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October 21, 2019

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A profundity of history, culture and a touch of Zen

By Wang Jie | 00:00 UTC+8 October 21, 2019 | Print Edition

There is an ambience, similar to a Zen touch, that wafts through Lu Zhiping’s prints.

Those ordinary objects become contemplative and brooding after deconstruction, rearrangement and even overturn.

Currently Lu’s solo exhibition is being showcased at Liu Haisu Art Museum through November 8.

“There is a modern aesthetic taste in Lu’s prints. They offer a poetic beauty through the geometric shapes, which serves as a container where we can put in all our memories and imagination,” said Ruan Jun, vice director with the Liu Haisu Art Museum

Born in 1947 in Shanghai, Lu is a must-mention name, especially in the area of Chinese prints. This exhibition includes several of his print series.

“Art is a boundless world,” Lu said. “As an artist, I could only choose a certain subject within a limited time duration. So I’ve poured everything inside me onto it.”

Lu claims print is “a complicated and plain media” which has attracted him — an honest and clumsy person — for several decades.”

A graduate from the Fine Arts College of Shanghai University, Lu has been playing the leading role in Chinese prints, pursuing different possibilities in the art genre.

Whether his copperplates or silk prints, all his work unwittingly reflects the profundity of Chinese culture and history.

“I frequented many museums, and would look for broken parts of the original artworks wherever I went. I found them still surprisingly stunning even under the erosion of time,” he said. “I didn’t see them as an incomplete piece. For me, there seemed to be an invisible hand that had wiped off those mediocre or additional elements, leaving only the essential part.”

Inspired by these ancient broken parts, Lu put the metal boards into the acid in hope to fuse an uncontrollable or subjective experiment to reveal traces of history.

That might also explain his preference toward the color of grey in his prints.

“In my eyes, there is rarely a purity in black and white hues,” he said. “Grey is a bridge between the two.

“If I compare grey as a person, then he is very mild and calm, never shows any passionate emotions. As it is preserved yet enriched in the process of printing, it also has a sense of form and abstract feel. I like it.”

Date: Through November 8, 10am-5pm

Venue: Liu Haisu Art Museum

Address: 1609 Yan’an Rd W.

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