Die Farbe der Leere. Chinesische abstrakte Malerei.

From May 9th until June 27th 2015 SHI FANG Fine Art will
present an exhibition featuring ten Chinese artists. The
exhibition “Die Farbe der Leere” or “The Color of Emptiness”,
will run in concurrence with the China 8 exhibition, in which
eight cities in the Rhein and Ruhr areas come together to
showcase the best of contemporary Chinese art. SHI FANG’s
exhibition will display the major works of ten artists and give
viewers an introduction to modern Chinese abstract art.

The exhibition explores themes of emptiness and color, and
how the two can combine or fight against each other to
create harmonious or powerful images. Each of the artists
featured have also explored themes in their own work, in
their own unique ways. The manipulation of empty space is
essential to the works of all of the artists, as well as the use
of color to invoke emotion or pull the viewer in for further
examination.

With Jiang Shu and Chen Qiang there seems to be a sense of
struggle against the empty space, as their works are
dominated by lines and patterns, however, the delicate nature
of these patterns allow the viewer to appreciate the negative
space behind them. Other artists such as Sun Kai and Zhou
Yangming want the viewer to focus on the voids present in
their work, almost as a form of meditation, by using muted
monochromatic color palettes and simple compositions. Yin
Ge’s featured work is a departure from his usual process, and
the result is also a meditation on the emptiness that
surrounds the delicate shapes central to his painting. Chen
Ruo Bing and Ma Shuquing create all new spaces out of color,
with painting techniques that create illusions of depth and
light. For artists GY Wu, Yu Xiaozhen and Li Yonggeng the
process of creating is just as important as the final product.
Using non-traditional materials such as needle and thread or
heavy textiles, combined with contrasting or blending color,
they create works that are visually interesting and which
cross over into three-dimensional space.