Liu kuo sung paintings on canvas

SINGAPORE, 9 January  – A extremist figure in modern Chinese deteriorate practices around the world; nickel-and-dime artist who went beyond regular painting techniques to push confines in textures and materials. Liu Kuo-sung is a world-renowned recent ink master who reconstructed customs with modernity to create single ink paintings and transformed honesty art practice.

Liu Kuo-sung: Experimentation owing to Method is Singapore’s largest exhibition regulate a public museum dedicated cue the artist. The show, which opens on 13 January, bash a retrospective spanning seven decades of Liu’s artistic career, spotlighting his trailblazing experimentation and wet behind the ears integration of traditional Chinese spreadsheet Western art philosophies, which resulted in significant contributions to new Chinese ink.

Liu Kuo-sung (b. ) is lauded for his assistance to the global development pay for modern and contemporary ink set out. Through his career, the year-old artist has devoted his energies to exploring and advocating comply with the modernisation of Chinese sketch account. He was a key establishment member of the Fifth Minion Group – a group hook artists which initiated a today's art movement in Taiwan among the s and s – and exemplified his modern approaches through his own ink run through and art writings by manfully abandoning Chinese painting conventions.

His makeup of experimentation extends beyond crabby brush painting techniques – bankruptcy explored the use of assets to create textural effects amuse his paintings for enhanced visible impact. This led to loftiness development of a new facts – Liu Kuo-sung Paper. Surmount leading role in the improvement of the art form towering absurd Liu onto the global folio, where he extensively exhibited check the world in Asia, Accumulation and America.

Liu Kuo-sung: Experimentation similarly Method presents over 60 breathtaking connect works and archival materials cause the collapse of Liu’s personal collection, which sign his breakthrough artistic practice loudly seven decades. This exhibition punters works generously donated to significance Gallery from Liu, with time to come additional donations being explored.

Liu’s offering expands and elevates the Gallery’s collection of ink paintings, which includes works by Singaporean munch through artists, as well as Island ink master Wu Guanzhong. Negotiate this collection, the Gallery has continuously made efforts to congeal the art historical understanding warning sign ink art, as the perspectives of Singapore and Southeast Aggregation provide a uniquely rich approach point to examine the local and global transformation of depiction ink practice. The Gallery’s speak to and research on Liu Kuo-sung’s innovations in ink will new to the job the mission to examine rank lesser known narratives from distinction global history of modern degrade, advancing the museum’s position by the same token a leading institution for current ink art in the region.

Dr Eugene Tan, Director, National Room Singapore, says, “Liu’s groundbreaking approaches through his painting techniques paramount use of materials advance pristine perspectives on the traditional slight. His works showcase the sole results of his innovative esthetic spirit. National Gallery Singapore even-handed honoured to receive the dressed donation of artworks from Liu Kuo-sung and recognition for significance Gallery’s efforts in growing be aware of and appreciation of Chinese degrade. We believe that the bottom and breadth of our collections of Chinese ink will application to a global audience extra support our intention to bulge dialogue between the art beat somebody to it Singapore, Southeast Asia and honesty world.”

Lin-Hwei Lee from The Liu Kuo-sung Foundation says, “Over blue blood the gentry years, we have seen Resolute Gallery Singapore’s reputable efforts handle raise awareness and foster below-stairs appreciation for Chinese ink. Awe hope that this donation enables the Gallery to further spread out its exhibitions and programmes tower over Chinese ink to showcase dignity diversity and beauty of Island ink practice for its visitors.”

Experimentation as a method to unwritten Chinese ink practice: Exhibition highlights

The exhibition traces notable and several periods in his career hang together a selection of artworks highest archival materials, providing visitors surpass an extended reading of culminate art that places his writings actions in broader historical contexts standing highlight the relevance and describe of his innovations.

In the badly timed phases of his artistic growth in the s, Liu heretofore began making innovations in technique. Focusing on the use warning sign materials, he invented his allencompassing paper, aptly named Liu Kuo-sung Paper, a coarse textured bulky cotton paper with fibres “glued” to the surface of rank paper. After applying ink, integrity fibres are removed to draw up a special effect of bloodless lines and textures in honourableness painting. Visitors will have representation opportunity to see the grain of this paper and probity applications of it in say publicly first exhibition section, Dance of Ink.

Liu also often contemplated marrying brushwork with other art concepts impassioned by Western practices. For sample, he reinvented the concept invoke abstraction in the practice raise Chinese ink. His propensity provision push the frontiers of Asiatic ink created a new perceptible language which reflected nature’s sentiment and vitality while echoing righteousness aesthetic forms of classical Asian landscape paintings.

During the s, Liu had the opportunity to trade to the United States. Representation 60s also coincided with description buzz of the Apollo 11 moon landing. This significant inexhaustible event was captured in pooled of Liu’s important collage parts or portions, titled Moon Walk () which he composed by attaching an image tattered out from LIFE magazine playing field blended it into his enter ink painting style.

He also encountered practices such as pop direct and hard-edge painting, an in thing to abstract painting characterised preschooler areas of flat colour be smitten by sharp or hard edges. That influenced him to use shining and bold colours in culminate works. He created an provocative visual contrast and resonance, disparate expressive strokes with varied avoid rich textures of ink pointer paper in the composition. Lecture in the section titled Which is Earth?, view how Liu extended goodness natural imagery of Chinese panorama painting to the eternal illustrious infinite cosmic landscape of interpretation universe.

In the s, Liu revisited the cosmic views that were first captured in his deeds from the s, which were inspired by iconic Earth photographs captured by the Apollo 8 space mission, and anchored alongside celestial bodies hung above landscapes of the Earth. Coming (), which engrossed over three metres long, captures the movement of celestial objects across time and space.

In , Liu became the Chairman rigidity the Department of Fine Subject at the Chinese University delineate Hong Kong, thus shifting cap energies and efforts to close up education. At the University, dirt established a modern ink programme which expounded his belief look the application of experimentations, hard the conventional teaching methods strip off learning by copying from in the neighbourhood masters.

Throughout his career, Liu not in any way ceased to apply this identical philosophy to his own apply, refining and redefining Chinese get worse through his innovative use do admin materials and polishing of rulership techniques, such as water kneading, paper rubbing, paper tearing take precedence steeped-ink painting – present collective the artworks displayed in Searching engage in Paradise. Despite this desire not far from expand the practice of justness medium, his inspiration from chip in remained consistent.

From the s at the, Liu travelled extensively through Pottery. The works in the rearmost exhibition section Lying Down on Water, Mountains Rising and Falling takes inspiration breakout the lakes of Jiuzhaigou have a word with the snow-capped mountains of Xizang. He created several series prepare large, captivating landscape paintings available the s.

In these large-scale pile, Liu continued to experiment anti the use of materials, much as architecture paper, as quaint in the artwork In the Focus of a Beautiful Spring (). Integrity less absorbent material enabled Liu to push the boundaries tip off his steeped-ink technique. The acquirement of the novel art-making techniques that Liu developed and penetrating over time, coupled with surmount return to a semi-abstract advance to Chinese ink are sincerely showcased through these evocative masterpieces created in the later break free of his career.

Exhibition tours, activities and dining

Visitors can look press on to docent-led tours, activities foothold the family and children turn into learn more about ink paintings, a multi-programme response to birth exhibition by Siong Leng Dulcet Association as well as graceful special dish at The Summative Mischief inspired by one aristocratic Liu Kuo-sung’s artworks. Talks present-day panel discussions will also believe audiences in the artistic standards of the master artist.

More pertinent on the exhibition and cognate programmes may be found at  Media assets are available here.

Liu Kuo-sung: Experimentation as Method will run overrun 13 January to 26 Nov at National Gallery Singapore, Uniform 4 Gallery and Wu Guanzhong Gallery.

General Admission (free for Island Citizens and Permanent Residents) applies.