Brushstrokes of Genius

Source from TAIWAN TODAY

Chu works on a painting at his studio in Taipei City.

Calligrapher and ink-wash painter Chu Chen-nan devoted much of his life to studying traditional art but has gained international acclaim by straying from it.

Twenty years ago, calligrapher and ink-wash painter Chu Chen-nan (朱振南) was given a choice: remain secretary-general of Taiwan’s Chinese Calligraphy Association, or leave his family behind and travel to Paris on a government-funded art scholarship. He chose the latter. Chu called the moment of his decision a “crucial turning point,” one that would lead him to reconsider everything he knew about art. Eventually he would develop his own unique style by combining Eastern and Western influences to bring color to a monochromatic world.

Traditional Chinese ink-wash paintings are created using varying shades of black ink on white paper. Their subjects are usually picturesque landscapes, but Chu has built a reputation by creating striking images of the modern world rendered with brilliant bursts of color. The artist often incorporates calligraphy drawn from ancient Chinese texts into his mural-sized cityscapes, blending history and personal experience in a bid to create a fuller portrayal of his cultural heritage.

Cultural Seed

Chu was born in 1952 to a family of humble means in Fugui Cape on the northernmost tip of Taiwan. He spent his early years near Fuji Harbor, saying his family found little opportunity in a dreary environment where it rained for about a third of the year. But even as bleak as he found his hometown, it was where the future artist was first inspired to pursue his creative passions.

As a child, Chu spent time around Nationalist soldiers who had retreated across the Taiwan Strait in 1949. Many of them worked in the mines near his home, and he remembers them reading a propaganda magazine called Light of Victory. However, it was neither the military slogans nor nationalistic content that caught the young boy’s attention. Instead, it was the traditional Chinese ink-wash paintings printed on the back cover of the magazine that captivated him.

“I was always moved by the paintings I saw there as a child. I don’t know why, but it was like that for as far back as I can remember,” he recalled. “My upbringing was so rural, so simple, and devoid of culture. It was difficult for even a minuscule seed of culture to exist or survive.” But the seed planted in Chu by the magazine’s images did survive, eventually growing into a lifelong obsession with the art form.

Mastering Multiple Disciplines

In 1974, after completing his two-year mandatory military service, Chu was accepted into the National Taiwan Academy of Arts, now National Taiwan University of Arts. “Once I entered that drastically new environment, I never stopped pursuing my dreams,” he said. Over the next four years, he worked mornings to support himself and took classes at night.

The artist said he felt it was important not only to master the techniques of traditional Chinese calligraphy and ink-wash painting, but also to understand their essence. Therefore, before, during and after his university studies, he arranged apprenticeships under several teachers, including traditional Chinese painting master Chang Chun-chieh (張俊傑) in 1970; calligrapher Hsieh Chung-an (謝宗安, 1908-1997) in 1979; and Chiang Yi-han (姜一涵‬), who taught art theory, in 1982. Chu believes that in order to succeed in calligraphy and ink-wash painting, it is imperative to have an intimate understanding of Chinese cultural heritage, including art, literature and history. “Only when you have the necessary knowledge and understanding, accompanied with the eagerness to learn more, can you create Chinese art of value,” he said.

Within two decades of graduating with a bachelor’s degree in art, Chu had established himself as one of Taiwan’s most prominent practitioners of traditional calligraphy and ink-wash painting. In 1992, he became secretary-general of the Chinese Calligraphy Association. By 1996 he had held exhibitions in museums and art centers throughout Taiwan as well as mainland China. But the painter sought more from his work than fame. He came to believe that to improve as an artist, he had to embrace change. “A life without worry will destroy a person,” he said of his decision to stray from his artistic comfort zone. “It’ll make an existence calm, uneventful and without turbulence. But only through experiencing difficulties will you gain the opportunity to better yourself.”

Journey to the West

Chu traveled to Paris on a Ministry of Education scholarship in 1996 to study oil painting techniques and Western art history at the Cite Internationale des Arts. He said it was humbling to be immersed in a place where art has for centuries been such an integral part of society. Chu explained that, as he was once again a pupil, he had to approach his studies as a blank canvas, open and ready to receive knowledge. His time in the French capital changed how he perceived art, and dramatically altered his creative outlook. “This is why I consider my experiences in Paris to have been my life’s great turning point,” he said.

Like many artists, Chu finds inspiration in his emotions and experiences. He explained that when he was living alone in Paris, he felt isolated and distant from his family in Taiwan. Before the proliferation of internet messaging technology, the only way to communicate with his loved ones was via pen and paper or a well-timed phone call. Loneliness, therefore, became his inspiration, circling around inside him and flowing from his brush onto paper. “The sadness from missing home is very difficult to deal with,” he said. “But after enduring that pain, one learns to appreciate the solitude. That sentiment can be turned into art.”

After experiencing Paris, Chu wanted to continue his art odyssey, setting his sights on what he calls the art mecca of the world—New York City. In 1999, he signed up for two semesters at New York’s School of Visual Arts, attending classes while also teaching as a guest professor. From there Chu moved to Missouri, where in 2001 he attained a master’s degree in fine arts from Lindenwood University. Around this time, he began to gain international acclaim, receiving invitations to exhibit his works at venues around the world such as the Galerie Frederic Moisan and La Coupole in Paris, as well as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.

Artistic Reality

Chu’s artworks sometimes span several meters in length, as is the case with 2013’s “Poem of Su Shi,” a work of calligraphy featuring bold brushstrokes meant to convey the struggle and longing of the banished Song dynasty (960-1279) poet for whom the piece is named. It is currently hanging inside a luxury department store in Taipei City’s Neihu District.

His ink-wash paintings, illustrating Eastern and Western urban scenes and rural landscapes from places such as Amsterdam, Paris, Taiwan and the U.S., pulsate with vibrant color. “Instead of just using traditional black ink, Chu employs expressive colors and adopts exaggerated, decorative hues to depict his subjects,” wrote Chen Lyu-sheng (陳履生), associate director of Beijing’s National Museum of China, in a book commissioned for an exhibition of Chu’s works in June 2015.

Recently, the artist has turned his focus toward abstract color ink-wash paintings. “In Paris, Chu realized that abstract art is more realistic than realism,” said artist and critic Chen Ying-te (陳英德). “Through abstract art, the mind can create a kind of new reality, one that is the product of unrestricted emotion.” Chu explained that while overseas, his memories of home became blurred. He took these translucent images and transferred them onto canvas. The works are, like most of his abstracts, without a discernible outline or structure. Instead, bursts of color caress, clot and congeal on the canvas, bringing new life to his memories.

The value of art, the painter believes, lies in its ability to resonate with viewers and elicit emotions. Its meaning is drawn from raw human sentiment. “Art needs to be integrated into life,” he said. “If it becomes distant, its value will diminish.”

Inside Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, lining one of the last hallways travelers walk through before boarding a plane, are the warm, radiant characters of Chu’s calligraphy. Himself a wanderer, the artist understands the heartache of leaving home. The installation of handwritten characters is his gift to travelers, sending them off with the essence of their homeland.

Brushstrokes of Genius— TAIWAN TODAY

Brushstrokes of Genius