John Erdos Art

Feng Zhongyun, a Chinese Contemporary Ink Wash Painting Artist, was born in 1967, studying Kungfu and painting since he was a child. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1991. Through his artistic experiments, he has been walking between the realistic and the abstract, delivering a unique talent in pushing the form. Although he has a profound understanding of both traditional and contemporary artistic expression, his pursuit of a vision places his style in its own world. He was the first contemporary ink wash painter to exhibit in the 798 Art Center, and has collaborated with a number of world-famous artists who have exhibited in 798 since 2006, including the German Expressionist painter Ekkehard Stoevesand, French-figurative artist Henri Gueguen and American artist Paul Rossi. He has also received numerous art awards both in China and internationally. His works are widely collected both at home and abroad, and collectors of his works include the Art Foundation of the United Kingdom, the Hilton and Raffles Hotels in Beijing, a number of Embassies in Beijing, and many private collectors around the world.

In 2007, Feng founded the Zhong Martial Arts Space in the Black bridge Art Center in Beijing. Now he is an independent artist residing in Beijing.

The deep comprehension of brush ink, as well as the proficient grasp of the media, is the most important factor for Feng to form his artistic language. This character differs from most of other Chinese Contemporary artists, who generally imitate Modern Western Art.

The colorful ink painting of FENG Zhongyun is of an intensely liberate idiosyncrasy, his creative state almost reaches to a kind of frenzy from the soul. It is essentially a self narration of the soul, a natural revelation of his heart. With his painting brush, extrinsic substance seems to be withered by disassemble, restructured, concrete and visible image, substituting it for the vivid color mixed into painter's heart. He exposes his life to others, with his natural character full of abundant spirit, which is in tranquility yet without any fervency, while sometimes it is accompanied with a mysterious wilderness. It reflects a free, leisurely, sometimes bewildering shadow, and to him, art is a route accessible to freedom of soul.

FENG introduced himself in his own poetry album as a modern painter, a freelancer. Freedom is something that there is no obstacle encountering the common affair, and it is also a kind of state that follows the heart as desired. However, human is nevertheless a group-born social being, as an old saying goes like "self heaven is just other's hell". For the purpose of freedom, someone has to transcendent between the rules of life and art, including self rule, while it is also a kind of solemnly tragic odor. FENG Zhongyun grew up in the hutong of Beijing, and he is keen on easy life without disguise. With the rule of life and art, he is actually a defender, just wishing to return to his own truthfulness.

FENG Zhongyun admits his painting as modernity, while he possesses the fine technique in tradition, while on the other He has been making efforts to break through the tradition. In reality, he has done the most traditional deed, which he built a meditation temple in Haiyang County of Shandong Province. Hardly imagined, FENG threw himself into the traditional landscape scenery like the so called Blue Lantern and Yellow File, while he seemed to indulge in alcohol and song. FENG could not get rid of the bewilderment of this world, which is de facto an times voice, however he is clearly aware that that is his harbor of wandering soul when FENG built up a supernatural garden for himself in the remote mountain of Haiyang County.

FENG used to write poetry titled Tasting Tea at the Top of Cloud, which described the meditation of his soul when stayed in the temple of Yuntai. "Several leaves dipped into the water, still delicious after many cups; asked about the meaning of tea taste, which is clean water with green leaves." It sounds like an anchoret that stays in wilderness. Indeed, FENG, who are always intoxicated, is a totally commonality in such an uproar world. If a man is truly secular, he would naturally contemplate the supernatural realm. FENG can be intoxicated during dancing and singing, seeking the life's comfort, indulging in the melody interweaved between the alcohol and entertainment. However, his nature is, without doubt, simple and sheer. He can keep himself to sit watching the cloud rising, overwhelming against the mountain after experiencing life's fervency.

FENG Zhongyun has been pursuing such a colorful ink realm in both his life and art, and his colorful-ink world is pure and transparent. FENG creates an abundant and self-spiritual new realm by his unique colorful system as he is basically in a deep tradition, while his traditional brush-ink associates with the colorful exploration fraught with modernity. The sense of times he creates is obviously appeared, and the colorful mixture between block and flat is like an expressive factor full of modern abstract meaning, seeming like a metaphor to the times.

FENG Zhongyun's work can be divided into two categories, which one is traditional theme, pursuing the quietly tranquility and classic passion, which another is his colorful creation, pouring out his own tales. His colorful ink world is full of meticulous fascination, integrating the color with ink, with the surface of picture massy yet no lacks of clarity, providing for a strong abstract factor. FENG's creation is incline to free, random and occasional too, in comparison with traditional paintings as to its determined brush ink characteristics, his colorful ink of painting is close to an undetermined occasional vividness in brush stroke, forming an intense tension, visually exciting, while the introspection and tranquility of the traditional painting are weakened, substituting it with modern, conceptive, abstract and structured beauty. That is the true beauty emanating the strength of life's vitality.

Infusing the life's ideology into the painting, enabling the painting to avoid mechanic copying and deadly forming, making the art return to its own nature, it forms the artistic melody of FENG's painting by his artistic fervency and alcoholic idiosyncrasy. Through this point of view, I feel that painting is just a media that FENG tries to convey his life, and it has more widely view behind the painting, which is the profundity of life's liberation.

1967 - Born in Beijing
1985 - His work of Pumpkin Sketch selected by China Painting Exhibition in 80's, collected by China Fine Art Association
1987 - Graduated from Chinese Painting Faculty of Central Fine Art Institute with a bachelor degree
1990 - His work presented in the "ZHANG Lichen, ZHAO Ningan, GAO Huimin, GUO Yizong, FENG Zhongyun's Flower and Bird Painting Exhibition" by Chinese Painting Research Institute
1991 - Solo Exhibition at Central Fine Art Institute, and in the Central Fine Art Institute collection
1992 - Won the award of Oriental Cup in the exhibition of Oriental Cup International Chinese ink Painting
1998 - Participated Youth Painters Invitational Exhibition held by Yanhuang Art Gallery
1999 - Published the educational disk material of "From Observation to Expression"
2000 - His work titled of Pond of Lotus Flower won the International Honor Gold Medal in the World Chinese Art Grand Competition held by World Chinese Artist Association
2001 - Admitted in the senior research class tutored by Mr. GUO Yizong of Central Fine Art University
2002 - Solo exhibition titled FENG Zhongyun Modern Wash Painting held in Jinan Participated Shanghai Art Exposition
2003 - Selected in the Chinese Mainland Modern Wash Painting Exhibition Held in Taiwan at Taiwan National Father Memorial Hall Participated Shanghai Spring Festival Art Salon Exhibition Solo exhibition of Modern Painting in 21st Century----FENG Zhongyun's Painting Exhibition & Press Release of FENG Zhongyun's Poetry Album of 《Leisure in the Top of Cloud》 held at Yantai Art Museum Participated the Chinese Flower & Bird Painting Elite Invitational Exhibition organized by Publisher of Art Observation Joint exhibition of BAI Fengzhong and FENG Zhongyun Color ink Exploration Exhibition at Shandong Museum Joint Exhibition of BAI Fengzhong and FENG Zhongyun Colorful Ink Exploration Exhibition at Weihai Museum Won the award of Blue Flower of Peony in the Chinese Flower & Bird Art Grand Exhibition
2004 - Solo exhibition of FENG Zhongyun Modern Wash Painting Exhibition in Qiutian Gallery of Gansu solo exhibition of FENG Zhongyun Abstract Colorful Ink Painting in Hubei Art Gallery Joint exhibition of Chinese Modern Wash Painting Elite Invitational Exhibition Solo exhibition of FENG Zhongyun Modern Ink Painting Exhibition
2005 - Penetration & Harmony Grand Exhibition at National Art Museum in Beijing
2006 - "Poetry & Painting——Flower of Cloud" Exhibition in Beijing
2006 - Feng Zhongyun Modern Ink Life Exhibition at Dashazi Art Center
2006 - National Art Museum <Today China Art> Grand Annual Exhibition
2007 - Feng Zhongyun Modern Ink Life Solo Exhibition Singapore
2007 - Fusion & Penetration Contemporary Wash Ink Painting Exhibition, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai Recipient of Japanese News Agency Grand Price of Wash Ink Painting Exhibition and Competition Modern Ink Life Solo Exhibition, John Erdos Gallery, Singapore