An Art Journey of True Moment

NATURE: Hong Ling derives its name from Laozi’s Tao Te Ching: “Man follows the laws of the Earth, the Earth follows the laws of Heaven, Heaven follows the laws of Tao, Tao follows the laws of Nature.”  This notion echoes the unique language of Hong Ling which combines realizations about nature with the art of painting.  Since the Song Dynasty, China has been seeking the harmony between heaven and man emphasized in the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.  This led to notions of a harmonic existence amongst man, nature, and society in which there would be care for nature.  With heaven and earth at its core, this notion became the highest aesthetic realm that China has long aspired to attain.  However, with the modernization of Chinese society, the harmony between heaven and man at the heart of Eastern aesthetics disappeared.  Hong Ling once stated that: “Shanshui (Landscapes) are still the same from the Song Dynasty.  So, it is not Shanshui that has changed, but the hearts and minds of the people.” 

On a Lonely Road Bearing an Inner Persistence

Hong Ling was born in Beijing.  His grandfather, Chengyi He, had been the director of the library at the Forbidden City in Beijing. After the Cultural Revolution, the scholarly legacy that Hong Ling inherited led him to save up enough money to buy a one-way train ticket and travel to the foot of Huangshan by himself in the early 1990s.  This was a time when everyone else wanted to go to the big city of Beijing to find their fortunes.  Instead, at Huangshan, Hong Ling selected a piece of uncultivated land and began constructing a mountain hut.  Within this small dwelling, Hong Ling stood practically and firmly on the great land of Chinese culture.  With Shanshui as his neighbors and heaven and earth as his friends, they accompanied him on a lonely path of art for two decades.  As Hong Ling said: “Every person who lives in an era of dramatic rises and falls walks in a posture that comes from judgments of inner values.  Even a slight bit of inner persistence becomes unusually valuable, since it gives you an opportunity to win respect.  Under the political system of China, landscape painting is not taken seriously because it cannot be used as a political tool.  However, I believe that in the subject of arts for the people, only landscape provides the most power to nurture the soul, the greatest function for inspiring and conveying emotion, and the most penetrative abilities of a cultural history.” 

Creating a New Direction for Ink Landscapes with the Truest Level of Sincerity

Since the twentieth century, Chinese painters have been working hard to achieve new breakthroughs in the field of Chinese painting in the hopes of creating new possibilities.  To achieve this, Chang Dai-Chien pioneered the technique of splashed ink; Fu Baoshi used texture strokes; Wu Guanzhong painted colorful patches and lines; and Zao Wou-Ki adopted abstract art.  Their innovative efforts have guaranteed that their names will go down in Chinese art history.  Hong Ling chose to live amongst mountains and nature, where he experienced the changes of the seasons.  Blossoming spring and withering autumn periods led Hong to imagine his own landscapes.  Mr. Robert Tsao once said: “The imagery of Huangshan has seeped into every part of Hong Ling’s body and soul.  Therefore, his inspiration pours forth like a tide of melting snow.  As inspiration charges forth like ten thousand galloping horses, he creates paintings that are infinitely forceful.  His paintings feature bold brushwork and vivid colors.  The larger works often express a vigorous and forceful momentum.  This can only be achieved by those who are truly touched with emotions. ” With the truest level of sincerity, Hong Ling has opened up a new direction in the field of Chinese landscape painting.

Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts is located on a mountainside in Kuandu, Taipei.  Overlooking the basin of Taipei, it has one foot in the city and another in the mountainous countryside.  It is a place where nature and the humanities intertwine, and one that reflects the themes of nature and life that are emphasized in Hong Ling’s paintings.  With this exhibition, the artist hopes to express the ultimate beauty envisioned by Lao Zi’s notion of “Tao Follows the Laws of Nature”.