Galerie du Monde is extremely pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by Hu Chi-Chung (b. Zhejiang, China 1927 – 2012). This is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work since he passed away in 2012. Showcasing Hu’s abstract landscape paintings that he created from the late 1950s to the 1980s, the exhibition will present many works which have never been shown to the public before. Important archive materials related to the artist, such as catalogues, brochures and photos will also be displayed.
A self-taught artist, Hu Chi-Chung moved to Taiwan in 1950 where he started his career as a painter. After co-founding the Four Seas Artists Association with Fong Chung-Ray in 1957, Hu became a member of the Fifth Moon Group in 1961. He then emigrated from Taiwan to California in the early 1970s, due to considerable interest there by many collectors, galleries and museums in his work. Hu stayed in Carmel, a town on the central coast of California with a large population of artists, writers and photographers. From the early 1970s, he created the majority of his paintings there and it was the location of his first solo exhibition in the U.S.
Most of Hu’s paintings are comprised of thin layers of paint and detailed texture. His method of painting was to lay a canvas on the floor and then splash oil colors with thinners such as turpentine and linseed oil onto it. After the first layer of sand and oil colors were dry, more layers of color were applied to build up the composition and enhance the hues.
The forthcoming exhibition at Galerie du Monde will showcase more than 15 of the artist’s landscape paintings created over almost three decades. Most of the paintings are made using oil with sand on canvas – the artist’s unique method of painting which he first developed in 1958. As one of the most influential Fifth Moon members, Hu created his own painting styles and techniques which were based on traditional Chinese ink painting.
Hu Chi-Chung was a quiet person whose lifelong interest was painting. According to Jerry Hu, the younger son of the artist, “Painting was the language of his soul, and he used it to express not only his innermost thoughts, but also his joy and wonder at the world around him.” He expressed his emotions and thoughts through his artworks.
In the catalogue “Paintings by Contemporary Chinese Artist Hu”, published in 1966, Professor Yu Kwang-chung writes: “Hu-Chi-chung stands apart from his fellow artists … as nature does from factories. So pastoral is the feeling, so sumptuous is the color, so well balanced is the composition of his painting, that it basks the spectator in an easy warmth and a sense of well-being.”