Essence Unbounded – 2024.08.27

The Rui Cunha Foundation presents on Tuesday, August 27th at 6:30pm, the Macau Gongbi Painting Association Exhibition “Essence Unbounded”, a joint event with artist Members of the Macau Gongbi Painting Association,curated by Master Li Jinxiang (李金祥), who presides over it.

The set consists of 32 works of art, created by 32 participating members, where traditional Chinese meticulous painting appears in different themes in the works presented. Gongbi (in Chinese: 工筆) is a technique of great precision, realist and careful, generally more descriptive than interpretive, which requires brushstrokes of unwavering detail and delicacy.

It is an art of patience and perseverance, drawing with very fine lines first to represent the exaggerated likenesses of the objects, and then adding washes of ink and color layer by layer, on rice paper or silk, so to approach the perfection of exquisiteness and fine art.

According to Li Jinxiang, this tradition dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), «perfectly echoes the title of the “Essence Unbounded” Exhibition. The ‘essence’ of Gongbi painting aligns with the meticulous rendering of details to capture the realism of the subject matter. The ‘unbounded’ aspect of Gongbi painting refers to the artists’ ability to depict every single feature in infinite minutiae, and to breathe life into the subjects, conveying a sense that goes beyond the so-called photographic replication».

Li Jinxiang graduated from the Renmin University of China’s Calligraphy and Painting Programme, in Beijing. Over the past two decades he has been a professional instructor, dedicating his time to studying and teaching the art of Gongbi Painting. He currently holds the position of President of the Macau Gongbi Painting Association, as well as member of the Chinese Gongbi Painting Association and the Macau Artist Society. Li is also Director of the Macau Moquxuan Gongbi Painting Education Center and a special artist invitee by the Chinese Calligraphers and Painters Association. His work has been widely recognized, with paintings selected for prestigious exhibitions and competitions in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China.

On par with this Exhibition, Li Jinxiang will lead a Gongbi Painting Workshop at FRC, scheduled on September 2nd(Monday), from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, in Cantonese and limited to eight participants. People will have also the opportunity to see the artist live in four Demonstration Sessions at the Gallery, planned for August 28th and 30th (Wednesday and Friday) and September 4th and 6th (Wednesday and Friday), always from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.

The artworks will be on display until September 7th, 2024.

Admission is free.

Don’t miss it!

For Macau, Further and Higher!

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