ZHANG ZHAOHUI 张朝晖
As a museum-trained artist coming of age during the reform and opening-up period in China, I believe that traditional ink brush painting has untapped potential as an expression of contemporary art and a fresh interpretation of traditional techniques deserve to be shared with international art audiences. It is the conceptual updating of ink brush that will be a unique East Asian contribution to global contemporary art. Over the last three decades, I have been exploring the meaning of life through devoting myself to art observation and ink brush painting practice. I have come to realize that my cultural roots play a pivotal role in realizing my art vision; on the other hand, absorbing global art nutrition has contributed my own art tremendously and critically.
I studied traditional calligraphy and ink brush painting during my childhood, later learning Chinese and global art history and theory as a young adult. Studying contemporary art curatorship in New York during the late 1990s inspired my art creation and pushed me to find my own concept, vision, and language. I wish my work can go back and forth between traditional and contemporary, fantasy and reality, past and future, natural world and human society, art and science.
Using black, white, and especially the grayish shades in between, my ink brush art exploration has been focused on the representation and simulation of light and brightness, a metaphor for the warmth and hope in each civilization. Starting with one ink brush stroke and then processing line by line, layer by layer, the imagery of light emerges from each rice paper, presenting multiple pictorial worlds vacillating between realistic and abstract space. I constantly redefine my identity through merging elements of international art with distinctly Chinese concepts.
The “light”in my ink brush work was discovered occasionally and simultaneously. I thought this created a huge space, and as a result, it became the core theme. The spatial weave and structure of the ink wash lines present the feeling and expressiveness of light, and I was very much addicted to the sense of infiltration and luster that it showed. The grayscale of the ink created a unique aesthetic, seemingly unrelated to ink wash but expressive and infectious.
My exploration of ink wash is about constantly rediscovering itself. With the help of ink and brush, I intend to establish its natural appearance and then bring something to the viewers that they have not yet perceived or realized, such as the overlapping of nature and freedom, and the subtle relationship between the two, the synesthetic of different people, and more. These ideas have always been underlying concepts supporting my artistic expression.
作为一位在中国改革开放的环境中成长起来，并且是在艺术博物馆系统中培养出来的艺术家，我相信中国传统水墨艺术可以转化为当代艺术语言，而且这种语言可以被国际艺术观众所分享。水墨艺术观念的更新可以让东亚的艺术遗产贡献于当代艺术的发展。在过去的三十年间，我一直致力于这种思考和艺术探索， 在这个过程中，我逐步意识到传统文化根基的重要性， 另一方面，广泛吸收国际艺术的菁华极大促进了我的水墨艺术的发展。
从儿童时代我开始学习传统水墨和书法艺术， 成年以后接触到更广泛的国内外艺术以及历史和理论。九十年代中期在纽约学习当代艺术策展的经历启发了我思考自己的艺术观念，前景和语言。我希望自己的艺术可以跨越传统与当代，想象和现实，自然世界和人类社会，以及艺术与科学。
在我的作品中都使用黑与白，以及两者之间的灰度变化， 这样，水墨作品艺术探索集中在光明的拟像，是各种文化中是温暖与希望的比喻。从一个笔划开始，不断地编织者墨线，一层压一层，这样，光的意象就从宣纸上浮现出来，呈现出多样的图像世界，如同在现实与抽象的空间之间来回摆动，如同我的精神世界在国际艺术和传统文化之间不断地穿梭。
我在水墨的画面中偶然发现了“光”。我想这发现了一个巨大的探索空间，因此“光”也就变成我水墨艺术的核心主题。空间的编织和墨线的结构形成了关于光的感觉与表现，而且我也很迷恋这种独特的光泽的浸润。水墨的灰度也形成了独特的审美意象，貌似与传统审美无关，但却有表现性和感染力。
我的水墨探索也是一个持续再发现的过程。借助水墨，我试图发掘它的自然面貌，并带给艺术观众从未意识和注意到的水墨感染力， 例如自然与自由之间的交织，以及两者之间的微妙变化,还有不同人群的审美通感等。这些想法一直是我的艺术关切，并支持着不断地艺术探索。
