New York Exhibitions>>
Labyrinth
Tu Hongtao
Chinese Contemporary Gallery, New York, is pleased to present Labyrinth, an exhibition of new oil works on canvas by Tu Hongtao. Tu Hongtao: Labyrinth will be exhibited from 23 February – 23 March 2008.
Tu Hongtao is a painter working in the creative hothouse of Chengdu. Similar to earlier great contemporary Sichuan artists his work deals with the place, position and psyche of the individual. He is a young man acutely sensitive to the innumerable ingredients and signals which define the complexion of the society in which he lives. In the case of present day Chengdu, this complexion is dynamic and mutating, providing never ending subject matter for a perceptive artist. His exceptional paintings portray the chaos, the solitude, the bizarre and the ethereal qualities of his world.
As a student studying at the prestigious China Academy of Art, Tu Hongtao was deeply inspired by the beautiful West Lake. He says being so close every day to this wonderful site impressed upon him the spiritual qualities of landscape. Similarly he speaks of the influence on his work of the great soul and power of Chinese ink painting, for which the West Lake would be obvious subject matter. Although choosing for his works the western medium of oil, Tu Hongtao clearly feels great resonance with his own culture’s cultural heritage. This spiritual quality of landscape, and especially its illusory qualities, play a prominent role in Tu Hongtao’s work.
APPARENTLY REAL
Julia Coleman, November 2007
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