A Chinese Seurat

    Recently viewed works of Ren Hui, oil paintings from the past two years, easily bring to mind the late the 19^th century  “Neo-Impressionism” or the “Divisionists” (who used a technique, “Divisionism”, closely related to pointillism, relying also on use of colour), fashionable in the west in the 1880s and 1890s. From the tiny dots that fill the canvas, gradually images of various people, animals, flowers, buildings and scenery emerge, and the interaction between viewer and the artwork, seen from a distance, gives rise to subtle changes in the perception of the viewer.    
    Georges Pierre Seurat, the first of the “Divisionists”, had an extremely distinctive sense of aesthetics: “Art is harmony. Harmony is the matching of opposing factors, illuminated and seen from a particular relationship between principle and subordinate, existing in the melody created through mingling of playfulness, placidness and melancholy.” In Ren Hui’s poem “This bunch of flowers”, we can find a similar sentiment to this past generation: “This bunch of flowers in your hand lets me see how you are feeling, As you enter a circle of strangers, They smell the scent of the flowers, Your flower scent brings harmony to this circle, Creating a warm atmosphere”. Although the newcomer emphasizes expression of emotion and sentiment, while his predecessor favoured artistic theory, technique and exploration, nevertheless, the “reality” of something, especially the attention paid to describing in detail the full sense of the subject, is common to these artists. This “reality” must be a type of “outward reality”, the result of the unique vision of the artist. According to the prevailing point of view, the “appearance” of something is subordinate to its “true nature”. Most artists pride themselves on having keen insight and are pleased with their own ability to “see deeply”. In turn, many viewers praise artists and their works for having revealed some aspect of true human nature. As a result, within the process of creating contemporary art, creating something “profound” has today become the underlying principle. Still, looking back through the ages of art, it’s easy to see that mankind has long respected and pursued “outward reality”. The artistic works of Ancient Greece, Rome and the Renaissance all spring from this thought and vision.  Arriving at the Impressionists, especially the “Neo-Impressionists” (Divisionists), under the influence of science and based on principles tied to the chromatic structure of light, this exploration of “outward reality” was carried to a new height. 
   Still, to speak of Ren Hui’s “colour dots” purely in terms of the optical impact does a disservice to his predecessor’s artistic vision. In reality, when carefully studying these works, a different type of artistic temperament and thought is revealed, which leaves one pleasantly surprised. The height of classical Chinese painting was the ability to achieve an affect that was “like but not like”. In my view, Seurat and others devoted their efforts more to achieving the “like”, whether considering their use of space, structure, colour or light, in their ultimate pursuit of the “real” representation of a subject. Ren Hui on the other hand, favours more a celebration of the “not like” or the “unlike” in his works, particularly within his woodcuts. Emerging from a plain background, we see Chairman Mao, Marilyn Monroe, Donghuamen, a Stone Lion, taking form through thousands of dots. We can almost hear the sound of the chisel against the wood panel, gouging away in the silence to bring forth the shapes that emerge from the seemingly random dots, eventually giving life to the images. Such a feat sadly may only be accomplished by the truly committed -- of course, by definition, artists are those with the commitment to such creation.
    Ren Hui’s work also has a strong sense of time that we cannot ignore that distinguishes it from Divisionism. The subject of each painting is drawn from the artists’ ordinary life experiences --- people admired or loved, places visited, things of interest. Through the process of mindful duplication, the original meaning has been erased leaving only the visual images. There is no judging, only representation with a certain memory of the past associations; distant and quiet, these stir at the soul. From this viewpoint, the “outward reality" seems in fact to be the "true nature".  The artist inadvertently reminds us of a simple truth: sometimes the reality that we seek is actually all around us, life’s true meaning and reality rests in our experiencing of it.
    Ren Hui uses at most two solid colours in each of his paintings, a fact that draws the attention of viewers. In his own words, he has said that he seeks to express "purity and directness", that the basic colors used and this simplified approach are beneficial to expression of his themes. This approach in no way means however that the artist or the viewer is less mentally-engaged with the work.  Rather, we should say that Ren Hui precisely creates a space for people to contemplate and pour themselves into. If you remain satisfied with simply a first glance, you run the risk of missing the psychological narrative of the artist, as well as the full pleasure of the work.
   "Green Path" is the most sprightly piece in this series in terms of coloration, bringing to viewers of contemporary art a sense of freshness and ease.  This, I believe, is the message the artist wants to convey:  value more the small, seemingly minute aspects of daily life, and you will discover that it is rich with emotion, bringing you closer to finding its true nature and meaning.

Tang Jing

"Green Path" Oil on Canvas,155x150cm,2008