.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
In the mid-1990s, Chu Teh-Chun, by incorporating the gentle and subtle brushstrokes of traditional Chinese ink painting with the free and liberated techniques of Western Abstract Art, created Rime avec le pass, a daydream world - elusive yet tangible.
The colour blocks with hues of gems in this piece are reminiscent of the simple geometric patterns fairly esteemed by Wassily Kandinsky . Chu Teh-Chun has transformed all concrete items into abstraction, thereby simplifying the complex in his quest in creating a unique visual language that best delivers his philosophical views. Circular shapes, according to the pioneer Wassily Kandinsky, constitute 'an entire universe'. The stirring of intelligence within would be akin to nuclei of everything in Nature. In a similar manner, Chu Teh-Chun uses the solid yet unstable qualities of irregular shaped colour blocks with a purpose of conveying the idea that all of Nature is ephemeral.
By utilising the techniques of cursive script and splash-ink, the artist has created geometric patterns and contours to correspond with interwoven colour blocks. Layer upon layer, they give the composition extending visual depth. The convergence of cold and warm colours produces a roseate colour, which when viewed against a dark and azure background, resembles the flash of lightning. This bright light - descending from top to bottom - slashes through the silent night. A luminous aura created by bold brush strokes poses a dramatic contrast against the background of colour gradation often found in ink-wash painting. This strong light and shadow effect is also a prominent feature in Dawn in the Misty Rain by Li Keran, a master of modern ink painting. On the left side of Dawn, a colorless streak of cloudy mist contrasts with the dark mountain hues, an instance of artists arriving at the same goal but through different methods.
Chu Teh-Chun ingeniously infused the chiaroscuro technique with the poetic lyricism and vigour found in Chinese splash-ink landscape painting, giving an enduring quality to a composition permeated with vibrant colours. These colours and a diagonal structure not only imbue the composition with a pulsating rhythm, but also reveal the dynamic energy and cultural references which are intrinsic factors of the representation.
The colour blocks with hues of gems in this piece are reminiscent of the simple geometric patterns fairly esteemed by Wassily Kandinsky . Chu Teh-Chun has transformed all concrete items into abstraction, thereby simplifying the complex in his quest in creating a unique visual language that best delivers his philosophical views. Circular shapes, according to the pioneer Wassily Kandinsky, constitute 'an entire universe'. The stirring of intelligence within would be akin to nuclei of everything in Nature. In a similar manner, Chu Teh-Chun uses the solid yet unstable qualities of irregular shaped colour blocks with a purpose of conveying the idea that all of Nature is ephemeral.
By utilising the techniques of cursive script and splash-ink, the artist has created geometric patterns and contours to correspond with interwoven colour blocks. Layer upon layer, they give the composition extending visual depth. The convergence of cold and warm colours produces a roseate colour, which when viewed against a dark and azure background, resembles the flash of lightning. This bright light - descending from top to bottom - slashes through the silent night. A luminous aura created by bold brush strokes poses a dramatic contrast against the background of colour gradation often found in ink-wash painting. This strong light and shadow effect is also a prominent feature in Dawn in the Misty Rain by Li Keran, a master of modern ink painting. On the left side of Dawn, a colorless streak of cloudy mist contrasts with the dark mountain hues, an instance of artists arriving at the same goal but through different methods.
Chu Teh-Chun ingeniously infused the chiaroscuro technique with the poetic lyricism and vigour found in Chinese splash-ink landscape painting, giving an enduring quality to a composition permeated with vibrant colours. These colours and a diagonal structure not only imbue the composition with a pulsating rhythm, but also reveal the dynamic energy and cultural references which are intrinsic factors of the representation.