Continuing through February 1, 2016
Chinese artist Pan Gongkai follows in the footsteps of his father and celebrated Chinese painter Pan Tianshou. Though Tianshou suffered persecution during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), he went on to create a large body of work in the tradition of brush and ink painting, influencing his son. Pan Gongkai’s "Noble Virtues" depicts “the four gentlemen” (si junzi): plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo and chrysanthemums. Gongkai’s fifteen meter scroll of ink on rice paper was hand carried in sections and then framed as one long, narrow work. The scroll, which reads right to left, represents the four seasons — the resilience of plum blossoms in winter, the delicate elegance of springtime orchids, the strength and flexibility of bamboo in summer, and the chrysanthemums defiantly blooming in autumn against the approaching winter chill.
The five ink on rice paper paintings on the opposite wall are named as a series, "Lotus Pond.” They depict the flower, which can lie dormant for many years prior to blossoming, emerging from murky waters, symbolizing the resilience and purity of the soul. On a more personal level the work exposes the artist’s deliberate, well-honed and confident and expressive line-making. Their spontaneous feel is reminiscent of western abstract expressionist painters. Gongkai has commented that his kind of work may be lost on the current younger generations of Chinese artists because they are not being taught brush painting and therefore lack an appreciation of it. It is for this reason that Gongkai strongly believes in an international co-existence of continuing aesthetic traditions and working methods. The poetry and essence of Gongkai’s work makes the best case for the unique traditions of his home culture.
Published Courtesy of ArtSceneCal ©2015
