Shu Xiang

An avant-garde art movement originating in China of the 1980s. The earlier representatives of the art movement include Qiu Zhenzhong, Xu Bing and Gu Wenda.

Starting 1999, the artistic gaze of An Dong turned to “Shu Xiang”**, an avant-garde art movement originated in the 1980s in China. “Shu Xiang”strives to rediscover the beauty of Chinese characters and explores the infinite artistic possibilities hidden in an ancient pictographic writing system. Through the thick, fierce brushstrokes that passionately soar across the canvas, the viewer is taken vicariously on an emotional journey. The brilliance of Chinese culture is woven into new contexts that direct the viewer into the future.

Through “Shu Xiang”, An Dong prompts the viewer to reassess Chinese characters as well as the culture in a different light. In his creations under the theme that appears more calligraphic than the art of painting in the traditional sense, the enchanting soul of the characters emerges through painfully minimalistic contours that contain immense depths. The unrestrained markings play on the imagination of the viewer, providing clues but also space for one’s thoughts to run wild. The conception of “Chinese characters”is reconstructed into a new “world language”, or a broader theme of universality, that generates unique responses in viewers from all cultures.

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