A Modern Pursuit of Ancient Feelings: Chinese Paintings by Zhou Ping-guang
May 7 – July 4, 2004
This exhibition presents Zhou Ping-guang, an artist whose exquisite paintings of birds and flowers possess elements of traditional Chinese paintings while incorporating modern sensibilities.
Zhou Ping-guang was born in 1955 in China. His father, Zhou Qi-he was a master of Sichuan opera and friends with many notable Chinese artists including Xu Bei-hong, Fu Bao-shi and Zhang Da-qian. Growing up, Zhou Ping-guang was surrounded by the paintings of these masters and encouraged to study traditional Chinese painting under the tutorship of Zhang Cai-qin and Zhao Yun-yu.
Professor Zhou, who lives and teaches Chinese painting in San Gabriel, California, is particularly known for his bird and flower paintings, which he executes in part in the gongbi manner, a highly realistic style characterized by fine brushwork and close attention to detail. However, his own rich imagination often fills the backgrounds of his paintings of parrots, peacocks, plum blossoms and peonies with dreamlike elements. He paints while listening to Sichuan opera music, so this may account for the magical quality of many of his works.
Related Programs:
Painting Demonstration
Saturday, June 19, 1-2pm
Zhou Ping-guang, featured artist in A Modern Pursuit of Ancient Feelings will demonstrate his skill in the “gongbi” technique of painting exquisite images of birds and flowers. A professor at the Sichuan Art Institute, Zhou Ping-guang is a Senior-Level Artistic Scholar of China, and immigrated to the United States in 1998 as an “Outstanding Artist with Extraordinary Achievements.” His work possesses elements of traditional Chinese paintings while incorporating modern sensibilities.