Chen Lianqing 陳聯慶 China, b. 1967
Sometimes people have two kinds of lives, one real and the other nihilistic; the nihilistic one contains art and spirituality, and possibly dreams. Reality encompasses the places that you want to visit, because what you can see is real and tangible. Nihilism exists within the painting and is intangible. What you can touch is only the material of the ink. You may think, and you may ponder, and that is what the art is all about, so art is a kind of life. ──Chen Lianqing人有時有兩種生命,一是現實的一是虛無的,虛無的含有藝術和靈性,可能還有夢。現實就是什麼時候去想去的地方看看,因為能看見的就是現實的且可觸摸。虛無就在畫裡,不可觸摸,摸到的是水墨顏料、亞麻丙烯,可以想可琢磨,其實那就真有藝術的意思,所以藝術也是生命的一種。 ──陳聯慶
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Change over to the Republic 走向共和, 2011
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Childhood Games 坎上和坎下, 2001
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Confucius 孔子有點胖, 2008
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Four Men in a Boat 萍水相逢, 2009
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Girl in Red 穿朱色小棉袄的小女孩, 1993
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Going to School 上学的路上, 1995
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Green Apples 青苹果, 2001
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In The Blink Of An Eye 学会刹车的兔子, 2014
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Karl Marx 卡爾·馬克思, 2008
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Merry-Go-Round 大循環遊樂機, 2010
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Neverending Romance 永不消逝的愛波, 2015
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Out of the Frame 框框, 2007
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Quiet Afternoon 午后, 1990
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Reading the Bible 圣经, 2014
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Ring Road I 环城路左, 1993
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Ring Road II 環城路右, 1993
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Splashing About in the Palace II 天朝的水花 二, 2012
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Splashing About in the Palace III 天朝的水花 三, 2012
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Summer Palace 颐和园, 2011
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Swimming in the Palace, 2008
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Take Down the Bridge 集體拆桥, 2008
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The President's House, Nanjing 南京總統府, 2008
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The Street, 2007
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Water 水, 2008
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Wonderful Life 在法國的日子, 2009
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Zhong Nanhai 中南海, 2013
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chen Lianqing studied traditional Chinese painting as a young man, however, when he first exhibited with us in Hong Kong in 2007, it was his very contemporary acrylic on canvas paintings on the theme of “Flooding the Forbidden City” that were shown and, for which he has subsequently become well known.
Ink painting, however, has always been his first love, and in this exhibition we are pleased to present a collection of some of his old and new works in this medium. Unlike many contemporary Chinese artists, who slavishly paint whatever is currently ‘in vogue’, Chen truly paints what is in his heart and on his mind. Consequently in this collection we see very tender moments from his childhood; children playing hide and seek, flying a kite, walking to school. All these scenes are from the artist’s own life and are personal mementos and reminiscences. Painted in ‘gongbi’ or detailed realist style on silk or paper, we can appreciate the meticulous skill of his brushwork.
More recent works contain social commentaries on contemporary life, such as the man lying down, bellowing out a filthy smog from his mouth, clearly a critique of China’s polluted cities.
A few years ago with his own health problems causing him concern and then the passing away of his parents Chen started to contemplate the transient nature of life and turned to Buddhism, Zen meditation and Taoism for inspiration. Several of his recent paintings also reflect this spiritualism and are contemplative in nature.
All of Chen’s works are thoughtful and thought provoking. His goal has always been to reflect the true landscape of his heart, and in this way address some greater universal human ideals.
Chen was born in Chongqing in 1967 and is a graduate of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, graduating from the Chinese Painting Department with a BFA in 1989. After leaving the Institute he spent several years working in design and architecture. Chen has held several group exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang as well as solo exhibitions with prominent art galleries. In 1997 his works were exhibited in six European countries. He now lives and works in Beijing as a full time artist.
PAST Exhibitions
- 2007
- Flooding the Forbidden City, Yan Gallery, Hong Kong, China (solo)
- 2006
- 2006 Beyond Experience New China! Arario Gallery, Beijing, China
- 2006
- 2006 Stroll in the Garden, Kong Gallery Opening Exhibition, Beijing, China
- 2006
- 2006 The Self-made Generation, 2005 Chinese Contemporary Painting Exhibition, Shanghai Zhengda Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
- 2005
- 2005 Post Factory – Come and Gone, Beijing 798, China
- 2002
- 2002 Media City – Concept Art Exhibition, Artistic Art Museum of People’s Commune of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- 2001
- 2001 Shanghai Fine Arts Exhibition, Art Museum of Shanghai, China
- 1998
- 1998 Chinese Figure Painting Exhibition, Zhejiang, China
- 1997
- 1997 Six European Countries’ Tour Show, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain, etc.
- 1988
- 1988 Six Artists’ Exhibition, Sichuan Fine Arts Academy, China
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Flooding the Forbidden City 水淹紫禁城
Paintings by Chen Lianqing 陳聯慶作品展 1 Sep - 17 Oct 2020Born in Chongqing in 1967, Chen Lianqing’s passion for art developed from a young age. He often travelled to Shanghai and Suzhou to seek inspiration for his landscape sketches. After...Read more -
The Art of Being Myself 我自己的藝術
New Ink Paintings by Chen Lianqing 陳聯慶新水墨作品展 28 Nov - 14 Dec 2014ABOUT THE ARTIST Chen Lianqing studied traditional Chinese painting as a young man, however, when he first exhibited with us in Hong Kong in 2007, it was his very contemporary...Read more