Painter Chen keyong

Although Chinese painting today bears a strong influence from the West, it remains distinctly different. Its essence rests mainly in artists' preference for subjects found in nature. Less apparent, but perhaps more deeply rooted, is the adherence to a specific attitude towards nature. Chen Keyong draws inspiration from ancestral artists, yet manages to develop a unique landscape vision which distinguishes him from his contemporaries. In today's the List, we explore the nature of Chen Keyong's work.

Each of Chen Keyong's landscape paintings reveals a microcosm representing some aspect of nature in its wholeness.

Chen presents mountains and water as they are seen from above and from a great distance, and yet he employs no stationary viewpoint and no fixed horizon, with many miles encompassing just a few inches.

Chen Keyong, the painter, said, "I want to give a full presentation of the details inside the mountains, including the rock's texture and the exuberant vegetation. So I use telescope to capture the minute details. When I look at the whole scene, I use my own eyes. But when I want to grasp the texture, I use the telescope."

Chen Keyong realizes his vision directly from his heart, where the entire universe dwells. As he paints, the artist arranges his mountains and water in accordance with a guiding principle of nature, and he frequently identifies himself with elements in the landscape, or the entire landscape that forms the painting.

With spirited brush and ink articulations, and with compositions that animate the movement of the elements and achieve harmony of the opposites, the artist transcends a literal landscape.