《工筆新傳——傳統藝術在香港的當代探索》水墨作品選萃雲集香港當代工筆領軍人物與藝術新銳，展示近二十多年來當代工筆畫在香港的發展，呈現具本地特色面貌的作品，充滿香港味道的城市符號和文化特徵。同時也在思考工筆畫歷經高峰後發展至今，要如何帶着傳統之美進入當代世界，在題材、表現與思想上嘗試新的驅動，為傳統工筆注入新元素。

Transcending the Gongbi Tradition: Contemporary Hong Kong Fine-Brush Painters brings together renowned and emerging Hong Kong contemporary gongbi artists. Their works reflect the development of contemporary gongbi painting in Hong Kong over the past 20 years and showcase gongbi’s dynamic interpretation of our city’s cultural symbols. The exhibition is also a reflection on the development of gongbi from its peak to present, how traditional aesthetics can enter the modern world, and the rejuvenation of this art form through experimentation with new subjects, presentations and artistic thinking.

Why it matters:
《工筆新傳》水墨作品選萃將展出九位藝術家共三十一件作品，包括首度展出的作品及今年新作，以充滿香港味道的城市符號及文化特徵，充分展現當代工筆畫的本地特色面貌。活動將於四月二十六日至五月二十二日在中環交易廣塲中央大廳舉行，免費開放予公眾人士到場參觀。線上虛擬實境展亦將於四月二十七日同步進行。

Thirty-one works by nine artists will be featured, including many that are being shown for the first time and some that were newly created this year. These works showcase gongbi’s dynamic interpretation of our city’s cultural symbols. The event will run from 26th April to 22nd May 2022 at The Rotunda, Exchange Square, in Central, and all visitors will enjoy free admission. A virtual exhibition will also be run in parallel.

9 Artists:
．陳鈞樂擅長工筆白描，以線條一筆一筆地勾畫出繁密的題材。其創作力豐盛，過往多集中描繪人物百態。疫情期間愛到郊外行山，透過體驗山林梳理自己的思緒，也從樹林中看到了自身和社會的縮影，從而啟發這次創作。
．鄭丹珊擅長描繪建築、風景、動物等不同的畫題，抒發對身邊事物的情感。這次作品以街坊區域、平常住宅、街頭小舖為主題，加入個人的情感，塑造出富人性化的現代水墨畫。鄭氏本身亦是設計師，掌握電腦的運用，不難在她的畫中發現來自電玩遊戲操作的痕迹。
．卓家慧以「融古出新」的畫風，把擅長的花卉雀鳥和平凡的器物結合，經過精心配對及構圖，呈現雅而不俗的現代花鳥畫，傾訴對於生活的所有沉思。這次展出的作品除了展示她描畫雀鳥的精湛技巧，亦發揮了絹本畫上色彩半透明的精妙層次效果，以工筆語言來說香港情。
．張惠文現正在台北修讀藝術創作博士課，當地曾受日本統治長達半個世紀，環境和藝術文化氛圍亦深受東瀛文化的影響，亦令她有更多機會接觸江戶浮世繪作品，深受當中所描繪的平凡人生活打動，並吸收了日本浮世繪風格添加到這次的作品當中。
．蔡德怡擅以傳統青綠山水，結合現代建築群，構成新舊並容風景。其作品大部分以香港為題材，描繪一些與個人經歷有關的景物，例如舊社區、舊建築、老店鋪等，嘗試把它們置於復古青綠山水之中，在畫面上營造一個近乎仙境的幻想世界，讓這些人和事在幻想與現實之間的山水中永恆存念。
．賴筠婷一開始是以大幅工筆寫實人物為藝術圈認知，她大學畢業時已獲得香港藝術館的重要獎項。賴氏很年輕已結婚，並育有一對子女，兼任畫班導師之餘，且持續工筆畫創作。這次展出的大幅作品，是以工筆技巧及媒介，用寫實方法描寫她的子女玩耍場面，展示她家庭生活一面，以及作為母親的心靈所托。
．梁麗雯現於香港居住及工作，2015年於香港浸會大學視覺藝術院取得一級榮譽學位，及後於香港大學專業進修學院修讀中國書畫研究文憑及中國山水畫文憑課程。梁氏擅長以中國工筆畫法描繪人物的城市世相，觀照日常，揭示城市生活和社會文化變遷隱匿的焦慮和壓抑。
．梁嘉賢於大學學士畢業後的首次個展，便已展出她別出心裁的工筆奇幻人物系列。在經歷教學和嘗試繪畫漫畫後重返校園進修，畢業時工筆創作有新的發展。梁氏透過自創工筆與漫畫融合方式，創作一系列少女角色及幻景，並以針筆等新式繪具勾勒出如毛筆般柔軟多姿的線條。
．石家豪縱然以工筆為主要創作技巧，作品內容卻以當代議題為主，以人體為敘事的母體，透過其自行創作的特色服裝，探討當代人的身分議題等等。石氏最為人熟悉的是《建築系列》，把香港著名建築化為衣裳，穿在不同形態的人物身上。

．Brian Chan Kwan-lok specialises in plain outline-style gongbi painting, drawing intricate subjects line by line. He has much creative potential and is focused on depicting all walks of life. During the pandemic, Chan has enjoyed hiking in the countryside and sorting out his thoughts by experiencing the landscape. He sees microcosms of himself and society through the forests, which inspired these creations.
．Sam Cheng Tan-shan excels at drawing a variety of subjects, including architecture, landscape and animals, to express the emotions she feels from her surroundings. Her works imbue neighbourhoods, ordinary homes and street shops with emotion to produce modern, humanised ink paintings. Cheng is also a designer skilled in computer applications, and viewers can easily spot traces of video game motion control elements in her paintings.
．Cherie Cheuk Ka-wai contrives new forms for traditional art. Her modern flower-and-bird paintings capture ideas on life through a combination of flowers, birds and daily objects on carefully organised pictorial planes. In addition to displaying Cheuk’s mastery of bird painting, her works show the exquisite effect of layering washes on semi-translucent silk as well as her love for Hong Kong, communicated in the language of gongbi.
．Eunice Cheung Wai-man is currently studying for a doctoral programme in art creation in Taipei. Over half a century of Japanese rule has left a profound Japanese influence on Taiwan’s environment as well as its artistic and cultural scenes, which has given Cheung more opportunities to engage with ukiyo-e Japanese art from the Edo period. The fresh sense of life in ukiyo-e works moves Cheung, and she has incorporated this style into her exhibits.

．Barbara Choi Tak-yee excels in integrating traditional blue-green landscape painting with modern building compounds to form scenarios that embody both the old and new. Hong Kong is the subject of most of her works, which portray scenes related to her personal experiences such as old neighbourhoods, buildings and shops. These are placed within a nostalgic blue-green landscape. In the paintings, Choi creates an illusory world that approaches paradise, a perpetual memento of these people and things in a landscape hovering between fantasy and reality.
．When Sue Lai Kwan-ting first entered the art circle, she was known for her large, realistic gongbi portraits. By the time she graduated from university, she had already won a key award from the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Lai got married at a young age and has a pair of children. Alongside being a painting class tutor, Lai continues her gongbi creative work. Her large paintings shown in this exhibition realistically depict scenes of her children playing with each other by using gongbi techniques. These works show a side of her family life and the spiritual sustenance of a mother.
．Jess Leung Lai-man currently lives and works in Hong Kong. She graduated with a first-class honour degree from the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2015 and received additional training at the HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. She uses Chinese gongbi painting to depict Hong Kong cityscapes, revealing the touch of hidden anxiety and repression embedded within hectic city life and sociocultural transformation.
．Joey Leung Ka-yin has been featuring her unique, surreal gongbi figure-painting series ever since her first solo exhibition after graduating from university. After teaching and having a go at comic drawing, Leung pursued further studies and achieved new developments in her creative gongbi work upon graduation. Through the fusion of gongbi and comics, Leung has created an original series centred on maidens and surrealism. She also renders supple lines by writing brush-style with new painting tools such as needle pens.
．Wilson Shieh Ka-ho uses gongbi as his main creative technique, yet his works are rooted in modern subjects. He focuses on human bodies as his major theme for narration. Transforming figuration by means of original, tailor-made costumes, he constantly explores the identity of modern people. Shieh is best known for his Architecture Series, in which Hong Kong’s most famous modern buildings are transformed into clothing worn by different characters.

Background – Gongbi:
中國畫以工筆、寫意兩大畫法區分，各具神韻特色。工筆畫崇尚寫實，以細膩精湛的筆法客觀刻劃事物，栩栩如生；寫意畫尚意輕形，以簡練隨性的筆法主觀描繪事物，揮灑墨彩。傳統工筆畫歷史悠久，可追溯至魏晉時期的人物畫，至唐宋發展至爐火純青，登峰造極的地步。模擬人物、亭台樓閣及自然界物像，刻意求真求美，盛極一時，卻在元明清時代逐漸為文人寫意畫取代。

Chinese paintings are distinguished by two main, distinctive painting styles: gongbi and xieyi. Gongbi advocates realism and brings objects to life through delicate and exquisite brushwork executed from an impartial perspective. On the other hand, xieyi focuses more on personal expression than details, depicting objects in simple, spontaneous and free brushwork. The history of traditional gongbi painting dates to Wei and Jin dynasty portraits. The art form reached the peak of its popularity during the Tang and Song dynasties, when meticulous pursuit of realism and beauty in the painting of figures, buildings and nature was all the rage. However, gongbi painting was gradually replaced by literati xieyi paintings during the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

Final Tips:
活動亦會放映兩位藝術家示範傳統工筆人物及花鳥繪畫技法的短片，並於會場展示及介紹工筆畫專用畫具及顏料展箱，滿足觀眾的求知慾望。

Also, to satisfy visitors’ curiosity about this delicate art form, there will be a toolbox on display showcasing the brushes, Chinese ink and pigments favoured by gongbi artists.

工筆新傳——傳統藝術在香港的當代探索
Transcending the Gongbi Tradition: Contemporary Hong Kong Fine-Brush Painters
Date:
2022.4.26 – 5.22
Time:
10:00 – 19:00
Venue:
香港中環交易廣塲中央大廳
The Rotunda, Exchange Square, Central, Hong Kong

Courtesy to Soluna Fine Art and the artists