ARTISTS
Wu Jian鈥檃n: Recent Works
Chambers is delighted to present the latest examples of Wu Jian鈥檃n鈥檚 ongoing series 500 Brushstrokes, on which work commenced in 2016. The abstract formal language characteristic of these works came as a considerable surprise to Wu鈥檚 admirers as until then there had been a strong element of figuration in all his major series of paper cuts from 2003 onwards with the series known as Daydreams. Alongside the works from this series, we will also feature a paper-cut piece entitled Shapeshifting Diety, created using Wu Jian'an's signature waxed paper-cut figures that are hand-dyed and then stitched onto a silk background.
Born in Beijing in 1980, Wu Jian鈥檃n graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) Beijing in 2005 and currently lives and works there. While studying at the Academy under Lu Shengzhong whose early studies of Chinese folk-art led to a life-long involvement with the traditional craft of paper cut, Wu conceived of ways in which this technique might be used in ways that would have been unimaginable to its original practitioners. His technique evolved from the silhouetting of complicated paper cut-outs against monochromatic sheets of paper to the use of multiple layers of paper of different colors resulting in low-relief effects. Throughout this period his paper cutting skills gained in complexity as his enthusiasm for Chinese mythological themes and esoteric imagery from all over the world became all-consuming, culminating in the process used in the Shapeshifting Diety.
There does not seem to have been a transition period between the wild paper cuts for which he was best known at the time and the equally wild but abstract compositions characteristic of 500 Brushstrokes. Certainly while at the Academy he seems to have stayed away from the study of Chinese painting with its close relationship to the most important of all Chinese accomplishments, the art of calligraphy. On first inspection the works from this series seem to be calligraphic in inspiration and, with their frequently jazzy colors, to be laid down directly on the surface of the support. Wrong on both counts as the relationship to traditional calligraphy is distant to say the least and close inspection - very close inspection, even! - reveals, although with some hesitation at first, that the calligraphic components are not applied directly to the surface but applied to it in the manner of collage.
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Chambers is delighted to present the latest examples of Wu Jian鈥檃n鈥檚 ongoing series 500 Brushstrokes, on which work commenced in 2016. The abstract formal language characteristic of these works came as a considerable surprise to Wu鈥檚 admirers as until then there had been a strong element of figuration in all his major series of paper cuts from 2003 onwards with the series known as Daydreams. Alongside the works from this series, we will also feature a paper-cut piece entitled Shapeshifting Diety, created using Wu Jian'an's signature waxed paper-cut figures that are hand-dyed and then stitched onto a silk background.
Born in Beijing in 1980, Wu Jian鈥檃n graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) Beijing in 2005 and currently lives and works there. While studying at the Academy under Lu Shengzhong whose early studies of Chinese folk-art led to a life-long involvement with the traditional craft of paper cut, Wu conceived of ways in which this technique might be used in ways that would have been unimaginable to its original practitioners. His technique evolved from the silhouetting of complicated paper cut-outs against monochromatic sheets of paper to the use of multiple layers of paper of different colors resulting in low-relief effects. Throughout this period his paper cutting skills gained in complexity as his enthusiasm for Chinese mythological themes and esoteric imagery from all over the world became all-consuming, culminating in the process used in the Shapeshifting Diety.
There does not seem to have been a transition period between the wild paper cuts for which he was best known at the time and the equally wild but abstract compositions characteristic of 500 Brushstrokes. Certainly while at the Academy he seems to have stayed away from the study of Chinese painting with its close relationship to the most important of all Chinese accomplishments, the art of calligraphy. On first inspection the works from this series seem to be calligraphic in inspiration and, with their frequently jazzy colors, to be laid down directly on the surface of the support. Wrong on both counts as the relationship to traditional calligraphy is distant to say the least and close inspection - very close inspection, even! - reveals, although with some hesitation at first, that the calligraphic components are not applied directly to the surface but applied to it in the manner of collage.
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Born in 1980, Wu Jian鈥檃n has been an associate professor of experimental art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.
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