Tang Contemporary Art is proud to announce the opening of Liu Qinghe’s solo exhibition “Treading Waves,” featuring nineteen of his recent ink on paper works, on November 22, 2019, at the gallery’s Hong Kong space in H Queen’s.
Liu Qinghe is an ink artist with a strong contemporary, experimental sensibility. He focuses on contemporary cities, depicting the visual experiences and psychological perceptions of contemporary people. In the course of his explorations, he dissolves traditional brush and ink modes, creating a unique expressive method that fits with current experience. With unusual sensitivity, he truthfully represents the existential predicaments of people in society, painting a spiritual view of contemporary humanity.
Liu Qinghe maintains the lukewarm attitude to reality that the literati have exhibited since ancient times. He makes his way through life in the city in a leisurely and carefree way. Without adornment and without commentary, he naturally presents the figures’ moods in real life. In his painting, and particularly in his observations of the moods and mentalities of young people, women, and children, he accurately depicts the prismatic reality of contemporary urban life and interprets the spiritual conditions of contemporary people.
In Liu’s ink work, the dripping and permeation of ink construct a space with personal tension, while also effectively playing up the emotional atmosphere. The figures appear in a dense mist of color and ink; the relationship between the figures and their environments create an ineffable, strange ambience. The misty, dense ink reflects the slight unease of contemporary people, and the seemingly casual but meticulous lines suggest the psychological relationships between the figures and the outside world. This ingenious formulation gives Liu’s work a more metaphysical, existential experience.
“Treading Waves” titles after a work in the exhibition. Treading waves is the process of a carefree and positive action, reflecting a graceful, wise attitude. It also highlights the artist's use of water. Since 2003, this water imagery has become a frequent theme for the artist. Water is treated as the context to envelope isolated individuals and some groups. It is transparent and reflective, which sets off the existence of the figures and their subtle relationships with others. Viewing and perceiving water is a metaphor for real life today. This metaphor concerns the everyday, then presents more real textural and penetrating elements.
Liu Qinghe’s unique contemporary ink is receiving more attention in a globalizing world. He uses brush and ink to create a direct relationship with life today and present viewers with observations and perceptions in ink, a juncture that allows him to re-examine his own life and culture. Liu’s work has always expressed the most authentic feelings and considerations of contemporary life in concrete spiritual images made by a contemporary intellectual.
 Distilled Water 90 x 90 cm Ink and wash on paper 2004 |  The Sixth Day 90 x 170 cm ink and wash on paper 2009 |  Five Blessings 51 x 135 cm ink and wash on paper 2019 |
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 Weekend 55 x 55 cm ink and wash on paper 2013 |  Collapse 180 x 280 cm ink and wash on paper 2001 |  Dad 140 x 90 cm ink and wash on paper 2000 |
 Softness 180 x 225 cm ink and wash on paper 2017 |  Light Coming Through 90 x 75 cm ink and wash on paper 2014 |  Here I Am 180 x 140 cm ink and wash on paper 2001 |
 The River Is Full 65 x 55 cm ink and wash on paper 2010 |  Fondle The Cloud 140 x 90 cm ink and wash on paper 2000 |  Gazing The Wind 200 x 90 cm ink and wash on paper 2009 |
 Cuteness 61 x 58 cm ink and wash on paper 2016 |  Dismembered Water 230 x 90 cm ink and wash on paper 2004 |  Treading Waves 230 x 90 cm ink and wash on paper 2004 |
 The Beginner 55 × 65 cm ink and wash on paper 2014 |  Man by The Wall 55 × 65 cm ink and wash on paper 2019 |  The Youth 55 × 65 cm ink and wash on paper 2019 |
 Fertile Water 55 × 65 cm ink and wash on paper 2019 |
Liu Qinghe
b.1961, Tianjin
Liu Qinghe graduated from the Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts in 1981 and later received graduate training from the Folk Art Department at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. He currently serves as Dean and Professor of Chinese Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Liu Qinghe is renowned for his deeply psychological portraits of figures from everyday China. Against the backdrop of rapid industrialization and a modernized consumer society, Liu's ink portraits are sobering and introspective depictions of each subject's feeling of insecurity, confusion, isolation, or helplessness. Each image expresses the universal concerns of his generation, which has been forced to grapple with stark challenges of a culturally and economically transformed society. His figures' stoic facial expressions create a startling barrier with the viewer, while at the same time revealing a commonplace gaze.
Liu's works are exhibited widely in China and abroad and are in the notable collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Spain, National Art Museum of China, Shanghai Art Museum, and Shenzhen Art Museum.