Motives of Lines

Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present Motives of Lines, a solo exhibition by Chinese artist Huang Yuanqing (b. 1963) at the Pedder Building in Hong Kong, featuring a selection of paintings on canvas created in recent years. Huang’s paintings explore the expressiveness of his calligraphic lines, in which each stroke is considered as an entity as well as a key component that composes the rhythm of the plane. Rather than “paints”, Huang “writes” his paintings. In the continuous process of writing, covering, and rewriting, he refines the paradoxical balance and coexistence between calligraphy and painting, rice paper and canvas, confrontation and intimateness, spontaneity and constraint, traces and signs. To Huang, the ideal state of creation is to withdraw the artist himself from this freely flourishing forest of lines.

By shifting between painting on two very different materials, rice paper and canvas, Huang absorbs the experience of working with the complementary angles and cultures that are associated with the media. Rice paper allows Huang to keep both the vigorous psychic force of writing and the sensitive touch between brush and paper, which absorbs ink instantly, whereas canvas demands a direct, opposing pressure on the surface. In his nearly 30-year artistic career, he has practiced both calligraphy and painting, examining each discipline through the other’s approach simultaneously. Over time, he has developed a cross-cultural perspective where he merges calligraphic characteristics into his painting process that synthesize perfectly with his appreciation of and insights into painting.