FESTIVE

Art Beatus (Vancouver) Consultancy Ltd. is pleased to present FESTIVE - an energetic and diverse display of artworks inspired by the holiday season. Mixed media paintings by Cha Guojun, ink on rice paper works by Qin Feng, etchings Chen Hai Yan and ink works by Yang Jie Chang will be featured. The winter group display will run from December 10, 2007 to February, 15, 2008.

Born in Kunshan City, Suzhou in 1943, Cha Guojun made his home in the United States in 1985 after being invited to the University of Minnesota as a visiting scholar in the Department of Studio Arts. Strong and distinct in characteristics of their own, Cha’s paintings are universal yet organically eastern. Cha's “Bones and Tortoise Shell Combination” series introduce ancient Chinese oracle bone characters meshed with vibrant, modernized abstraction. In recent years, the artist has been travelling between the U.S. and Shanghai to work; he teaches a Master of Fine Arts programme at the Shanghai University.

Qin Feng was born in 1961 in Xinjiang Province in China. After having graduated from the Shandong Art Institute in 1985, Qin spent ten years winding his way towards his artistic pursuit. He left China in 1996 for Berlin, Germany, where he worked and stayed until he moved to the US in 1999. He currently divides his time between his two studios in Beijing and Boston. Speaking about his “Civilization Landscapes” series, Qin hopes to create his own language and system of signs and symbols, re-creating and representing ancient cultures and civilizations that disappeared long ago. Currently, Qin Feng is teaching and serving as graduate advisor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

One of many contemporary Chinese artists who have made their home-base in Paris is Yang Jie-Chang. Born in 1956 and orginally from Guangdong, he sees himself mainly as a conceptual artist who wants to communicate that of which is beyond words in his art; violence as both a historical and personal experience. While he tends to avoid tradition, he will at times use traditional Chinese materials such as paper and ink to convey the depths of his experience. In his ‘Ink Painting’ series, he applies hundreds of layers of ink to paper and gauze, and repeats the process of covering the layers with more layers of ink until the black work creates a strong impression upon the viewer.

Chen Hai Yan was born in In 1955 in Fusheng, Liaoneng. In 1984 she graduated from the print department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (afterwards called the National Academy of Arts) and then joined the faculty as a lecturer in the printmaking department. Dreams are Chen’s typical subject matter; she began recording them in the form of woodblock prints in 1986.

Art Beatus, with a location in Vancouver, Canada and two locations in Hong Kong, showcases international art with a focus on contemporary Chinese art. Art Beatus (Vancouver) is located in the Nelson Square Office Tower at 108 – 808 Nelson Street.

For more information, please contact Media Relations, Tamla Mah by email to info@artbeatus.com or by telephone at 604.688.2633.