If you have ever seen a painting by Hu Jundi, you will never forget it. It captivates you instantly with its unique atmosphere. Whether he is painting a dense and lush bamboo forest, a rainy alley in Sichuan, or a serene courtyard in northern China, he creates unforgettable atmospheres with a few simple brush strokes.
Hu's paintings are completely Chinese, from the subject matter of women in traditional Chinese dresses, to soft and subtle colors and brush works with incomplete borders. His brilliance is in the harmonious blend of traditional Chinese brush works using Western oils. He simultaneously maintains the light, color and free flow of Chinese paintings while achieving the universal, lasting appeal of Western oil paintings. Hu is one of the first and very few Chinese painters that are able to brilliantly melt the two cultures together with complete integrity.
Hu achieves this effect by painting in thin layers. He spent years improving and perfecting this technique to replicate the depth of colors in nature and in human skin. For instance, he applies 20-30 layers of colors to achieve the realistic depth to which he aspires in human skin; and 15 -20 layers in sky areas so the viewer can feel, rather than see them. It is impossible to achieve any of these effects by applying only a surface color. When you take a close look at any part of Hu's work that upon casual viewing looks like a solid patch of color, you will see many layers of subtle colors underneath.
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AUTUMN BREEZE
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Hu paints elegant, serene and beautiful Chinese women in classical Chinese attires. But there is an appeal that goes beyond. The women in his paintings are beautiful inside and out. They are exquisitely poised but natural; gentle and kind, bearing all the traditional virtues and qualities of a Chinese woman.
He does not use models. He paints the characters in his mind. He searches for the perfect moment in his mind and paints it. From "Autumn Breeze", "Story of the Girl and the Crane", "The Chase" to "Dressing", the tone of his paintings changed from deep and heavy to light; the background changed from the dark monochromatic to more varying chunks and blobs of colors; with a sense of airiness, lightness and softness that are unique to watercolors. This is very difficult to do with oil paintings.
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STORY OF A GIRL
AND A CRANE
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Simpler composition and looser brush strokes signify a new stage of Hu's paintings- a freer state of artistic expression. In his "Story of a Girl and a Crane", with poetic brush strokes, he created a tranquil and dreamy world where the girl melted into the water, as if dancing, at the same time floating, peaceful and resigned, heartbreakingly beautiful.
Here we do not see struggle and suffering in the face of death; we only see beauty and serenity, with a touch of sadness, all the time with more magnificence and power of life.
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THE CHASE
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In "The Chase", the painting becomes even lighter, looser, with the special effect of emulating water and ink. Hu affords us a wonder world of visual splendor.
The floating girl looks like a water lily, fresh and frail, and takes us to a world of unlimited imaginations.
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FIRST SNOW - FROM THE
DREAM OF THE
RED MANSION
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Hu does not chase after fads. Neither does he abide by the rules of tradition. He unfolds a sense of loss and longing, nostalgia and a sense of enlightenment, with a pure, piercing and resonating voice from the heart.
Hu's work lightens and enlightens us by creating a spiritual world of romance, exquisiteness and poetry through visual means, therefore realizing his pursuit and passion for love and beauty through art - a long and arduous journey, slowly, gradually, to life's elevation.
Please also check out this article in Art and Living magazine, an international art publication. http://www.artandliving.com.
Artwork: by Hu Jundi "Autumn Breeze", "The Story of a Girl and a Crane", "The Chase" and "First Snow - from the Dream of the Red Mansion"
Lily Pietryka
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