Xian Rui 2011, featuring White Ink by Zheng Chongbin
Nearly two years in preparation. May 19, 2011 to July 30, 2011 at Chinese Culture Center and Silicon Valley Asian Art Center
Chronicle Review
“The paintings… make you think about the continuing march of abstract painting, and the rising power of bicultural artists like Zheng who combine and transcend disparate traditions.” –Tamara Straus, San Francisco Chronicle
“He has invented a style that has been hailed as “unprecedented.” –Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal
“The flowing forms… invite the viewer’s imagination to wander into and through them.” –Mark Van Proyen, Art in America
“He manages to create a supernatural atmosphere on the paper as if it is framed by nature or spirit.” –Abby Chen
“San Francisco-based Zheng Chongbin … turns the Chinese ink aesthetic on its head with bold, visceral abstract paintings.” –Christopher DeWolf, CNN
“His paintings push the possibilities of ink as a medium while at the same time challenging the boundaries of abstract painting.” – Dr. Shen Kuiyi, Yishu Journal, July/August 2011
“Zheng’s works mingle the past and present, granting glimpses of realities studied, seen and envisioned that burn brilliantly with poetry, poignancy, and power.”
–Collette Chattopadhyay, Yishu Journal, July/August 2011
Art Practical’s Zachary Royer Scholz calls CCC’s Xian Rui 2011 exhibition White Ink the “Best Exhibition you Likely Never Saw” in Art Practical’s Best of 2011 column. Says Royer:
the Chinese Cultural Center (CCC) may be a bit off the radar for many art viewers, but Zheng Chongbin’s exhibition White Ink was more than worth a visit. Drawing equally from Western abstraction and calligraphic tradition, Zheng’s visceral ink paintings paradoxically were both fresh and ancient. Though made on traditional Xuan calligraphic paper, the works possess a blunt structural power similar to the work of Franz Kline, an emotional weight reminiscent of Anselm Kiefer, and a gestural embodiment that calls to mind the performative drawings of San Francisco’s own Tom Marioni.
Chronicle Review
“The paintings… make you think about the continuing march of abstract painting, and the rising power of bicultural artists like Zheng who combine and transcend disparate traditions.” –Tamara Straus, San Francisco Chronicle
“He has invented a style that has been hailed as “unprecedented.” –Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal
“The flowing forms… invite the viewer’s imagination to wander into and through them.” –Mark Van Proyen, Art in America
“He manages to create a supernatural atmosphere on the paper as if it is framed by nature or spirit.” –Abby Chen
“San Francisco-based Zheng Chongbin … turns the Chinese ink aesthetic on its head with bold, visceral abstract paintings.” –Christopher DeWolf, CNN
“His paintings push the possibilities of ink as a medium while at the same time challenging the boundaries of abstract painting.” – Dr. Shen Kuiyi, Yishu Journal, July/August 2011
“Zheng’s works mingle the past and present, granting glimpses of realities studied, seen and envisioned that burn brilliantly with poetry, poignancy, and power.”
–Collette Chattopadhyay, Yishu Journal, July/August 2011
Art Practical’s Zachary Royer Scholz calls CCC’s Xian Rui 2011 exhibition White Ink the “Best Exhibition you Likely Never Saw” in Art Practical’s Best of 2011 column. Says Royer:
the Chinese Cultural Center (CCC) may be a bit off the radar for many art viewers, but Zheng Chongbin’s exhibition White Ink was more than worth a visit. Drawing equally from Western abstraction and calligraphic tradition, Zheng’s visceral ink paintings paradoxically were both fresh and ancient. Though made on traditional Xuan calligraphic paper, the works possess a blunt structural power similar to the work of Franz Kline, an emotional weight reminiscent of Anselm Kiefer, and a gestural embodiment that calls to mind the performative drawings of San Francisco’s own Tom Marioni.
