PAST EXHIBITION

Rao Songqing: A Man's Landscape

April 5, 2008—June 4, 2008

Rao Songqing’s landscapes depict the soft greys of the forest around Beijing in winter. In his last series of works, the artist has explored his particular attunement with the season through representations of snowed landscapes of an extraordinary expressive quality, his brush becoming bolder with each new painting. Rao Songqing’s paintings stem from the oldest and most noble of painting traditions in China : the landscape painting tradition. In this tradition, the subject matter - landscape - is a means to express the painter’s own feelings and personality. In Su Shi’s (1037-1101 ) words : « Anyone who judges painting by form-likeness shows merely the insight of a child ».

Moreover, landscape painting was supossed to represent philosophical and spiritual concepts relating to the idea of Dao or the way of the universe, and of a generalized view of the world in which individual things only had meaning as aspects of the whole. This idea is clearly present in Rao Songqing’s paintings where humans, if present at all, are but an additional element in the composition, often blending into the landscape. The artist’s works characteristically exude an affinity with nature, an overall feeling of boundless space and supreme harmony that accords with the traditional views.

Rao Songqing’s compositions possess a rhythmic energy created with a brushwork that seems almost calligraphic. Using light and sparse colors, he applies layer upon layer of painting combining with accidental effects to achieve works of great strength and subtlety. The repeating theme of the landscape acts as a vehicle for the expression of the most delicate nuances of feeling.

In Chinese painting the works are not conceived as a result like in the West, but rather as a way to enlightenment. In the words of Confucious, the purpose of man’s life is « to transmit rather than to create ». When we look at Rao Songqing’s landscapes we step into his personal world and meditations on life, opening a door for the viewer’s own questioning. It cannot be anticipated what will be the next step on the expression of Rao Songqing’s lyrical thoughts and feelings, but one thing is certain: he has already made a statement by depicting the landscapes of his unique soul.

Rao Songqing was born in Hubei in 1970. He graduated from the Art Academy of People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1991. He lives and works in Beijing.

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