Wang Chu: Ohne Zerstörung kein Aufbau - Die Wiederkunst der chinesischen Malerei aus den Trümmern Postmoderner Bildproduktion

Fragmenting, tearing, distorting, blurring, shifting, shaking, pixelating, faceting, crystallizing, darkening, overpainting, overexposing, doubling — with this brush technique, Wang Chu seeks to address the state of consciousness of individuals burdened by societal antagonisms.

Wang Chu explores the recurrence of the same: the hourglass of life is turned over again and again, with the same sand, only now it falls in myriad new combinations, and the ever-same sunlight breaks into various colors, creating the illusion of life's vibrancy.

Through Wang Chu's hourglass, Western postmodernism trickles down and settles onto his canvas as an oil painting. What initially appears to be a décollage reveals itself upon closer inspection as a sophisticated brushwork that evokes a multitude of associations in the viewer, yet never resolves into a coherent narrative. The artist intends to present the stories of humanity as fundamentally open but temporally limited.

What, then, is the purpose of this consciousness-critical disintegration of human living conditions that does not tell a cohesive story? Wang Chu's play with the visual elements of modernity serves as a prelude to a revival of Chinese ink painting. He merges the experiences gained from engaging with Western representation with his training in classical Chinese ink painting. From the melting pot of these two painting cultures, he amalgamates an unprecedented ink brushstroke that allows him to bring the aforementioned openness of human stories to a conclusion. (Illustration 1)

Wang Chu's ink paintings capture moments of eternity, those instances when the hourglass comes to a standstill, when the upper bulb has run empty, and the hourglass is turned to let time trickle down once more.

In contrast to the oil paintings, the ink works do not depict humanity as fragmented and aimless, but rather as a being of light, a bearer of hope, guiding the way out of the chaos it has created.