HU CHI-CHUNG (HU QIZHONG, 1927-2012)

Born in Zhejiang, China in 1927, Hu Chi-Chung was a painter in the military. He later moved to Taiwan to begin painting full-time. In 1955, he visited the U.S. for the first time. From visiting the museums there he learnt about Abstract Art, which had a profound impact on him. Upon returning to Taiwan in 1956, he had his first solo exhibition in Kaohsiung. After that, he co-founded the Four Seas Artists Association with Fong Chung-Ray. His works were exhibited at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and also at the Sao Paulo Art Biennial for several times. He officially joined The Fifth Moon in 1961 as one of its core members.

One time, while painting by the sea, Hu Chi-Chung discovered that the sand adhered to his canvas gave his painting a hazy, textured feel. The discovery inspired him to mix paint and sand for his paintings. He would first paint a layer of diluted sandy paint on his canvas, and after the layer had dried he would colour it bit by bit, building for the painting a unique texture and an extra dimension. The two paintings created in the same period demonstrate two completely different styles. Painted in 1964, Painting 6430 shows a vertical composition resembling traditional Chinese landscape painting, as well as multiple layers of colour gradients – black, brown, orangered and earth yellow. Blank spaces were used to depict a romantic late-autumn scene, where leaves are slow-dancing with the wind. The simple, elegant and poetic style encapsulates the artist's unique way to express Oriental aesthetics through the language of modern abstract art.