Autumnal Feeling, Zhuang Zhe

Exhibition Label: “From the Way of Writing to the Weight of Writing," Jun-2007, Ai-lian Liu Zhuang Zhe (also known as Chuang Che) belongs to a group of Taiwanese artists who actively responded to the challenge of Western modernism in the 1950s and 1960s. In his effort to modernize Chinese painting, Zhuang drew from the abstract elements of the literati tradition and furthered the idea that calligraphic brushwork has aesthetic value independent of the subject matter. In Autumnal Feelings, Zhuang explores this abstract potential of Chinese calligraphy in combination with Western technique. Here he has pasted three sheets of paper bearing vigorously-brushed calligraphy upon a Western-style canvas. Two large characters meaning “long remain” appear on the two vertical sheets in the center of the painting. Three more characters are written in a smaller script on the brown paper. The complete poetic phrase reads, “May the feeling of autumn long remain.” Archive Label 2003: With Liu Guosong, Zhuang Zhe was a member of the Fifth Moon Group whose members created a new Chinese painting responsive to the challenge of Western modernism. Unrestricted by medium or technique- They used oils, oils mixed with sand, collage, Chinese ink; they screwed up the paper or painted on both sides of it; they printed with fireboard-any means was acceptable so long as it expressed the artists' feeling and vision. Michael Sullivan, Art and Artists of Twentieth Century China, 182. In Autumnal Feeling, Zhuang has pasted three sheets of paper bearing vigorously brushed calligraphy upon a Western-style stretched and prepared canvas. Two large characters, "long remain," are brushed on the two vertical sheets in the center of the painting. With the three smaller characters on the brown paper, the phrase reads: May the feeling of autumn long remain. Archive Label date unknown: Chuang Che has explored the potentials of Chinese calligraphy in the modern era by synthesizing western and eastern ideas. Here he has pasted three sheets of paper bearing vigorously brushed calligraphy upon a western-style stretched and prepared canvas. Two large characters meaning "long remain" appear on the two vertical sheets in the center of the painting. Three more characters are written in a smaller script on the brown paper. The complete poetic phrase may be translated "Hoping that the autumnal feeling will long remain here.