A COLLECTION OF ART CRITICISMS FOR

THE AESTHETIC PHILOSOPHIES OF “NEO-

CHINESE-INK MOVEMENTS” WITHIN THE

HONG KONG ART SCENE

LEE KWUN LEUNG VINCENT (李冠良)

Academic qualifications: GRADE A in HKCEE ART (2003) & HKALE ART (2005)BA VISUAL ARTS (HKBU), MSSc. CONTEMPORARY CHINA STUDIES (HKBU)

1

Chan Shing-kau and his loyal Neo-Ink followers – Being the genuine avant-gardes of “original Hong Kong aesthetics” to facilitate a cross-strait admiration on Hong Kong fine arts

"MENTAL IMAGERY" - A Joint Exhibition of 15 Modern Chinese-Ink Artists from Hong Kong

Opening Reception: 2:30 P.M, on 25 July 2015

Organizer: Shenzhen City Baopoxuan Cultural Company Limited

Co-Organizers:

- Shenzhen City Shazheng Chamber of Commerce

- Shenzhen City Zhenghexuan Gallery of Red Woods

- Shenzhen City Yalan Electronic Product Supplies Company Limited

Duration of Exhibition:

25 July 2015 - 8 August 2015

Address of Exhibition Venue: 

3rd Floor, 63 Shazheng Xinqiao Beihuan Road, Baoan District, Shenzhen City (at the

opposite side of Changfeng Hotel)

2

Chan Shing Kau – Mysterious Landscape Version 17 (夢幻山水十七)179 x 97 cm

On 18 July 2011, I had a chance to visit the “Innovative Ink Painting 2011” exhibition at 4th Floor Exhibition Gallery of Hong Kong Cultural Centre Administration Building on behalf of the Art Of Nature International Company Limited (天趣國際藝術傳播有限公司). I felt very touched to witness that Mr. Tang Hoi-chiu (鄧海超先生 ), Curator of Hong Kong Museum of Art, paid a great tribute to the contributions of both Hong Kong Modern Ink Painting Society (香港現代水墨畫會 , HKMIPS) and Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association (當代創意水墨畫會 , CIIPA) in the local fine-art circuit. Respecting the original ink painting as the most typical form of creative medium to tell the global art scene about the genuine picture of “original Hong

3

Kong fine arts”, Mr. Tang Hoi-chiu acknowledged Mr. Chan Shing-kau (陳成球先生)’s commitment in utilizing his role as Master Liu Guosong (劉國松大師)’s devoted apprentice to stir up a “renewed” tradition for a playful rediscovery on the noumenon of “moisture-ink-paper” interaction through striking a balance between “experimental” and “secularized” elements.

The Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association (CIIPA), established in 2010, is operated with the reformative philosophy of Hong Kong Modern Ink Painting Society (HKMIPS) as a laid foundation. The CIIPA further encourages the Chinese-ink enthusiasts to transform “Neo-Ink” as getting more approachable to the humanistic and literary concerns of Hong Kong community, as the members use to conduct workshops in local schools and elderly centers in a voluntary basis. Representatives from CIIPA, particularly for Miss. Brenda Hong Ngan-ping (康雁屏女士), can be regarded as a group of “Renaissance” enlighteners who hope to diminish the over-predominance of design-based functionalities on Neo-Ink expression. Indeed, if the art scholars trace back the fundamental blueprint of Lingnan Fine Arts, it cannot be denied that creating Neo-Ink paintings based on Xie He (謝赫)’s norm of “spiritual vividness” (qi yun sheng dong, 氣韻生動) is not a wrong psychology at all. Corresponding with Mr. Van Lau (文樓先生)’s citation in a chapter about Mr. Wong Pui-kong (黃配江先生)’s Chinese-ink paintings with genre features of Cheung Chau Island from his scholarly publication called “A Random Record of Artistic Destiny” (《藝緣隨想錄》), Hua Yilun (華翼綸), a painter from Qing Dynasty who particularly adored the art pieces that transcended the level of rationality in his “A Dialogue of Painting Theories” ( 《畫說》 ) publication, interpreted the preciousness of “breast-based” creativity with a scriptural statement – “Painting should be subjected to one’s consistent ideal despite of loneliness. Once this mindset is accomplished, a painter can naturally portray the hills and valleys based on the honest illusions from his imaginative breast (i.e. subconscious mind). If a painter surrenders to the general trend of superficial comprehension on aesthetic noumenon, his works would definitely be depreciated to either a kitsch or an over-ripped level (畫必孤行己意，乃可自寫吾胸中之邱壑，苟一循人，非俗即熟 ).” The realm of “spiritual vividness” is attained only through a fully-pledged exploration of one’s “egocentric benevolences” (or “ego-benevolences”), whereas the members of CIIPA manipulate the transformation period of Contemporary Art millennium since the 21st century to revive an academic respect towards the uniqueness of each Neo-Ink artist’s “perceptual experiences”.

4

The contributions of Mr. Chan Shing-kau, First Director of HKMIPS and Honorary Adviser of CIIPA, lay on his invention of three self-expressive methodologies, namely “plucking sinew and peeling skin” (抽筋剝皮皴), “white linear as a substitute to black linear” (以白線代替黑線) and “white linear for a production of tensions” (白線產出張力). Chan Shing-kau teaches his Neo-Ink members to be submissive with the awesome climatic illusions beyond Heaven and Earth, as most of the sages in the fine-art circuit use to construct an apogee that connects their hearts with the refined spirituality of our Creator. He, as well as his followers in HKMIPS and CIIPA, respects the divinity of textural strokes in describing “breath” (qi, 氣 ) with a highly sensationalized appearance. Moreover, as a CIIPA member called Chan Chak-fai (陳澤輝 ) commented, Chan Shing-kau encourages his Neo-Ink members to enrich the vision of “spiritual vividness” with a research on “the dynamics of fluids”. Chan Chak-fai’s explanation of “fluid dynamics” is as follows:

“The flow of fluid originates from the notion of dynamism. The origin of dynamic generally includes pressures. The machinery-based dynamic or the non-machinery-based dynamic cannot produce flows if it lacks forces to push forward its manifestation. If there was a stagnation of flows, the expression of a painting could not be profoundly accomplished…”

The Neo-Ink institution of Hong Kong can be categorized as three sets of ideologies, namely “left-wing”, “middle-wing” and “right-wing”. Indeed, the term “right-wing” implies the liberal thoughts from either the “Sino-Western-minded” Hong Kong intellectuals, or the “romanticist-minded” Taiwanese contemporary-art enthusiasts. The ink paintings by Mr. Chan Shing-kau, as well as his loyal followers from HKMIPS and CIIPA, belong to the “right-wing” school of thought. Master Liu Guosong persists with his effort to conduct academic seminars at various tertiary institutes in Mainland China for encouraging our Mainland artist compatriots to explore more expressionistic innovations with reference to his successful experiences of Neo-Ink education in Taiwan, whereas the Qingdao City Museum of Fine Arts recently invited Mr. Chan Shing-kau to curate “The Way of Shuimo – Modern Ink Paintings of Chan Shing Kau” (尋源問道．陳成球現代水墨) exhibition in November 2012. Moreover, Master Liu Guosong has selected the contemporary Chinese-ink paintings of Miss. Brenda Hong Ngan-ping, Founding President of CIIPA, as

5

distinguished exhibits for an upcoming joint Modern-Ink painting exhibition in Taiwan in December 2012. Based on these prominent achievements, it is obvious for us to recognize a fact that, the “right-wing” category of Neo-Ink painting is full of potentials as it helps facilitate the introduction of enlightened Chinese-ink methodologies throughout the entire Mainland Continent, with Hong Kong as an intermediary platform to intensify the Mainland-Taiwan mutual communications. Once the “right-wing” category of Neo-Ink promotion provides a legitimate framework for the Mainland art academia to foster an empathetic mind towards the precious culture of Taiwanese fine arts, there’s a foreseeable prospect for us to witness a cross-strait harmonious integration among the Chinese-painting intellectuals from Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Sustainably speaking, the Mainland art intellectuals, as well as curators from the European, American and Asian countries, would comprehend the prior vision of sheltering Hong Kong art academia to inherit “Hong Kong Modern and Contemporary Ink Painting” as an institutional language of “original Hong Kong aesthetics”.

The supports from Mr. Tang Hoi-chiu, “Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 2010” published by CUHK Department of Fine Arts, and the Hong Kong art enthusiasts from the local fine-art circuit are regarded as “switching on a green traffic light” for Mr. Chan Shing-kau, as well as his Neo-Ink members from Hong Kong Modern Ink Painting Society (HKMIPS) and Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association (CIIPA), to confidently go ahead with a determination to accomplish a cosmopolitan goal of emerging popularity within the museum, gallery, art-exposition and art-historian circuit in this Contemporary Art millennium.

6

Brenda Hong Ngan-ping ( 康雁屏 ), who is Chan Shing-kau ( 陳成球 )’s apprentice, took a photo with Mr. Tang Hoi-chiu (鄧海超先生), Former Chief Curator of Hong Kong Museum of Art, during "The Unrestrained" (墨言自在) contemporary Chinese-ink painting exhibition at Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre

Neo-Ink Creativity in Hong Kong since the 21st Century:From a Modernistic emphasis on medium experimentation to a Contemporary notion of perceptual language

7

Modern Chinese-ink paintings by Master Liu Guosong, who is Chan Shing-kau’s master

The University Museum and Art Gallery of The University of Hong Kong invited Master

Liu Guosong to conduct a “Modern Ink Painting Workshop” - Invitation card

8

The practice of Neo-Ink Creativity is regarded as the most original asset that represents the genres of Hong Kong painting art. In recent years, more painting societies from the civic level are established to facilitate the on-going reformation of Neo-Ink mechanism, such as "Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association" (當代創意水墨畫會), with Chan Shing-kau (陳成球), who is Master Liu Guosong (劉國松大師)’s prior apprentice, as Honorary Adviser. Emerging Hong Kong artists from the 21st Century are pursuing a vision that is getting to be a bit different from the direction of apprentices nurtured by Lu Shoukun (吕壽琨 ) , as a prior emphasis is put on the expression of secular phenomenon. Lu Shou-kun pursued a “purification” of ink language to a minimalist status, which corresponded with the Western trend of “Deconstructionism”. Kan Tai-keung (靳棣強 ) emerged from an epoch that Hong Kong was brewing up as an industrial entrepot; with electronics, textile-and-weaving, clock-and-watch, and daily necessities as major manufactures. The term “Hong Kong Modernism” implies the notion of “rationality”, so as the logical composition skills of “Modern Ink” creations. Local artists, who were interested in having their Chinese-painting ideals accomplished, had to be enrolled in the design profession and enter the corresponding guilds for getting collective resources to popularize their commitment in “medium experimentation”. They, being influenced by the “golden-grid” principles of design-based ideology, conveyed an admiration on the input of scientific, technological and machinery elements at the expense of emotional contexts. However, the trend of “Modernism” for affecting the official interpretation of Chinese ink is declining once the Information Industry substitutes heavy-and-light manufacture as a major economic column of Hong Kong in the 21st Century. The Information Industry keeps enlightening Y-Generation with a variety of academic, cultural, fashion and entertainment thoughts; which diminishes art circuit’s admiration on infra-structural vanities as a sole model for their thematic substances. Painting artists from the Y-Generation are influenced by “universal values”, namely a wholehearted care for the underprivileged class, the revitalization of old genre episodes, the conservation of historic urban patterns, the nostalgic pursuit for infant or teenage memories, the cultivation of eco-friendly awareness in our society, and the search for non-utilitarian-based interpersonal relationships.

9

Examples like Wilson Shieh Ka-ho (石家豪) and Wong Xiang-yi (黄向藝) dare to create an individualistic mode of figurative iconographies with humorous features; whereas their contouring techniques and chrominance moderations are practiced in accordance with the meticulous gongbi conventions. They, as well as the Neo-Ink artists from the Y-Generation, correspond with the anticipation of contemporary-art scene to revive the trend of “Structuralism” and “Romanticism”. Stressing the plastic compositions, Neo-Ink artists in Hong Kong dare to comprise literary and narrative contexts in their perceptual expressions. They would no longer treat Chinese ink as a kind of spatial manipulation, but honoring it as an empathetic language to help the underprivileged minorities better present their subconscious thoughts and illusions. Wong Hau-kwei (黄孝逵 ), a sophisticated Hong Kong Modern-ink artist with climatic tranquility as his creative expertises, curated a cross-generation exhibition called “Ink Art In The New Century” at the Exhibition Gallery of Hong Kong Central Library. Wong and the Organizing Committee showed a great forbearance on the young Neo-Ink artists who want to envision a fraternal and equalitarian future through their playful but pictorial stories. Even though their image perceptions were influenced by animations and interactive-media channels, they refused to be submissive with the industrial norms of design realm. The Neo-Ink artists, in this cross-generation exhibition, thoroughly presented their enthusiasm on the mission of searching for their egocentric identities but reserving a great extent of elements for persisting as a “global citizen”. The growth of Contemporary Arts stimulates the Hong Kong ink painting to re-compose some of the “traditional-art” regularities and prevent the medium of Chinese ink from falling into the trap of “nihilistic experimentations”, which is an expediency being practiced by the representatives of “Minimalism” and “Dadaism”. The most inspiring example is that, Chan Shing Kau and Peter Siu Pak-keung (蕭柏強 ) encourage their Chinese-ink apprentices to foster a sentimental mind towards the natural phenomenon through teaching them diversified textural but self-expressive techniques, such as “Paper Rubbing”, “Ink Stainning”, “Water Marbling” and “Fiber Texturing”. These textural techniques guide artists to unleash their aesthetic emotions with magnanimous structures, and they heal the ink language after an intransigent dominance of sluggish design elements.

10

Chan Shing-kau – Inheriting an institutional language of “original Hong Kong aesthetics”

(LEFT) 春山  The Mountains in Spring :  87cm x  50cm  (水墨設色紙本 Chinese Ink on Xuanzhi Paper)(RIGHT) 夏夢  The Dream of Summer :  87cm x  51cm  (水墨設色紙本 Chinese Ink on Xuanzhi Paper)

In the 21st century, the fine-art circuit in Hong Kong is noted by the prior importance of solidifying a unique language for its local painting culture. Both the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the academia recognize a fact that, the

11

Modern Chinese-Ink Painting demonstrates the global art scene with the most “original” perspective of Hong Kong creativity. Thus, it can be regarded as the most “legitimate” form of Hong Kong art under a basis of Sino-Western cultural interactions. The Modern Chinese-ink Painting emerged while Lu Shoukun (呂壽琨) was initiating a “New Chinese-Ink Movement” (新水墨畫運動 ) during his capacity as a Chinese-painting instructor in the Extramural Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lu Shoukun fostered a group of apprentices who showcased courage in transcending the limitations of traditional literati paintings. Since the 1960s, Lu’s apprentices, namely Ng Yiu-chung (吳耀忠), Wucius Wong (王無邪), Leung Kui-ting (梁巨廷), Kan Tai-keung (靳埭強) and so forth, united as progressive intellectuals to re-interpret the methodologies of Chinese-ink infiltration with reference to the geometrical and symmetrical emphasis of graphic-design theories.

At that time, Liu Guosong (劉國松), as a Taiwanese art master, came to Hong Kong and corresponded with Lu Shoukun’s mission to promote Modernism with Chinese-ink aesthetics. Chan Shing-kau (陳成球) is one of Liu Guosong’s devoted apprentices, who is much affected by Liu’s favor in adopting “paper-tearing” (撕紙) and “water-rubbing” (水拓) techniques as a way to recompose the fragmented illusions of natural landscapes. Chan Shing-kau realized that, the Taiwan art culture accommodated various sorts of liberal-minded art styles from Southeast Asia and the West, whereas the so-called “right-wing” cultural and ideological elements could be applied to enrich the system of Hong Kong Ink Paintings with vivid expressionistic contexts. Bearing in mind with Liu Guosong’s guidance, Chan Shing-kau openly accepts watercolor and dissolved acrylic as complements to regulate the moisturized Chinese ink. He lays stress on a harmonious coexistence among various kinds of “hydraulic paints” once recognizing a fact that they can be equivalently absorbed by xuanzhi paper (宣紙), mulberry paper (桑皮紙), mazhi paper (麻紙), synthetic-fiber paper (人造纖維紙 ), cotton cloth (棉布 ) and other types of two-dimensional Chinese mediums.

Chan Shing-kau upholds a new concept that, the Chinese ink can be regarded as a kind of chrominance, or to say, a kind of “pigment” for highlighting the vitality of our secularity and ecology. Chan Shing-kau and his fellow Chinese-ink painters in Hong Kong made a wide range of experimental effects by a fully pledged manifestation on the inter-relationship among paper, brush and ink. A kind reference was made on the seven kinds of Chinese-ink

12

applications advocated by Huang Binhong (黃賓虹), which were, condensed ink (濃墨法), paled ink (淡墨法), cleaved ink (破墨法), sprinkled ink (潑墨法), soaked ink (漬墨法), scorched ink (焦墨法) and shrunk ink (宿墨法). For the use of new textural strokes, apart from following his old acquaintances to pursue “pearl” strokes (珍珠皴), “leaf vein” strokes (葉脈皴), “fish net” strokes (漁網皴), “shifting sand” strokes (流沙皴) and “ripple” strokes (波紋皴), Chan Shing-kau attempt to enrich the methodologies by inventing the “plucking sinew and peeling skin” strokes (抽筋剝皮皴), “white linear as a substitute to black linear” ( 以白線代替黑線 ), and “white linear for a production of tensions”(白線產出張力 ). Liu Guosong, his master, endeavored for his art creations during the period that the United States accomplished its mission in sending astronauts, like Neil Armstrong, to reach the space and explore the noumenon of moon. Getting admired with the scientific achievements of the Americans, Liu Guosong guided Chan Shing-kau to withdraw from the “scholarly-liked” restricted eyesight on our Nature and re-explore the virtues of this Universe based on the Western mode of rational philosophy. Since then, Chan adapts to foster inspirations related to the idea of eternity given by our Creator. Even though Chan’s description on mountainous landscapes reflects a self-expressive mode of liberation from the ancient doctrines, we can still comprehend Chan’s nationalistic sentiments due to his persisting efforts in making the Western visual elements conciliate with the harmonious norm of Confucian-Taoist culture. Up to now, his Chinese-ink pieces reserve an appropriate scale of spatial distributions, and he enables ink strokes to interlace as decorative patterns.

Indeed, Chan Shing-kau encourages the younger generation to remold the “self-images” of their Chinese-ink paintings with compositional innovations. In 2010, corresponding with Liu Guosong’s ongoing efforts in conducting Modern Ink seminars in various institutes and academies of Mainland China, Chan Shing-kau found the “Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association” (當代創意水墨畫會) and united a group of Chinese-ink enthusiasts for organizing a persisting series of joint exhibitions. The establishment of “Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association” further acknowledges those who honor “traveling spirits”, as Chan Shing-kau conveys “self-expressiveness” and “leisure” as two important criterions for making Modern Ink Painting emerge as an orthodox institution in the fine-art circuit of Hong Kong.

Recently, Chan Shing-kau concentrates on portraying climatic, atmospheric

13

and hydraulic transformations during the seasonal changes. He dares to constitute fogs, mists, smog and dew as the major substances in his imaginative landscapes. Putting aside the centralized use of brush forces (中鋒 ), Chan Shing-kau adopts a huge portion of moisture to create washing effects for the piecemeal ink drops that are mixed with color pigments. Being successful in presenting art lovers with the vision of immensity and tranquility, Chan Shing-kau accomplishes the goal of pursuing a utopian realm of internalized enhancements with Zen philosophy as a guiding code.

Contemporary Chinese-ink as a unique asset of Hong Kong fine arts

The “Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards”, an exhibition that is alternatively held by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, demonstrates art lovers a phenomenon, that its “Chinese Medium Gallery” forbears a self-expressive and creative mode of Chinese-ink painting pursuits and makes the corresponding fruits emerge as a representative school of thought in the global art scene. Mr. Tang Hoi-chiu (鄧海超先生) has ever made honorable presences at the joint exhibitions organized by “Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association” (C.I.I.P.A, 當代創意水墨畫會 ) for several times. He gives an unconditional acknowledgement on the efforts of Liu Guosong (劉國松)’s apprentices in inheriting their styles as a kind of “Hong Kong fine arts”.

Brenda Hong Ngan-ping ( 康 雁 屏 ) is the President of “Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association”. Being an intellectual who pursues “Feministic Art”, Brenda introduces lots of inspiring but “tendered” visual languages for her registered members to either imitate or make reference on. 

Brenda initiates a trend of “Neo-Romanticism” as similar as how the Taiwan art circuit undergoes in its process of “contemporarization”. Having a studio at Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) to conduct regular lectures and creative courses, Brenda encourages her followers to perceive the grace of their surrounding natural environments, to select some coloring mediums and chrominance modules that are prohibited from the ancient Chinese court and literati painting methodology, and to slightly apply some visual effects that correspond with our digitalized age of multimedia entertainments.

14

Of course, for some occasions, Brenda would possess a welcoming attitude if some of her followers wanted to withdraw from the clumsy secularity and imitate the ancient literati to paint some illusionary scenes in a very Taoist manner. To Brenda’s mind, all kinds of possibilities are tolerable, under a condition that the members from C.I.I.P.A are identical to their perceptual experiences of living in this humanistic Hong Kong society.

Brenda Hong is very loyal to the educational principle of Chan Shing-kau (陳成 球 ), whom is Liu Guosong’s top-notch apprentice and serves as the Honorary Advisor of C.I.I.P.A. Brenda respects Chan Shing-kau’s experimental philosophy, and this makes him keep being open-minded with different kinds of liberal modifications on brushwork adoptions. Chan Shing-kau invented three stylistic methodologies, namely “plucking sinew and peeling skin” strokes (抽筋剝皮皴), “white linear as a substitute to black linear” (以白絲代替黑線), and “white linear for a production of tensions” (白線產出張力 ). With the influence of Chan Shing-kau, Brenda believes that textural strokes are not only restricted to the pressing of Chinese brushes. Textural strokes can be expressed through alternative uses of collage, printing, rubbing and marbling methods.

What is “printing”? As Chan Shing-kau demonstrates, some ink strokes and regiments are applied onto the moisturized surface of a table. Then, a piece of xuanzhi paper (宣紙), mulberry paper (桑皮紙), mazhi paper (麻紙), synthetic-fibre paper (人造纖維紙) or cotton cloth (棉布) is placed onto that table. The ideal ink patterns are then absorbed by that particular piece of paper or cloth, whereas some illusionary and romanticized visual effects from the ink will appear as similar as the dying processes.

How about “rubbing”? First, rub a piece of paper into a very wrinkled status. Let the moisturized ink with Chinese watercolour dye along the wrinkles, and the nonchalant printmaking-liked patterns would appear as similar as the firework explosions. For some cases of experiments, the whole paper or cloth would show an illusionary scene of a cracking ice mountain. Once this piece of paper is ironed through the paper-framing and handscroll-decorating process, it becomes like a magnificent landscape painting with misty atmosphere.

15

Brenda’s expertise is to paint lotuses with a Rococo vision. The lotuses are described with an adjective called “drunk”, as the petals of the floral blossoms are seemingly dived into a glass of wines to release the lipstick-liked pigments.

Brenda makes a breakthrough on the greyish tone of “literati-oriented” Chinese painting tradition by introducing a wide spectrum of bright watercolors. She wants to give happiness to the art lovers. She hopes to convey how a literati can appear to be very immortal which his/her soul can avoid being polluted despite of growing up from a place with dirty mud.

Of course, in Brenda’s mind, the floating gestures of petals can be as similar as the shaking of silks. The entire vision is filled with romance because it drives art lovers to recall the psychological mood of those well-cultivated princesses inside the royal palace. The princesses practised the classical pianos with spiritual leisure, and the melodies instilled warmth to the surrounding court environment even it was in late autumn. The lotuses, created by Brenda, are invulnerable to the freezing weather; as they aim at showcasing the spirit of integrity. 

Wang Xiaobo (王曉波 ) has ever cited the theory of Zong Bing (宗炳 ), an intellectual from Southern Dynasty in 400 A.D. while writing a commentary for Chan Shing-kau’s personal art catalogue. The commentary suggests that a contemporary Chinese-ink painter should pay a great tribute to three visual ideals, namely “the innermost interaction between art lovers and the landscapes through the aesthetic pleasures” (應目會心 ), “the sensation on divinity through the aesthetic pleasures” (應目感神) and “the pleasures from the transcendence of divinity upon the virtues” (神超理得 ). To achieve this realm, as a Vice Editor of “Duoyun Magazine” (朵雲雜誌 ) called Shu Shijun (舒士俊) commented, the contemporary Chinese-ink artists, like Chan Shing-kau and those other “Neo-Ink” enlighteners from Hong Kong, are keen at transforming their brushworks from “half freehand” to “bold freehand”. A reference is seemingly made on the essences of Taichi practices, as Brenda and the C.I.I.P.A members uphold the strong “yin-yang” contrasts while spraying additional water with cleaning soap onto a piece of paper or cloth which is filled with soaked ink spots. The illusions from these spots form the realm of “qi” (breath, 氣), as it is a consequence of “playful” experimentations on ink dripping.

16

The “Contemporary Innovative Ink Painting Association” (C.I.I.P.A) regularly holds joint exhibitions at Hong Kong City Hall. Peter Siu Pak-keung (蕭柏強), one of the members from C.I.I.P.A, holds a solo exhibition for his contemporary Chinese-ink pieces at JCCAC. The C.I.I.P.A represents the spirit of Hong Kong in accommodating all trendy sorts of Sino-Western aesthetic coexistences, and it welcomes art enthusiasts from various professional backgrounds to join its liberal creative researches.

Brenda Hong - The Drunk Lotus (Horizontal)

Brenda Hong Ngan-ping's works at Hong Kong City Hall

17

Brenda Hong - The Drunk Lotus (Vertical)

Judy Chiang – Landscape

18

Chan Yin-wan's works at Hong Kong City Hall

19

Peter Siu Pak-keung's works at JCCAC

Hui Yan Ki – Experience tranquility from mountainous heteromorphy

Hui Yan Ki (or Xu Enqi, 許恩琦 ), a cored artist from the Art Of Nature International Company Limited, found a renewed style by integrating Surrealism with the self-expressiveness of Chinese-ink creativity. By the end of the 20th century, Hui sets a prior example for the Hong Kong art circuit in bringing about a resurgence of Chinese aesthetics by referring to the modernistic norms, such as a design-oriented mode of spatial distribution with a particular emphasis on ecological harmony.

20

By observing the steadiness of the moisturized atmosphere in his monumental landscape paintings, you can comprehend how Hui Yan Ki is fascinated with an accumulative mode of spiritual practice. Hui requests himself to conduct a zenith level of “precision” on the imaginative substances emerged in his subconscious mind. Unlike the literati-art temperament of Wang Meng in Yuan Dynasty, Hui Yan Ki withdraws himself from all kinds of “rationale-driven” possibility related to a description of textural complications. He examines his intuition by perceiving the particles of hydraulic air, the nourishments from aqua pura, the fragrance from lichens and the veins of enormous riverbed. Despite of describing the eroded mountainous structures with subtle ink chrominance, Hui specifies the eternity of river flows with twinkling apparitions. The water that Hui represents is a post-conventional association with the invisible springs from nirvana, and it is an essential source to resolve the thirst of mankind. Not only does Hui’s water discourage us from being deceived by mechanical ligaments, it propels us to re-experience the infinite comfort of paleness once our envy on atrocities is minimized. Hui Yan Ki notes us that, there’s no longer an endless point in our path of toughness. Rather, we must always prepare to embrace the contentment from a predictable adaptation to being altruistic with the ecstatic phenomenon of hydrological circulations.

An infant context that inspires art lovers the most is that, the mountains, the hills, the cliffs and the valleys, which underwent a re-composition by Hui Yan Ki, are much similar to the noumenon of embryos due to the soften and organic exteriority with “leaping-liked” rhythms. Hui intends to reflect a sign that, the enormous Continent of the Earth is breathing and exhaling with a very trans-physical mode of respiratory system granted by the Creator, whereas the wholesome evolution of its intrinsic condition strictly attaches to the benevolence of human thought. Hui believes that, according to the Taoist doctrine, a range of neat mountains implies an authentic version of “sages” in this secular, in which they are as conscious as the Creator with the issue that whether the human beings are able to administer the biological diversity based on conscience and righteousness. By not over-exalting our intelligence, Hui Yan Ki redirects art lovers to perennially bear in mind with a pragmatic statement from “Book of Changes”, which is, “In the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One”. To Hui’s creative doctrine, there’s no doubt that, artists have to be submissive with the regularities of this Universe. By

21

fostering endurance to the coexistence between the realm of retreat and the realm of fraternity, Hui believes that, artists can be much inspired by the virtues to draw some personalized scenes that are empathetic with the apprehensions of this awakening habitat. No ego-dystonic impact would occur while manifesting our harmonized intuition to comprehend the effect of heteromorphy being experienced in a diatonic merge among earth, water and air.

Being respectful with the Taoist norm of “destiny”, Hui Yan Yi interprets Chinese ink as a mysterious medium in terms of propelling diversified kinds of articulate cells to fabricate the entire natural scenery. Thus, he attempts to convey the process of convergent evolution with a regiment of fogs, clouds, smog, dews and mist. Hui regards such a gaseous state of moisture as a favorable criterion for the Nature to get pregnant with microbiological lives, and a tranquility of airflow beyond the dampened valleys provides a peaceful shelter for them to absorb nutrients. Hui is very thanksgiving with a mission to retain him as being courteous with the predominance of climatic factors, and he deliberately reserves a large portion of the xuanzhi paper area for a random infiltration of pale ink as a mean of reiterating our piecemeal status in altering the disposition of our Mighty Nature. Even we’re entrenched by the potent landscapes, Hui Yan Ki’s Oriental mode of Surrealistic description on nature reminds us not to be panic with that irresistible occasion. Instead, Hui provides us with a hint that, we could reminisce how a persistence of “reconciliation” enables us to efficiently interact with the Creator for greater wisdoms to search for equilibrium among different sorts of conflicting norms in this secular, as well as acquiring peace from our regenerated soul through meditation.

22

23