Over the years, Parisian gallerist Sabine Vazieux has been shedding light on works by a generation of Asian painters who belong to the post-war abstract art movement.
From 26 September to 31 October 2019, Sabine dedicates her exhibition space on rue du Louvre to an exhibition of artist Fong Chung-Ray. This will be Fong’s first solo show in Europe since 1973. At the age of 85, Fong Chung-Ray is considered a forefather of Chinese abstraction and an important member of the Fifth Moon Group, an avant-garde group created in 1957 in Taiwan for the abstract art movement, in the same era as the Gutai Group.
The exhibition ‘’Wakes of Time’’ reveals Fong Chung-Ray’s vibrant aesthetics through around twenty works that he created between the 60s and the present day, including the debut of 3 new large-scale paintings created in 2019 with the largest one over 150 x 220 cm.
At the age of fourteen, Fong Chung-Ray was obliged to leave his family and to go into exile, due to the Chinese Civil war. During this period, he followed the army to different locations. Given the various political events that occurred, he was later given an honorable discharge as a lieutenant before finally settling in Taiwan in 1949.
His passion for art and his inquisitive mind led him to take an interest in Western abstract art, which he discovered though reading journals and books that were available in the American Library in Taipei.
In 1957, he founded the « Four Seas Artists Association » with his friend Hu Chi-Chung. During this period, he experimented with abstraction and used new Western techniques, such as painting with oil on canvas.
In 1961, he became a member of the Wuyue group « Fifth Moon Group » and participated in many exhibitions. In 1963, on the advice of Liu Guosong, a painter and the group’s theorist, Fong returned to the traditional Chinese technique of ink painting.
Consequently, Fong Chung-Ray invented a brush made from palm tree fibres, which added a highly personal touch and a rougher quality to his swathes of colors.
The abstract ink works from this period, with their blend of subtle colouring, dynamic strokes, wet sweeps of color, and poetry were deeply rooted in the tradition of master Chinese landscape painters.
At the age of fourteen, Fong Chung-Ray was obliged to leave his family and to go into exile, due to the Chinese Civil war. During this period, he followed the army to different locations. Given the various political events that occurred, he was later given an honorable discharge as a lieutenant before finally settling in Taiwan in 1949.
In 1970, he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation grant that enabled him to travel to Europe and the United States. He settled in San Francisco in 1975.
Initially, his work focused on abstract landscapes, but then gradually moved away from the movement when he turned to Buddhist spirituality. This fresh source of inspiration resulted in a more abstract approach, related to temporality, which he studied in the sacred texts.
The temporal effect on materials as well as the exploration of the collage and imprint techniques have become fundamental aspects of his artistic approach. Transcending the formal representation of nature, Fong Chung-Ray has revived the spiritual essence of Buddhism and invites the viewer to contemplate along.