Calligraphy of Chen Xiongxiang and Paintings of Chen Weinong
Myrna Myers, 11 Rue de Beaune, 75007 Paris, France
11 June - 12 July 2003
This double exhibition during the Carré Rive Gauche 2003, the Year of China in Paris, is an illustration of the ancient Chinese proverb that painting and calligraphy flow from the same source. The artists, father and son, share the same love of brush and ink. Chen Xiongxiang made his career in sericulture in Hangzhou as a specialist in the care of mulberry trees, the leaves of which are the only source of food for silkworms. However, since the age of thirteen he practiced each day tracing the characters of the phrases or poems of the ancient Chinese philosophers and sages. His work today reflects those of a cultivated man who honours the great tradition of the scholar.
In his paintings, Chen Weinong, whilst absorbing the currents of Chinese and Western painting traditions, explores new ways brush and ink to express the drama of nature. One perceives the rocky promontories with trees clinging to hill-sides over the void. Sometimes, veils of mist dissolve their contours; forms seem to float, suggesting the essence of darkness and light, material and immaterial worlds.