2010 Guo Guan’s Premier Exhibition in London

Period: 15th-26th of March, 2010
Venue: Museum of Fine Arts , University of the Arts, London
Web address：http://www.arts.ac.uk/newsevents/7130/guo-guan-solo-exhibition/

This event will be the premier exhibition for Guo Guan in Europe; the launch period is from the 15th to the 26th of March, 2010 at the Museum of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, London. Nearly twenty artworks painted in recent years will be displayed and everyone is welcome to attend.

 

Guo Guan is a painter, poet and zither player. From his large Chinese painting for the Ziguang Pavilion, South China Sea , entitled Soul of Grand China (800x 400cm ), we can easily discover that he has become the successor to the landscape-painters of the Song Dynasty. He has not only inherited the spiritual and cultural perceptions of Greater China, but also integrated modern art skills and styles in his artworks. His creative virtues in music, chess, poetry and paintings attest to his outstanding artistic qualities. Guo Guan’s variety goes beyond existing art creations. In particular, the Chinese ink paintings depict colorful scenes which are apart from the scope of our expectations. In his artworks, we see the synthesis of traditional thoughts and western avant-garde art. His works always comprise a poem and a corresponding painting, like the work of the 18th century British artist and poet, William Blake. Guo Guan is specialized in painting idyllic landscapes of Mother Nature and some of his paintings reflect the profound philosophical concepts of Zen.
Besides studying deep-rooted landscape paintings, Guo Guan has intense experiences in real life issues. Based on the conceptions of Zen, his extraordinary paintings present the animating spirit of Buddhism. The secrets of life and death can be discovered in his artworks. By glorifying the spirit of Buddhism, he has infused the quintessence of traditional and religious artistic concepts into his artworks. His aesthetics are extremely solemn, grand, tranquil and free. Guo Guan has brought a brand new perspective to his paintings through a harmonious aesthetic fusion of traditional Chinese paintings, woodcuts, oil paintings, Japanese paintings and contemporary art-deco. He has broken through the limiting boundaries of media and technique while emphasizing free-minded creations. Guo Guan seeks to impose a special atmosphere of tranquility and at the same time maintains a powerful visual impact. He creatively integrates concepts of Buddhism into contemporary aesthetics. If the spirit and the teachings of Buddhism, as revealed in his paintings, can be read in modern times, the people’s minds could be awakened and their souls elevate.