ANOTHER PATH TO ABSTRACTISM

The discussion of Qu Qianmei’s paintings will trace back to the artist Zhao Wuji. As a youngster， Qu started her painting lessons in her home town Wenzhou China and afterwards spent over 20 years overseas in France. Works that she did before returning to China clearly showed influences from Zhao Wuji. This was natural since Zhao was the earliest artist from China who established himself overseas. It was not much of a surprise that Qu， a late comer who resided in the same city overseas as Zhao and was frequently exposed to the original pieces from the artist should adopt Zhao as her model. However the reference to Zhao Wuji in the discussion of Qu Qianmeis paintings is not intended to measure the extent of the influence that Zhao had on Qu’s art， rather it is to demonstrate that Qu followed another path of abstractism which is totally different from that of Zhao Wuji.

In my article “Zhao Wuji， a deep thinking artist”， I offered the following analysis of Zhao Wuji’s art. Zhao received enlightenment from Paul Kly’s symbol language which he found answered well with the images that he had been seeking within himself. On the other hand， Kly’s art had been influenced by Chinese art and as a result the symbol language from Kly opened up a window that helped Zhao to appreciate his own native culture. On top of that， Zhao had the advantage as compared to Kly to appreciate the oriental culture because as a Chinese artist he had the cultural genes deep in his blood. Thus Zhao Wuji started his transition from concrete description to symbolic expression and accomplished his transition from Kly’s image symbols to his mystic traditional cultural symbols such as inscriptions on tortoise shells and drawings on bronze instruments. These transitions however were realized on a two-dimensional basis and did not attempt expression in the spatial depth. In the second transition， Zhao also attempted to apply these abstract symbols he had extracted from traditional sources to poetic expressions. In these applications he deconstructed these mystic symbols into single brush strokes to draw up his unique poetic expressions. Zhao slowly moved from free linear expression on a two-dimensional basis to a mystic spatial expression of fusion and dispersion， emerging and fading. All these reinforced the power of the oriental culture. That was why art critics in Paris believed that Zhao’s art showed a deep thinking spirit characteristic of the Chinese. To this Zhao also echoed “I gradually rediscovered China when I went deeper in my thinking. I owe to Paris this returning to my origins. ” Both the comment by art critics in Paris about his deep thinking spirit and his own statement of returning to his origins could be understood as reference to Daoism in a broad sense. In art expression， Daoism is grandeousness without shape and， an abstract status where smallness has no limit and largeness has no bound. Such is a view of the universe established by China’s early philosophers， and is also the esthetic guideline for China’s paintings about mountains and waters. At its roots， what Zhao Wuji tried to express through his art is exactly this shapeless grandeousness and the view of the universe as established by China’s early philosophers. Zhao’s paintings went beyond a concrete portrayal of individual mountains， waters， trees or stones， and landed on a broad interpretation and pondering of the grand universe. Zhao’s success lied in his expression of China’s notions of deep-thinking and Daoism by employing the Western method of abstract expression.

In broad measurement， Qu Qianmei’s art shares similarities with that of Zhao Wuji， however the former does not follow the macro abstractism of largeness with no bound， rather the micro abstractism of smallness with no limit. It’s a close-up abstractism which enlarges the component of a whole. In an article I put out in the 1980’s， I stated that an abstract painting could be created by cutting out and enlarging a component from a well- structured painting on mountains and waters. According to traditional art theory， a distant look emphasizes the grandeousness while a close look brings out the quality of the details. In terms of methodology， Qu Qianmei’s art shows the quality of details from close up， which enlarges a natural component to show intensely the feel of the materials and， the shape， structure and quality of the materials. Therefore both the concept of smallness with no limit and the concept of largeness with no bound can create abstractism. The fact that Qu’s works are widely accepted testifies that her attempt to open up another path of abstractism is successful. Like those from Zhao Wuji ， her paintings have completely removed signs of concrete descriptions and portrayal. While Zhao Wuji’s emphasis on grandeousness from a distant look creates a broad vision， the expression of quality of details from close-up can also create a broad vision， because both smallness with no limit and largeness with no bound are a status of boundlessness， which is the ultimate status of grandeousness.

Qu’s art appears not much related to the traditional paintings on mountains and waters however her paintings are unmistakably related to the land and mountains and share the same origin with the traditional paintings on mountains and waters. Glenberg once commented that the logic of art development does not follow the time sequence but rather continuous dialectical transitions. It is also the belief of Elliot that individual talent cannot be detached from traditions otherwise it will lose the environment for creativity and become an isolated phenomenon without historical significance. Only by being involved in the appreciation of traditions can individual talent bring new life to traditions， create new qualities and demonstrate its relevance. These new qualities will “decisively disrupt the existing order of traditions and rearrange them.” In the view of Elliot and Glenberg， the significance of the past is the pressure it exerts on the present and force the current artists to participate in the traditions in a manner associated with the past with a view to changing the traditional arrangement. Therefore anything which is not related to the past will not enter into history and become a link in the chain of history. This relatedness becomes the logical anchor in the development of art history. The link between Qu’s art and traditions lies exactly in the new quality that she has created and the new quality has “decisively disrupted the existing order of traditions and rearranged it.”

In the traditional paintings on mountains and waters， there is no shortage of classics which show grand visions from a distant look however there are not many pieces which excel on showing quality from close up. The reason behind this is that the notion of a complete picture usually prevents one from cutting out an incomplete component and presenting it. It is not considered feasible to present a complete picture from an incomplete component. As a result there are few in the rank of painters on mountains and waters who attempted to show quality from close-up that could compete with Qu in greater thoroughness and better results. The direct application of the mixer of Kaolin earth and other materials brings her works closer to the origins of the materials and enables her to create a grandiose view from micro world of physical properties. In the process she also succeeds in opening up her own new art world by using sand creatively.

In my early comment on Qu， I was emphasizing the explosive emotions that she has in her inner world. These hidden emotions would not have erupted if not having been tapped by two external forces： her ability to feel nature and her ability to express such feel. Internal emotions will not be turned to art unless they come into contact with a feel for the outside world and are carried by a language which can express them. In the two years since her returning to China， Qu has built up her reserve of these external forces which enables her to release the internal emotions. This merging of internal and external forces has resulted in her unique art creations.

One Western critic said this about Zhao Wuji’ “Some European artists claim to have been enlightened by Budda and the oriental calligraphy. The westerners tried to imitate the outcome of a certain existence but do not comprehend its essence or the detailed process of learning it. The Orientals who grow up under their education system will find at home with abstract art. Zhao Wuji is one such oriental who undoubtedly received certain freedom in Europe but did not let go the profound education from his forefathers.” This quotation applies equally to Qu Qianmei.