Persistence of Form (exhibition)

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Persistence of Form is an exhibition by the Chinese artist He Ping.

The artist infuses quintessential elements of Chinese culture with a contemporary and modern expressionistic approach. Despite the abstract facade of the works, Ping’s abstraction is, in effect, deeply rooted in nature, life and mankind as he attributes their intrinsic qualities with a spiritual impression visible through their external physical form. Ping’s forms are animated with the bold invigorating monochrome contrast of black Chinese ink against a white background, or through a fusion of bright-coloured paint which radiates a different kind of life force.

Aesthetically, Ping’s works resemble rotund personas absorbed in introspective meditation. Yet, his simplified representations, or rather symbols, venture into the realm of minimalism wherein elements hidden to the human eye are revealed through images defined by the familiar forms of traditional Chinese calligraphy.

It is through searching in the depths of things that I discovered the infinite possibilities of painting. There possibilities may not be apparent, but they are indeed an existing component of the colorful and structural constituents of life and the universe. [1]

He Ping

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Exhibition

A Wandering Eye - Banner

Times of Malta article[3]

Time of Malta published an article on 5th September 2015 about the exhibition Persistence of Form focusing that the idea of deconstruction, introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida referring to the breaking apart of elements traditionally combined together, is not something new for the contemporary world. We now appear to live in a culture obsessed with the breaking down of structure (in this sense) this idea of entangling a united whole, be it an object or a more vague ideology, and focusing on its basic materials is something which has also influenced the art world. Looking at He Ping’s art pieces in his exhibition, one can see a deconstruction of structure as his works are filled with shadows, dynamic movements and primordial forms, rather than a solid pictorial representation of an object.

The artist refers that the images he paints do not capture definite physicality, but are rather themselves in a dynamic state of transformation dictated by the rhythm of their conceptualisation making (his) painting a totally natural occurrence and visible consequence of the creative process.

Ping's abstraction is rooted in nature, life and humanity and he notices that while painting the human subject, it is part of the vast cosmic space within which I explore both family and unfamiliar state of existence. Speaking further on this idea of the familiar and unfamiliar, Ping necessitates that even though one can deem the human figure as realistic, what the public might recognize as “realistic” and “abstract” are their own personal inferences of what he paints. In this manner, Ping attempts to deconstruct not the structure of an object he attempts to portray per se, but the preconceived notions of realistic/familiar and abstract/unfamiliar. Innovation, in this sense, is a “departure from common belief.

In his colourful work he holds on tradition by his use of calligraphic techniques, despite his focus on questioning the traditional ways of looking at art and the viewer is able to enjoy quintessential elements of Chinese culture with a contemporary and modern searching expressionistic approach.

E. V. Borg Review

E. V. Borg is an art critic and curator that made a review on He Ping's exhibition:

"They seem shadows, ghosts or phantoms and have decadent or consumptive properties. It is a deconstruction of matter to capture the essence, the spirit or soul through dynamic movement without losing primordial form: hence the title 'Persistence of Form'.

He Ping’s expression is a fusion of Chinese calligraphy and a brand of European and American Abstract Expressionism the direct result of a continuous cultural and artistic exchange between the West and the Orient. His expression is spontaneous and instinctive as in gestural, automatic and action painting. It is an effusion of emotion, feeling and sentiment in line with the concepts of Pierre Soulages, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hartung and especially and particularly the calligraphic Frans Kline. In the West the movement towards abstraction was started by Wassily Kandinsky in 1910, a Russian émigré imbued with a spirituality stimulated by the mysticism of the East.

He Ping’s expression seems effortless. Standing in front of his easel he seems to dance or fence with his fast brush, marking the paper or canvas by swinging movements creating arcs of circles or linearity. His forms seem to swirl like straw in the wind. Casual, with hand in pocket he stains surface with ink or paint and at times pauses to think. His expression has an affinity with the simplicity in Joan Mirò’s works; his dexterity and emotional content echoes Jackson Pollock. There is an unnerving balance between the white of the paper/canvas and the black strokes of the brush, between the coloured squiggles and the background. It is a matter of practice. He seems to work all day and in the end experience pays. As in handwriting or calligraphy when practised incessantly it becomes second nature.

His work is imbued with the spirit within. It is animistic as the blue horses by Franz Marc. Naturally with He Ping the physical horse or model disappears and instead the essential spirit remains in the form of abstract arcs or lines.

This continuous cultural and artistic exchange between the west and the orient started in time immemorial. The Chinese artist is conscious of the acute realism, naturalism and idealism of Masaccio and Jan Van Eyck’s vision and the mythical or real association of the latter with canvas and also quite familiar with the contrasts of a water-ink medium and oil paint; rice paper and canvas that has characterized this east-west dialogue." E. V. Borg

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