BIO
No other contemporary Chinese artist pushes the limits of traditional Chinese painting media than Liang Quan. Liang employs the traditional materials associated with Chinese painting to create works that are anything but traditional. Liang takes the notion of “void” in historical Chinese literati painting and advances it to a new level of pure abstraction. For some of his work Liang creates elaborate overlapping collages from strips of xuan paper and then adds color and
ink onto the surface. He also uses tea to wash the paper strips for some of his pieces. This experimentation with tea has lead to another series of abstract works that use tea as the primary painting medium, rather than ink or mineral pigment wash. Both series are quiet studies of symmetry and asymmetry, order versus spontaneity. In the frenzied world of contemporary Chinese art where flash and shock value dominate, Liang’s work possesses a spiritual and meditative subtlety that sets it apart.
Born in Shanghai in 1948, Liang Quan graduated from the China Central Art Academy in Beijing, where he still retains a position as Associate Professor. He currently is Professor of Fine Arts at the Shenzhen Painting Academy. Liang has been a leading artist in China since his first national exhibition at the China Art Gallery in 1983. His works have been shown throughout China and the world, including Cambridge University, U.K. in 1988, the World Bank in Washington, D.C. in 1991, the British Museum in 1994, the Shanghai Biennale in 1998, Taipei in 2002, Vienna in 2002, and Berlin in 2004, Chengdu Biennale in 2007. His works are part of the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, the Hong Kong Art Museum and the Guangdong Museum of Art.
Solo Exhibitions
2014 “The Weed and Clear Spring – Liang Quan Solo Exhibition”, Wistaria Tea House, Taipei, China
2013 “Folds of the Infra-Fade – Liang Quan Solo Exhibition”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2011 “Flat”, Wellside Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2011 “Sailing~Afar —Liang Quan’s New Works”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2011 “Eight Views of Xiaoxiang”, Wistaria Tea House, Taipei, China
2006 Liang Quan’s Solo Exhibition, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2005 Liang Quan’s Solo Exhibition, M.Sutherland Fine Arts, New York, U.S.A
2004 Liang Quan’s Solo Exhibition, Mies van Der Rohe Haus, Berlin, Germany
2001 Liang Quan’s Solo Exhibition, Kunst House, Nürnberg, Germany
1994 Liang Quan’s Solo Exhibition, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong, China
Group Exhibitions
2014 “Perfection upon Finery: Liang Quan Jin Shi”, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2014“Non-Being • Emptiness”: An Intellectual Dimension of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Gallery+BTAP, Beijing, China
2014 “i-Inkness”, ZHC Art Space, Beijing, China
2014 “2014’ The 7th Abstract Exhibition”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2014 “Empty Cold”, Soka Art Center, Beijing, China
2012 “Non-Media: Zhang Yu, Liang Quan Works Exhibition”, Enjoy Museum of Art, Beijing, China
2012 “At Rest – The 5th Exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2012 Sydney Biennale, Sydney, Australia
2011 “LA GRANDE ASTRAZIONE CELESTE”, National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy
2011 “Chinese Abstract Art Exhibition”, Art Museum of the University of Minnesota, the United States
2011 “Echo: Minds – in – Hands” the 4th Exhibition of Chinese Abstract Art, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2011 “The Unconscious Image”, Da Xiang Art Space,Taichung, China
2011 “Natural Rule – Contemporary Chinese Abstract Art Exhibition”, SH Contemporary, Shanghai, China
2010 “Back to the Essence from Ink Painting to Ink”, Da Xiang Art Space, Taiwan, China
2010 “One Day in June”, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, New York, the United States
2010 Yi Pai: 30 Years of Abstract Art in China, la caixa forum Palma / la caixa forum Barcelona/ la caixa forum Madrid, Spain
2009 “Ink, Not Ink”, Drexel University, Philadelphia, U.S.A/Museum of Warsaw Royal, Poland
2009 “Beyond the Image: Liang Quan, Lui Chunkwong & Yan Shanchun”, Osage Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, China
2008 “Savoring Images with a Pure Heart: Contemporary Chinese Ink and Wash Invitational Exhibition”, Daxiang Art Space, Taiwan, China
2008 Guangdong Contemporary Art Exhibition, GuangdongMuseum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2008 “Yi Pai: Century Thinking”, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2008 Chinesische Tuschemalerei Der Gegenwart, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresgen, Germany
2007 Traces and Temperament: Contemporary Art Exhibition, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
2007 Narration in Ink and Wash, Yokohama Zaim Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
2005 Ink and Paper, Weimar Art Museum, Weimar, Germany
2005 Ink on Paper—Contemporary Ink and Wash, Palace Rihour, Lille, France
2005 Korean-Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2002 Ost+West, Ausstellung fuer die Zeitgenossische Kunst aus China, Kunstlerhaus in Wien, Austina
1996 Chinese Modern Print Exhibition, British Museum, London, UK
1991 Exhibition in Headquarters of the World Bank, Washington, U.S.A.
1989 Exhibition in the University of San Diego, San Diego, U.S.A.