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US printmaking show draws crowds
January 5, 2011, Wednesday
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ZHEJIANG Art Museum is holding two side-by-side exhibitions of very distinct art forms - Chinese painting and contemporary American printmaking - and as Xu Wenwen discovers, the innovative prints seem to make the biggest impression.
With the American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition and the Chinese Painting Biennial both underway at the Zhejiang Art Museum, citizens can appreciate two distinct art forms in one place. Although so far, the Western art style seems to be winning the most praise.
Printmaking, an art form that originated in China after paper was invented, was created by transferring ink from a matrix, typically wood, to a sheet of paper. In the 15th century, it flourished in Europe and continued to be practiced as one of the fine arts worldwide.
In Western countries, the art form has been developed so that not only wood or metal plates are used to print. Instead, polymer plates, linoleum and screens made of silk are used, while many modern painting skills and digital printing widen the range of techniques.
The American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition has collected prints from eight top American printmaking studios. The prints are made using various skills, such as relief, etching, lithography, digital print, photogravure and screen-printing.
"The exhibition shows that American printmaking is diversified," said Ma Fenghui, director of both the Chinese Artists Association and the Zhejiang Art Museum.
"As a part of American modern art, American contemporary printmaking has been developing since the 1960s," Ma added. "During that period, artists and printmaking studios have formed an intimate cooperation."
According to Ma, printmaking in Western countries is not an art created only by the artist. A technician assists in the printing process so as to avoid technical problems, but the work ultimately has the artist's signature.
An artist can present their idea to the printmaking studio and the technicians take charge of putting the idea into practice, so artists don't have to worry if their ideas are too wild to be made.
Owing to such cooperation, the styles of contemporary prints are unrestrained and the contents brim with talent because all kinds of artists can try printmaking.
For example, the self-portrait by Chuck Close, a noted American artist who specializes in photorealistic close-ups of people, is a print consisting of many small rings in squares, which symbolize his pores - Close's photos often feature skin pores.
Other works in the exhibition are very similar to photos since digital printing techniques can produce small details clear enough to recognize.
For instance, "Moth" by Joseph Scheer, whose current works span print media, video and web-based projects, uses technology to examine the insect at a very high resolution, which creates an effect of hyperreal vision and allows people to see details of the insect that cannot be discerned by the naked eye.
Though combined with some advanced technology such as digital and multi-media skills, many artists insist on using traditional materials, yet produce modern effects.
Francesco Clemente's "Self-portrait with Lemon Heart" uses a 21-color hand-printed woodcut technique in the Ukiyo-e (a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings) tradition with 15 woodblocks, yet the oddly tinted watercolor on paper has Occidental appeal more than Oriental feature.
"Traditional Oriental gouache influenced Western printmaking and has led to art styles distinctive from Oriental ones," said Sang Huoyao, vice director of the Zhejiang Art Museum.
"It's an inspiration to Chinese traditional art, which has improved little in modern times," said Sang.
This is evident with the First Hangzhou Chinese Painting Biennial, which is exhibiting alongside the American printmaking at the same museum but receives less acclaim because of its limited styles and content.
The biennial is full of paintings of nature, so it seems that mountains, water, flowers, birds, fish and insects are the constant themes in Chinese paintings, but "actually, the range of Chinese paintings can be much wider," said Sang.
"In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the art of Chinese painting reached its peak. However, today, we continue to imitate those predecessors, which is not innovative at all."
"Artists are not technicians, they should present their culture more than techniques, and they should consider modern demands," he added. "Even a good piece of artwork must be so advanced that it will be approved as time goes by. That's how art is enlivened and carried forward."
In China, it is indisputable that the development of traditional Chinese paintings is restricted "because the artist takes on the role of the agent, leading to works created for customers' needs, who in fact know little about art," said Sang.
"The way to alter the situation is to set up professional studios and use agents like developed countries do, so that artists can focus on creating works that suit the time."
The American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition initiated by the National Art Museum of China is an itinerant exhibition that has been to Beijing and Shenzhen in Guangzhou Province, and will go to Shanghai in March.
? American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition
Date: through January 23
? Chinese Painting Biennial
Date: through February 27
Address: 138 Nanshan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
With the American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition and the Chinese Painting Biennial both underway at the Zhejiang Art Museum, citizens can appreciate two distinct art forms in one place. Although so far, the Western art style seems to be winning the most praise.
Printmaking, an art form that originated in China after paper was invented, was created by transferring ink from a matrix, typically wood, to a sheet of paper. In the 15th century, it flourished in Europe and continued to be practiced as one of the fine arts worldwide.
In Western countries, the art form has been developed so that not only wood or metal plates are used to print. Instead, polymer plates, linoleum and screens made of silk are used, while many modern painting skills and digital printing widen the range of techniques.
The American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition has collected prints from eight top American printmaking studios. The prints are made using various skills, such as relief, etching, lithography, digital print, photogravure and screen-printing.
"The exhibition shows that American printmaking is diversified," said Ma Fenghui, director of both the Chinese Artists Association and the Zhejiang Art Museum.
"As a part of American modern art, American contemporary printmaking has been developing since the 1960s," Ma added. "During that period, artists and printmaking studios have formed an intimate cooperation."
According to Ma, printmaking in Western countries is not an art created only by the artist. A technician assists in the printing process so as to avoid technical problems, but the work ultimately has the artist's signature.
An artist can present their idea to the printmaking studio and the technicians take charge of putting the idea into practice, so artists don't have to worry if their ideas are too wild to be made.
Owing to such cooperation, the styles of contemporary prints are unrestrained and the contents brim with talent because all kinds of artists can try printmaking.
For example, the self-portrait by Chuck Close, a noted American artist who specializes in photorealistic close-ups of people, is a print consisting of many small rings in squares, which symbolize his pores - Close's photos often feature skin pores.
Other works in the exhibition are very similar to photos since digital printing techniques can produce small details clear enough to recognize.
For instance, "Moth" by Joseph Scheer, whose current works span print media, video and web-based projects, uses technology to examine the insect at a very high resolution, which creates an effect of hyperreal vision and allows people to see details of the insect that cannot be discerned by the naked eye.
Though combined with some advanced technology such as digital and multi-media skills, many artists insist on using traditional materials, yet produce modern effects.
Francesco Clemente's "Self-portrait with Lemon Heart" uses a 21-color hand-printed woodcut technique in the Ukiyo-e (a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings) tradition with 15 woodblocks, yet the oddly tinted watercolor on paper has Occidental appeal more than Oriental feature.
"Traditional Oriental gouache influenced Western printmaking and has led to art styles distinctive from Oriental ones," said Sang Huoyao, vice director of the Zhejiang Art Museum.
"It's an inspiration to Chinese traditional art, which has improved little in modern times," said Sang.
This is evident with the First Hangzhou Chinese Painting Biennial, which is exhibiting alongside the American printmaking at the same museum but receives less acclaim because of its limited styles and content.
The biennial is full of paintings of nature, so it seems that mountains, water, flowers, birds, fish and insects are the constant themes in Chinese paintings, but "actually, the range of Chinese paintings can be much wider," said Sang.
"In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the art of Chinese painting reached its peak. However, today, we continue to imitate those predecessors, which is not innovative at all."
"Artists are not technicians, they should present their culture more than techniques, and they should consider modern demands," he added. "Even a good piece of artwork must be so advanced that it will be approved as time goes by. That's how art is enlivened and carried forward."
In China, it is indisputable that the development of traditional Chinese paintings is restricted "because the artist takes on the role of the agent, leading to works created for customers' needs, who in fact know little about art," said Sang.
"The way to alter the situation is to set up professional studios and use agents like developed countries do, so that artists can focus on creating works that suit the time."
The American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition initiated by the National Art Museum of China is an itinerant exhibition that has been to Beijing and Shenzhen in Guangzhou Province, and will go to Shanghai in March.
? American Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition
Date: through January 23
? Chinese Painting Biennial
Date: through February 27
Address: 138 Nanshan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
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