A World Within: The Art and Inspiration of Irene Chou at Asia Society Hong Kong Center reviewed by Ma Rufeng for The Culturist.
Irene Chou (1924-2011) is the third artist to be featured in the Asia Society Hong Kong Center's "20th Century Chinese Female Artists Series". Chou was a pioneer of Hong Kong's New Ink Art Movement, with a prolific artistic career spanning half a century from the 1950s to the 2000s. She constantly experimented with, and innovated the possibilities of Chinese ink painting through a highly original abstract visual language, transforming herself from a housewife into a groundbreaking contemporary artist.
"A World Within: The Art and Inspiration of Irene Chou" is Irene Chou's most comprehensive solo exhibition since her passing, bringing together a collection of over 40 important works, borrowed from the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum, and private collections. The exhibition traces her artistic trajectory and presents her historical significance in the development of the Hong Kong New Ink Art Movement.
Chou was always unconventional. Whether as a journalist, a devoted wife, or a painter who had never attended art school, she faces all of life's trials head-on. She once said, "I am my painting, and my painting is me."
Irene Chou's works from different stages of her artistic career encompass the revolutionary history of Hong Kong ink painting. Seeing them in person is akin to seeing the indomitable spirit of humanity in the face of birth, aging, sickness and death.
Translated from original in Chinese.
Text courtesy of The Culturist.
Images courtesy of the MK Lau Collection.
人生歷劫是顏料──周綠雲【文化者‧現場】| The Culturist
