Qu  Fengguo  was  selected  as  one  of  the  artists  at  the  Shanghai  Biennale  when  I  was  one  of  its  curators  in  2000.  At  the  time,  he  had  just  turned  30.  
That  Shanghai  Biennale  accomplished  two  goals  within  the  big  picture  of  contemporary  art  in  China.  First,  it  brought  contemporary  art  to  the  Mainland,  so  that  it  could  be  freely  viewed  by  people  in  China.  It  seems  incredible  nowadays,  but  the  art  scene  in  China  was  quite  conservative  at  the  time.  
Our  other  goal  was  to  introduce  contemporary  Chinese  art  to  the  world.  Since  that  Shanghai  Biennale,  contemporary  Chinese  art  has  stepped  onto  the  world  stage,  growing  into  the  flourishing  spectacle  of  today.  
Qu  Fengguo  was  part  of  that  wave  of  change.  He  was  one  of  the  young  artists  we  hoped  would  create  a  new  era  for  contemporary  art  in  China,  and  the  artist  fully  responded  and  lived  up  to  the  anticipation.    
Here,  I  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  history  of  abstract  painting  lies  in  the  background  of  Qu  Fengguo’s  art,  so  let  us  examine  that  background.  
Abstract  art  is  a  form  of  expression  manifested  in  painting  and  sculpture,  represented  by  early  20th  century  artists  such  as  Kandinsky,  Malevich,  Kupka,  Mondrian,  and  Tatlin  .  The  seeds  they  sowed  flourished  in  the  post-war  period  of  the  1950s;  overnight,  it  seemed  abstract  art  had  taken  the  world  by  storm.  
One  such  artist  was  Chinese  painter  Wu  Dayu.  He  went  to  Paris  during  the  1920s,  and  was  exposed  to  abstract  painting  in  that  city.  He  returned  to  Shanghai  in  the  late  20s,  and  passed  on  his  knowledge  to  later  generations.  However,  the  establishment  of  the  New  China  in  the  1950s  transformed  art  into  a  vehicle  for  communicating  the  new  government’s  political  messages  rather  than  a  medium  for  expressing  personal,  internal  worlds.  It  should  come  as  no  surprise  that  abstract  art  did  not  appear  in  any  sun-drenched  area  of  China’s  artistic  landscape  during  that  time.    
Zhao  Wuji  personally  experienced  the  abstract  art  whirlwind  of  the  1950s.  Following  his  studies  at  an  art  institute  in  Hangzhou,  he  went  to  Paris  in  1948  and  underwent  the  baptism  of  the  Art  Informel  movement  of  the  50s.  Later,  he  journeyed  to  the  US,  becoming  close  with  a  number  of  abstract  artists,  but  his  direct  interactions  with  China  did  not  occur  until  much  later.  
So-called  abstract  painting  is  an  extreme  manifestation  of  an  artist’s  internal  world.  On  some  level,  anyone  with  a  “story”  is  able  understand  the  meaning  of  a  figurative  painting.  However,  the  content  expressed  in  abstract  art  originates  wholly  from  the  individual  artist,  and  returns  to  the  individual  artist.  There  is  no  element  of  literary  interpretation  or  story,  and  is  extremely  modern.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  form  of  expression  unique  to  modern  society  which  formed  when  a  set  of  individuals  broke  away  from  the  conventional  collective.      
A  revival  of  abstract  painting  took  place  in  China  during  the  1980s.  Following  the  Cultural  Revolution,  Wu  Dayu’s  works  were  first  exhibited  in  Shanghai  in  1982.  The  show’s  influence  gradually  permeated  the  young,  creative  people  of  the  time.  When  asked  about  his  influences,  it  is  only  natural  that  Wu  Dayu’s  great  name  was  mentioned  in  the  list  of  Qu  Fengyu’s  list  of  artistic  influences.  
Taking  over  as  curator  of  the  Shanghai  Art  Museum  during  the  latter  part  of  the  90s,  Li  Xu  convened  abstract  artists  for  group  exhibitions  at  the  museum;  since  2001,  he  has  begun  to  regularly  introduce  abstract  artists  in  this  way.  In  the  exhibition  literature  for  the  museum’s  second  “Metaphysics”  exhibition  in  2002,  Li  Xu  writes,  “Shanghai  is  China’s  capital  of  abstract  art”.  Shanghai  is  a  nexus  of  individualism  because  this  city  launched  the  development  of  modern  commerce  in  one  fell  swoop  by  introducing  national  capitalism  during  the  early  20th  century,  giving  modern  individualism  an  opportunity  to  enter,  and  building  a  foundation  for  abstract  painting.  
This  is  the  type  of  environment  in  which  Qu  Fengguo  lives.
The  artist’s  work  in  abstract  painting  began  around  1990.  He  studied  production  design  at  the  Shanghai  Theatre  Academy  –  a  school  which  happened  to  give  rise  to  several  talented  contemporary  artists  including  Cai  Guoqiang.  I  imagine,  perhaps  because  Qu  and  his  peers  felt  free  to  study  art  in  the  theatre  academy  as  they  were  unencumbered  by  conservative  artistic  traditions  in  such  an  environment.  Qu  Fengguo  graduated  from  the  Shanghai  Theatre  Academy  in  1988.  
During  his  student  years,  Qu  Fengguo  focused  on  painting  landscapes,  and  began  painting  in  a  non-figurative  form  expressed  across  entire  canvases  around  1990.  
Qu  Fengguo’s  student  years  took  place  during  the  1980s  –  a  period  of  agitation  for  Chinese  art.  This  time  period  was  not  only  intense  in  artistic  spheres,  the  entirety  of  Chinese  society  was  undergoing  turmoil.  The  Cultural  Revolution  ended  in  1977,  information  from  overseas  began  as  a  trickle  and  quickly  became  a  torrent;  all  sorts  of  artistic  genres  and  styles  –  from  French  classicism  to  the  Impressionists  to  Picasso  –  were  introduced  in  one  stroke.  Thus  the  “New  Wave  Movement”  took  hold,  reaching  its  peak  with  the  “China  Avant-Garde  Exhibition”  held  at  the  National  Art  Museum  of  China  in  February,  1989.  When  Xiao  Lu  fired  her  gun  during  that  exhibition,  the  chaos  that  ensued  did  not  have  a  significant  impact  on  the  overall  trajectory  of  art  in  China.  Art  became  freer,  and  artists  continued  to  press  forward  on  their  journeys  of  self-exploration.      
It  was  during  this  time  that  Qu  Fengguo  abandoned  art  as  reproduction.  He  came  to  believe  that  the  goal  of  art  was  not  to  imitate  the  visible  world.  Qu  Fengguo  began  to  explore  his  subjects  before  painting  them,  treating  them  as  mysteries,  exploring  what  he  was  painting,  discovering  the  essence  of  his  subjects.  
During  this  time,  Qu  Fengguo  was  often  reading  works  by  Nietzsche.  Rather  than  sight,  he  began  to  believe  that  art  should  rely  on  the  imagination  –  a  state  of  mind  only  achievable  after  mobilizing  both  rationality  and  sensibility.  Needless  to  say,  artists  are  perceptual  creatures,  perhaps  they  lack  rationality,  and  reading  Nietzsche  is  a  possible  method  for  training  this  aspect.          
In  his  early  work  with  abstract  painting,  Qu  Fengguo’s  style  brought  paint  to  a  boiling  point  on  a  chaotic  canvases;  this  constituted  the  foundation  for  his  subsequent  works.  Overall,  the  artist’s  paintings  have  always  contained  elements  of  chaos;  he  recognizes  the  existence  of  that  chaotic  world,  and  imparts  order  upon  it.  This  may  well  be  what  the  artist  has  been  laboring  over  since  the  early  1990s.  
When  I  see  his  charcoal  pieces  from  the  1990s,  I  recall  the  Ju  Ran  paintings  I  saw  at  Taipei’s  National  Palace  Museum.  Those  were  magnificent  shan  shui  paintings  of  such  majestic  scale  that  if  I  moved  in  close  to  the  glass  so  that  only  a  small  portion  of  the  paintings  were  in  my  field  of  view,  what  I  saw  before  me  resembled  chaotic  abstract  paintings.  Because  the  paintings  themselves  were  somber,  the  dimly  lit  atmosphere  of  the  exhibition  rooms  further  elicited  that  sense  of  chaos.    
In  fact,  Ju  Ran’s  paintings  only  became  shan  shui  paintings  because  the  artist  brought  order  to  the  chaos.  Of  course,  Qu  Fengguo’s  practice  is  utterly  different  from  Ju  Ran’s,  but  similarities  remain  between  the  two  artists.  
Take  the  artist’s  “The  World  Itself”  series  for  example.  The  themes  of  this  series  are  time  and  space.  The  world  is  formed  of  time  and  space.  In  Qu  Fengguo’s  paintings,  land  is  subsumed  by  amorphous,  uncontained  flows  of  diluted  acrylic  paint,  which  mix  naturally  with  other  painting  materials  through  movements  of  the  canvas  until  an  image  composed  of  curved  lines  is  on  the  brink  of  forming.  These  works  are  not  the  result  of  the  artist’s  autonomous  intent,  as  the  paint  relied  on  the  indefinite  caprices  of  water  to  form  the  images.  Water  is  filled  with  the  material  of  the  universe,  ever-changing,  and  often  chaotic;  it  holds  the  true,  and  dynamic  nature  of  the  world,  and  Qu  Fengguo’s  paintings  captured  an  instant  –  one  gesture  in  a  series  of  movements.    
Yet  man  cannot  be  sustained  in  chaos,  he  cannot  repress  his  desire  to  give  it  order.  Order  is  evidence  of  man’s  existence.  Qu  Fengguo  gives  order  to  a  chaotic  universe  by  drawing  lines,  attempting  to  plainly  demonstrate  the  existence  of  humanity.    
The  line  became  the  protagonist  of  the  artist’s  “Four  Seasons”  series.  This  series  was  an  attempt  to  transfer  time  to  the  canvas  and  affix  it  there.  Earth’s  four  seasons  move  in  a  constant  cycle  within  a  rapidly  changing  universe.  The  metamorphosis  of  all  things  is  reflected  in  the  artist’s  use  of  color,  they  embody  not  only  changes  in  light,  but  also  in  substance.    
Each  of  the  four  seasons  was  assigned  an  associated  color:  winter  is  black,  summer  is  red,  spring  is  a  bluish  green,  and  autumn  is  light  yellow.  These  four  colors  form  Qu  Fengguo’s  basic  palette,  but  the  colors  are  constantly  shifting  and  flowing  into  each  other  in  his  paintings.  Moreover,  the  countless  colors  are  presented  in  lines  formed  after  chaos  is  resolved.  
Each  time  Qu  Fengguo  painted  a  line,  he  extended  it  vertically,  then  destroyed  and  eliminated  the  line  itself  before  adding  another  on  top  of  it.  Line  after  line  was  painted  on  top  of  the  previous  lines  which  existed  and  were  then  destroyed.  Lines  at  the  surface  of  the  paintings  lie  on  top  of  the  chaos  of  the  universe.  Seasons  are  affected  by  of  diverse  elements  including  light,  air,  land,  vegetation,  cities,  earth,  and  the  oceans.  All  of  the  various  elements  which  form  the  phenomenon  of  seasonal  changes  are  reflected  in  Qu  Fengguo’s  paintings,  though  the  rectangular  canvas  is  limited,  an  infinity  of  time  and  space  extends  beyond  the  restrictions  of  the  frame.        
After  viewing  a  number  of  Qu  Fengguo’s  painting  in  the  studio,  I  was  reminded  of  Dong  Qichang’s  exposition  on  the  necessary  “vividness  and  vitality”  of  literati  paintings  in  “Notes  from  the  Painting-Meditation  Studio”.  Xie  He  originally  gave  voice  to  this  idea,  classifying  “vividness  and  vitality”  as  the  cardinal  principle  of  painting.  
If  “vividness  and  vitality”  refers  to  the  sublime  rhythm  of  the  universe,  then  Qu  Fengguo’s  paintings  meet  this  criterion.  According  to  Dong  Qichang,  such  energy  emanates  from  within  the  artist,  and  Qu  Fengguo  has  inherited  this  great  Chinese  tradition.  
As  mentioned  before,  abstract  painting  is  an  expression  of  the  artist’s  internal  world,  but  Qu  Fengguo’s  abstract  paintings  have  transcended  the  realm  of  the  individual,  and  tapped  into  the  rhythm  of  the  universe.  His  abstract  paintings  are  akin  to  shan  shui    paintings.  In  other  words,  shan  shui  paintings  are  akin  to  abstract  paintings.  
Shan  shui  paintings  do  not  depict  actual  landscapes;  while  they  are  “guided  by  nature”  (Dong  Qichang),  they  also  describe  the  patterns  of  the  universe.  They  are  distinct  from  the  western  European  tradition  of  realism,  and  do  not  imitate  nature;  they  merely  borrow  images  from  nature;  the  paintings  exist  only  within  themselves,  and  constitute  an  independent  virtual  space.      
Founder  of  the  1950s  “Gutai  group”  in  Japan,  Jiro  Yoshihara  has  also  spoken  about  the  clear  distinction  between  Japanese  and  western  abstract  painting.  According  to  Yoshihara’s  “Gutai  Manifesto”,  western  abstract  paintings  face  inward,  while  the  Gutai  group’s  members  tried  to  let  the  matter  speak  for  themselves.  Here,  matter  refers  to  nature.  By  transcending  personal  significance,  the  power  of  the  universe  could  be  channeled  into  the  artist,  which  then  brought  forth  their  paintings.        
In  other  words,  although  abstract  paintings  are  an  expression  of  an  individual’s  internal  aspect,  it  would  be  more  accurate  to  say  that  in  addition  to  Qu  Fengguo’s  internal  sense  of  “vividness  and  vitality”,  it  was  his  access  to  an  unfettered  spiritual  environment  which  allowed  him  to  tap  into  the  energy  of  the  cosmos  and  create  paintings  that  manifest  such  individuality.    
After  the  Cultural  Revolution,  the  road  has  finally  led  past  the  volume  of  contemporary  Chinese  art  following  the  1990s  to  Qu  Fengguo’s  paintings,  at  last  bringing  us  this  artist  who  uses  modern  techniques  to  express  traditional  Chinese  spiritual  and  cultural  values.  Shanghai  is  certainly  fertile  ground  for  cultivating  such  painters.  
Spring,  2015
Toshio  Shimizu  (Art  Critic,  Professor  at  Gakushuin  Women 's  College  Post  Graduate  School)
Translation  from  Japanese  to  Simplified  Chinese:  Alla  Zhang
Translation  from  Simplified  Chinese  to  English:  Fei  Wu