“Qin Feng’s
work undoubtedly occupies an original position on the international scene,
[creating] an abstract language which breaks through the frame of the painting
and invades the lived architecture.”
Achille Bonito Oliva
– co-curator
Venice – Art: Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore - Fondazione Giorgio Cini -
Qin Feng - Waiting for Qin Feng. “Waiting for Qin Feng,” a solo exhibition of the work of Chinese ink artist Qin Feng, until July 19, is installed in three locations on three magical
islands. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Fondazione
Giorgio Cini, and is curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and Ambassador Umberto
Vattani. The exhibition takes the form
of an architectural intervention—the marriage of Eastern Art in a space imbued
with Western cultural history. And,
embodies the cultural exchange of the Silk Road, collapsed into one space and
an accumulated historical moment.
The Venues - Waiting for Qin Feng: Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, the
Armenian Catholic Monastery on San Lazzaro Island and Venice International
University (VIU) on San Servolo Island.
Above. The
Installation of Qin Feng's Chinese Jingdezhen
porcelain in the Palladian
Cloister of the former Monastery of San Giorgio
Maggiore, now home to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
Chinese ink
artist Qin Feng
Qin Feng is at the forefront of the new school of
experimental ink brush painting. His emotional and explosive images seamlessly
blend ancient Chinese calligraphy with modern Western abstract expressionism.
Having lived and worked in Germany and the United States, he exemplifies the
contemporary Chinese artist whose career and creative development have played out
on a global stage. Being rooted in two worlds, Qin Feng’s robust images
and dramatic architectural installations are expansive and inclusive. His work
proves the continued relevance of brush and ink as mediums and calligraphy and
its iterations as contemporary forms.
Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore - The Cypress Cloister
Qin Feng – Chinese Jingdezhen
Porcelain Installation
Photograph by Francesco Allegretto – Courtesy Susan Grant
Lewin
Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore - The Cypress Cloister
Waiting for Qin Feng – Paintings
The exhibition unfolds
as a multi-faceted dialogue between European Renaissance architecture
and contemporary Chinese Art.
Co-curator with Achille Bonito Oliva, Ambassador
Umberto Vattani
Photograph and copyright by Manfredi Bellati
Waiting for Qin Feng – Paintings – Falling Angels Series - 8m.
Qin Feng and Catherine Lee
It is Qin Feng’s hope that this exhibition will be the
beginning of a new “Silk Road” for cultural exchange; an opportunity to create
an all-inclusive art world. As an ancient network of trade
routes that were central to interaction between Asia and Europe, the “Silk
Road” was an important vehicle for promoting economic and cultural
understanding. Xinjiang, Qin Feng’s home in the Northwest of China, was a stop
on the ancient Silk Road and his awareness of the Silk Road’s role in
connecting disparate cultures has had a big influence on his work.
Photograph and copyright by Manfredi Bellati
Qin Feng
The Palladian Refectory of the former Monastery of San Giorgio
Maggiore
Photographs by Francesco Allegretto – Courtesy Susan Grant
Lewin
Qin Feng - The Palladian Refectory of the former Monastery of San Giorgio
Maggiore
Qin Feng in the Palladian Refectory which was the venue of
his on-site painting performance in front of Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding at
Cana, a digital facsimile realized by Factum Arte, Madrid. Originally
commissioned by architect Andrea Palladio to adorn the dining hall he designed,
the painting was executed and hung in the monastery until Napolean’s reign,
during which it was sent to the Louvre. A large blank canvas was placed on the floor
in front of the painting on which Qin Feng executed his work.
Photograph by Francesco Allegretto – Courtesy Susan Grant
Lewin
Photograph and copyright by Manfredi Bellati
Waiting for Qin Feng – The Paintings
As one of the most distinctive and traditional mediums
of Chinese Art, ink painting has a history dating back more than 1,000 years.
Over the centuries, the art form was kept alive through the practice of copying
the work of earlier masters with little change. Today, a group of contemporary
artists have reinvigorated the medium, shedding the rigid constraints of
tradition and addressing modernity through a revolutionary new artistic
language that remains respectful of ancient models. Qin Feng is at the forefront of this new school of experimental ink brush
painting.
Qin Feng – Chinese Jingdezhen
Porcelain - detail
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