“Contemporary Abstract Art Exhibition by US-Based Painter Pan Qiqun” was presented at the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts on March 12, 2014. It showcases the works of painting and sculpture by the artist in recent years. For the artist, this exhibition is not only a trip to return to the soul, but also the return of Oriental culture.

At the press conference on the opening day, Liu Weidong, Vice President of the Nanjing University of the Arts initially addressed: “Pan Qiqun who was born in Nanjing in the 1950s, although he has lived abroad for more than 30 years, we can still experience the Oriental elements in his art.” Artist Pan Qiqun said:

“I’ve been yearning for the traditional Chinese culture, and I am glad to hold an exhibition in the Nanjing University of the Arts, where I can feel the strong teaching atmosphere. The works of the exhibition present an expression form from traditional Chinese culture. At the same time, I also hope that through this exhibition I can get more advice, in order to improve my understanding and correct my shortcomings.”

Li Xiaoshan, Director of Art Museum of the Nanjing University of the Art said: “Pan Qiqun combines traditional Chinese culture and western modern art, which is a better interpretation of abstract art itself. At the same time, the exhibition also enriches students’ knowledge of academic theory, to make up for the things they can’t learn from their class.”

Pan Qiqun’s artistic style is unique, he finished a complete and diverse art education and training in an art college in the United States, so that his artistic style was formed by a variety of factors including abstract expressionism, hard-edge art, traditional Chinese art, and even extended to the integration of Western and Eastern cultural communication. In addition to these factors, nature deeply affects Pan Qiqun’s art. Influenced by traditional Chinese cultural spirit, Pan Qiqun applies the concept of the whole while gazing at nature, so that the chaos of the universe, rhythms of upheaval, the forms of material polymerization and elimination, endless changes in space and time... are all indistinctly visible in his work.

Pan Qiqun is interested in painting material, and loves to try new materials. He breaks the constraint of traditional Chinese painting with the use of materials, applying mixed media to pursue painting, to process the separation, fusion and leap of the colors, to show different textural effects, hierarchies and transparencies.

With this exhibition, the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts also launched the “2014 Chinese Abstract Art Academic Forum” at the same time, inviting noted critics and artists including Li Xiaoshan, Ding Yi, Guan Ce, Zhou Changjiang, Yang Jinsong, Wu Lieyan, Mao Yan to attend the discussion on the situation of Chinese abstract art and development of the new era.

The exhibition will continue to March 25.

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO, Photo by Nanjing University of the Arts.