CHEN XINMAO solo exhibtion at Art Scene Beijing
22 June - 10 July, 2007

Chen Xinmao is one of China’s pre-eminent abstract artists. The 52-year-old Shanghai artist, who received an MA from the Nanjing Academy of Fine Arts, has a lot of experience. The artist has experimented with all sorts of media, from wood and crude to exquisite paper, wax and Chinese ink stamping.

Chen Xinmao, having lived through tremendous changes in China’s recent past, is an artist who is obsessed with history. Many of the titles of his works are “History Book Series”. And even his few non-abstract pieces feature ancient rocks formations or other historical objects. The artist portrays history and the passage of time “abstractly”. He often uses texts from Chinese historical books and stamps them onto Xuan paper layer upon layer, rather like the passage of time year upon year. Chen purposely blurs the texts and often merges them on top of each other, as history is not clear, and it is based on those recording it, which can often be biased or tainted.
Chen Xinmao’s work bridges the gap between Chinese Contemporary and Traditional art. Using ink and mixed media Chen explores the spiritual world of modern living and brings history to the surface of the modern psyche. “I have been thinking about why people always like to limit ink painting to different forms instead of treating it as culture, a background and a kind of spirit.” Chen Xinmao’s materials are sometimes traditional and sometimes contemporary. They have a tactile quality that relates to sculpture.  In some cases it as if they were cultural relics themselves. In this way, Chen Xinmao has pioneered a new way of experiencing ink painting.
But the most impressive quality of Chen’s work is the mere beauty of it. The artist has managed to combine many deep, profound concepts into something that is abstract and very attractive to look at. From the soft texture of the paper that Chen selects to the appealing colour palette, to the mastery with which he uses Chinese ink wash to create fantastically abstract mountain-scapes and scenes, or the strong reds or blues, blurred into an abstract text – almost fiery or cool. Through all of his repeated experimentations over time, Chen Xinmao has truly become one of China’s abstract master-artists.
Chen Xinmao’s paintings are in every way a celebration of the relationship of between the traditional and the contemporary. Through them, he explores the concept of ‘endless time’. The living presence of history in the everyday is thereby exposed, rather than left as a cultural relic of sorts, to be admired, but rarely questioned.