Past Exhibition

Borrowed Landscapes — New Ink by Nan Qi

23 Jan - 02 Mar  |  2019
Nan Qi Catalogue
Introduction
In the presence of the artist
Catalogue available

Alisan Fine Arts is proud to present our first solo exhibition for the Chinese ink painter Nan Qi, famed for his three-dimensional images comprised of his eponymous "Nan Qi dots" and interpretations of Chinese cultural icons, including female soldiers, the five-pointed red star, and multi-national bills. For this particular exhibition he is presenting a new series of Chinese landscape paintings. Deriving inspiration from ancient masters including Guo Xi from the Song Dynasty and Huang Gongwang from the Yuan Dynasty, Nan Qi has contemporised the historical landscapes with the use of his 3-D dots, resulting in a monochrome, hazy vista that is at once both challenging and cutting edge. Included in this exhibition are also his singular "halo" dots and iconoclastic images of renminbi and Hong Kong notes. Born in Yongkang, Zhejiang in 1960, Nan Qi was trained in classical landscape ink painting at the People’s Liberation Army Fine Arts Academy in Beijing. He is a member of Chinese Artists’ Association, and currently lives in Beijing.

Artist's Statement:
I believe that there is infinite potential for expansion in contemporary ink painting based on the ink art history. I have researched traditional ink for decades, and have synthesised the methods of ink accumulation and ink staining, colour accumulation and colour staining into a technique I call “halo dots.” In this exhibition, I bring my “halo dots” from the past to the present, giving them a new life in today’s contemporary environment and allow the viewer to re-read classical tradition and experience the Chinese masters’ frame of mind.