Dante’s House”—the Beijing 798 Art District. There, the Beijing Millennium Time Gallery is located. It was this gallery that brought these artists to Florence, allowing artists from both places to meet here.
Academic Host: Guo Yuanping
Curator, Art Critic.
Born in Tianjin, currently residing in Florence, Italy. Since 2002, he has been a Chinese language expert at the School of Languages, Literature and Intercultural Communication, Faculty of Humanities and Education, University of Florence, and a Chinese language expert at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Graduate School).
He graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Art History from the Central Academy of Arts & Design (now the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University). He previously taught Art History at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. In 1995, he went to the University of Bologna, Italy, to study contemporary art. Later, he pursued advanced studies in Art History at the University of Florence, graduating in 2002 with a major in Cultural Heritage and Conservation. In addition to his research on art from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, he has been dedicated to exploring contemporary art themes since 2011.
He participated in the translation and assisted in organizing a series of important art exhibitions: “Han and Tang Dynasties: A Grand Exhibition of Chinese Art and Cultural Relics” by the Stroeve Cultural Foundation (Florence, 2008). Parallel exhibition at the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art (2011); “Soul of Rocks – Li Yingjie’s Original Ecological Art” exhibition at the Palazzo Medici in Florence, 2013. Co-curated “Breaking Boundaries – Wang Xiaosong’s New Works Exhibition” with Professor Salviati Filippo of the University of Rome, August 2013. Served on the promotion and selection committee for the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art.
Currently curating “Interaction & Fusion,” an exchange exhibition between young Chinese and Italian artists, in April 2024. Curating “Dialogue in Art Space,” a joint Sino-Italian contemporary art exhibition, in September 2024.
About the Participating Artist: Zhong Biao
Born in Chongqing in 1968
Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the China Academy of Art in 1991
Professor at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute
Doctoral Supervisor
Member of the Oil Painting Art Committee of the China Artists Association
Director of the China Oil Painting Society
Member of the Contemporary Art Professional Committee of the China Cultural and Artistic Development Promotion Association
Vice President of the Chongqing Oil Painting Society
Vice Chairman of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Education Foundation
Vice President of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Alumni Association
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2022 Zhong Biao: Manifesting Form (Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Art Museum, Chongqing, China)
2020 Manifesting Form—Zhong Biao’s Image World (He Art Museum, Wuhan, China)
Zhong Biao—Manifesting Form (Osthaus Museum) Hagen Museum, Hagen, Germany
2013 The Illusory Universe—2013 Venice Bell Art Live (Church of Santa Maria, Venice, Italy)
Partial Group Exhibitions
2023 Gravity of Time—2023 Chengdu Biennale (Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu, China)
2019 The 13th Havana Biennale (Havana Grand Theatre Gallery, Havana, Cuba)
The 14th Curitiba International Contemporary Art Biennale (Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, Brazil)
“Wrath of Clouds and Water” Mixed media on paper 112×195cm 2024
Floating Season, mixed media on paper, 112×195cm, 2024
Lei Ziren
Born in Jiangxi Province in November 1967, he holds a PhD in Literature and a postdoctoral degree in Art Studies. He is a full-time professor at the School of Chinese Painting, China Academy of Art, and deputy director of the Visual China Collaborative Innovation Center.
He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1989; from 2008 to 2012, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Art History and Theory, Academy of Fine Arts, Tsinghua University; from 2012 to 2023, he was a professor and doctoral supervisor at Renmin University of China; from 2018 to 2021, he served as the director of the Jiangxi Academy of Painting and the director of the Jiangxi Provincial Art Museum, holding the title of first-class artist and a member of the China Artists Association; in 2023, he joined the China Academy of Art; he previously worked at the China Times Economic Publishing House of the National Audit Office as a reporter and editor, planning and editing hundreds of books and magazines.
His main research areas include Chinese painting creation and theory, the history of 20th-century Chinese decorative art, special studies on the history of Ming Dynasty painting, and the production and renarration of contemporary Chinese rural social images.
His artistic practice includes contemporary ink painting and other easel painting creation, ceramic art creation, etc.
Early Spring C, AP -3/6 60cm x 180cm Wooden Board 2015
Early Spring B, AP -3/6 60cm x 180cm Wooden Board 2015
Guo Zhigang
Born in 1965, he is a member of the Jiusan Society, a professor in the Department of Intermedia Art at Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, and the deputy secretary-general of the Comprehensive Materials Painting Art Committee of the China Artists Association. He has published over 70 papers and over 800 works in authoritative national art journals and core journals. His paintings have been exhibited 10 times in major art museums in Beijing, Shanghai, Hubei, Xi’an, and France. His works have also been exhibited at the Florence Art Museum in Italy, Rockefeller Center in New York, Hamilton Museum in New Zealand, Seoul Museum of Art in South Korea, Kyoto Museum of Art in Japan, Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taoyuan Art Museums in Taiwan, and the Hong Kong Arts Exhibition Centre. His works have won numerous national awards, including seven Lu Yi Cup Awards for National Higher Art Institutions, eight gold, silver, and bronze awards at the China Western Art Annual Exhibition “Plateau. Plateau,” the Shaanxi Art Creation Award, and awards at the 13th National Art Exhibition Experimental Art Exhibition and Mural Exhibition. He has also received the Special Honorary Award at the Silk Road International Arts Festival, the Gold Award at the Lake City. Ancient Capital China-Japan Art Exchange Exhibition, and the Governor’s Award from Kashi Prefecture, Japan. His published academic works include When is Art?, Bone Syndrome, Soul, Return, and The Book of Insomnia.
A Thousand Autumns of Rain, 365 x 245 cm, ink on paper, 2014
Feng Xiaohong
Born on August 16, 1964, in Wuyang County, Luohe City, Henan Province.
Graduated from Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology in 1986 with a Master’s degree in Architecture.
Since 1990, he has been engaged in architectural design, while also creating art photography and paintings.
Artistic Experience:
2022 An Architect’s View of Color, Feng Xiaohong Solo Exhibition, Shaanxi Xifuxiang Art Museum;
2022 Synchronicity·Slice, Shaanxi Contemporary Painting Ten-Person Invitational Exhibition (Baoji Station), Baoji Municipal Mass Art Museum;
2023 The 17th Ancient Capital·Lake City Art Grand Exhibition, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Japan;
2023 Synchronicity·Slice, Shaanxi Contemporary Painting Ten-Person Invitational Exhibition (Xi’an Station), Shaanxi Provincial Library;
2023 Synchronicity·Slice, Shaanxi Contemporary Painting Ten-Person Invitational Exhibition (Linfen Station), Linfen City Library;
2023 Exploration of Time and Space, Northwestern Polytechnical University (Xi’an) Contemporary Art Invitational Exhibition, Military Industry Quality Education Practice Center (Museum);
2023 Form and Color, Art Xi’an New Year’s Eve Exhibition, Shan Art Museum;
2024 ART CAPITAL International Art Exhibition, Grand Palais, Paris, France. Palais);
2024 “Art Has No Circles,” “Asking Across the Water” Xi’an Contemporary Art Group Exhibition, Zhang Chu Music Studio;
2024 “Art Chang’an Expo,” Juran Home Furnishings (Qujiang), Xi’an;
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“All Things Immersed 1” Acrylic on paper, 105cm x 75cm, 2023
“All Things Immersed 2” Acrylic on paper, 105cm x 75cm, 2023
Qing Taimao
Pen name Qing Cheng, a contemporary ink painter, currently residing in Beijing.
Solo Exhibitions:
2022-2023 Monologue and Song Qing Taimao Solo Exhibition [Beijing Millennium Time Gallery]
2021 All Things: Renaming Qing Taimao Solo Exhibition [Beijing Millennium Time Gallery]
2021 Walking Under the Moon Qing Taimao Ink Painting Exhibition [Nanchang Millennium Time Art Center]
2018 Shedding Feathers Qing Taimao Ink Painting Exhibition [Hanwei International Art Center]
2017 Qing Cheng’s Prescription Qing Cheng Ink Painting Exhibition [Beijing QING Art Space] [Time]
2015 “Flowers Blooming on the Roadside” Qing Cheng Ink Painting Exhibition [QING Art Space, Beijing]
2013 “Poetry and Meaning” Qing Cheng Ink Painting Exhibition [QING Art Space, Beijing]
2013 “Zen Mind Sees Tranquility” Qing Cheng Ink Painting Exhibition [QING Art Space, Beijing]
2008 “Elsewhere” Qing Cheng Ink Painting Solo Exhibition [Millennium Time Gallery, Beijing]
Group Exhibition:
2023 “I Am You—Individual and Collective Identity in Contemporary Art and Design”
14th Florence International Contemporary Art and Design Biennale, China Section [Castle da Basso, Florence]
2023 “In All Strange Places, There Is Always a Familiar Moon”: 30 Years of Songzhuang Art Themed Exhibition [Beijing Mao Space]
2023 “Transcendence and Integration”: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition [National Exhibition Hall of El Salvador]
2022 “Future and Timeliness”: 14th Havana Biennale [National Library of Cuba]
2021 “2021: Breakthrough of Time”: Exhibition of Works by 20 Contemporary Artists [Millennium Time Gallery, Beijing]
2021 “The Essence of Art”: The Technique and Craft of Chinese Handmade Papermaking [Tsinghua Qingdao Institute of Art and Science Innovation]
2021 “The Essence of Art”: The Technique and Craft of Chinese Handmade Papermaking [Beijing Science and Technology Museum]
2019 “Exploring the Essence of Thought”: Dialogue Exhibition between Chinese and South African Artists [Durban Art Gallery, South Africa]
Where Does the Wind Come From? 140x230cmx3 Ink on Xuan Paper 2024
Where Does the Wind Come From 2 140x230cm Ink on Xuan Paper 2024
Zhang Meng
Zhang Meng (Zhang Hongru)
PhD in Fine Arts, Central Academy of Fine Arts
Currently working at the Exchange and Cooperation Department of the China National Academy of Painting
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Artistic Conception and Poetics — Zhang Meng Painting Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing
2023 Hearing — Zhang Meng Solo Exhibition, Another Project Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2024 Realm and Scenery — Zhang Meng Solo Exhibition, Yue Art Museum, 798 Art Zone, Beijing
Group Exhibitions
2016 Impurity, The Building Centre, London, UK
2016 Floating World, Espacio Gallery, London, UK
2016 Demolition, 5th Base Gallery, London, UK
2017 Camberwell College of Arts Summer Undergraduate Graduation Exhibition, London, UK
2018 Overloaded, Mama Gallery, London Chelsea, London, UK
2018 Chelsea College of Arts and Design Postgraduate Graduation Exhibition, London, UK
2018 Shanghai Art Fair: Chinese Young Artists Showcase Exhibition, Shanghai
2018 “Freehand China” Annual Exhibition of Young Painters from the China National Academy of Painting, Beijing
2021 Central Academy of Fine Arts Doctoral Student Teaching Observation Series: Double Solo Exhibition, Beijing
2021 Sino-Italian Youth Art Biennale
2021 “Unsheathed Land” Touring Exhibition, Beijing, Chifeng, Nanjing
2022 Central Academy of Fine Arts Graduation Exhibition, Beijing
2023 New Image, Women’s Style—Youth Works of the China Women Painters Association Art and Calligraphy Exhibition of Painting and Calligraphy Academies, China National Academy of Painting, Beijing
2023 The 8th National Academy of Painting Art Exhibition, Jinan
2023 Art Makes the Countryside More Beautiful — Arxan Sketching and Creation Exhibition, China National Academy of Painting, Beijing
2024 In the Prime of Life — Rongbaozhai First Youth Art Nomination Exhibition & Contemporary Art Exhibition, Rongbaozhai, Beijing
2024 Grand Palais International Art Salon, Paris, France
2024 Eyes of Wisdom — Contemporary Women’s Art Exhibition, Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou
2024 Images of the Mind — Rongbaozhai Contemporary Art Exhibition & Woodblock Printing Special Exhibition, Paris, France
Scenery, 2019, Oil on canvas, 80cm×120cm, 2019
Floating World, 2019, Oil on canvas, 90cm×120cm, 2019
About the House of Dante: Located in Florence’s old town, steeped in medieval history, next to the birthplace of Dante, the first poet hailed as the one who ushered in a new era of the Renaissance, is the home of the Florentine Artists’ Association, “House of Dante.” Founded in 1843, this association has a 181-year history, serving as a gathering place for artists and a venue for cultural exchange among those who love literature and art. The “House of Dante” artists’ association maintains the integrity of literary and artistic values through intensive exhibitions and cultural activities, such as concerts and literary and artistic societies. It preserves the memory of classical culture while combining inherent history and art with contemporary aesthetics, showcasing a new era of cultural environment.
The Casa Dante, the art society, boasts three exhibition halls, a meeting room, a concert hall, and a historical archive upstairs. The archives preserve invaluable materials from the society’s founding in 1843, followed by the establishment of the art center in 1855. For over 180 years, it has been a gathering place for artists, and the meeting room still displays self-portraits, sculptures, etchings, and medals won by artists in city and national painting competitions. In 2023, on the society’s 180th anniversary, a biographical book, A Gathering Place for Artists, was launched at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. Art historians, critics, journalists, and artist representatives introduced the society’s activities and highlighted the most noteworthy catalogues from the museum’s collection. As regional president Eugenio Giani recalls in the book’s preface, the “House of Dante” artists’ association included not only renowned 19th-century pointillist painters like Macchiaioli, but also prominent 19th-century artists such as Signorini, Giovanni Fattori, and Silvestro Lega, as well as 20th-century contemporary artists like Ardengo Soffici, Pietro Annigoni, and Primo Conti. This gathering of artists also inspired the trends from late 19th-century Orientalism to Futurism. It witnessed the Italian Renaissance movement of the 19th century, the contemporary Florentine cultural movement, and Florence’s current golden age of openness to the world.
Today it continues to offer a rich array of arts and culture programs, thrives through debates on contemporary art issues, and is available to artists and collectors interested in exhibiting their work in historical venues.
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