Heavy Hues:Oriental Context for Oils

Before he commences painting， Zhou Changxin practices some rituals including sipping tea and clearing his mind. By the time three incense sticks burn out， Zhou finishes the painting. About two years ago， Zhou felt himself dipping into a freer and more comfortable creation status： He has been painting with two hands at the same time， and along with a brush and knife， he sometimes even randomly throws oil paint across the canvas.

When he was 17， his work Green Dream won the golden prize of an international art event. When he was 28， he founded the genre of “oil painting with heavy color，” which combines Eastern and Western art skills. When he was 33， his work Soul of the Chinese Nation was auctioned for 11.66 million yuan （about US$1.9 million）. His highest priced work ever sold for 18 million yuan （about US$2.9 million）. Since the 1990s， Zhou has insisted on painting life in the wild， leaving his footprints all over China by traveling 100，000 kilometers per year.

How can a contemporary Chinese artist practice oil painting but remain true to Chinese art traditions？ According to American critic Jonathan Goodman， Zhou uses oil paint， a Western material， to express Chinese themes. “He has innovated conflation of material and concept，” he explains. “And today， in a world culture in which nature itself is at risk， Zhou offers an open reading of the natural world， one that lingers in the mind and keeps nature alive， as all powerful art does.”

From “Zhongcai Painting” to“Heavy Color Oil Painting”

In 1973， Zhou Changxin was born in Zhanjiang City， Guangdong Province， considered the birthplace of Chinese print art. Although his parents were farmers who never touched the brush， Zhou was drawn to painting at a young age. In the fifth grade of primary school， he began painting posters for the local cinema. After high school， he was admitted to Zhanjiang Academy of Art， where he majored in zhongcai （heavy color） painting.

Zhongcai is considered one of the two most important painting styles of traditional Chinese painting， along with ink. A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng of the Northern Song Dynasty （960-1127）， now displayed in the Palace Museum， is considered the pinnacle of zhongcai. After his graduation from college in 1993， Zhou Changxin went to Beijing and studied under Professor Du Dakai at the Central Institute of Arts and Crafts （today’s Academy of Art Design of Tsinghua University）.

After many years of study， Zhou gradually mastered diverse painting skills， but he always felt confusion as to what exactly Chinese characteristics are in painting and why Chinese oil painting was always missing from international oil painting events.

From the late 1980s to early 1990s， after American-Chinese artist Ting Shao Kuang introduced Chinese zhongcai painting featuring strong ethnic flavors to the U.S.， the painting became popular globally. In its prime， Chinese zhongcai was considered noble and fashionable by American families. But because the painting was usually used as decoration and was easily copied， the emergence of many fake copies caused the glory of the genre to fade. Zhou believes that modern Chinese zhongcai lacks the strength to mold figures and express national spirit. “The creativity of Chinese painting is facing serious problems，” he declares.

Soul of the Chinese Nation Chinese Manner

Since 2005， Zhou Changxin has been practicing more oil painting in heavy color. In less than two years， he produced over a hundred pieces， covering diverse themes and ranging from several square meters to dozens of square meters in size. “As for the blend of traditional Chinese painting and Western painting， it is a problem of spirit rather than skill，” Zhou remarks. He hopes heavy color oil painting resembles large freehand brush work， full of Chinese traits and conveying the spirit of the Chinese people.

In November 2005， Zhou sketched at Hukou Waterfall on the bank of the Yellow River. In three days， he completed 16 oil paintings in freezing cold weather. On December 3， inspired by the new work， Zhou began to draw the large-scale oil painting Soul of the Chinese Nation in his Beijing studio. With the music of The Yellow River Cantata and The Yellow River Piano Concerto reverberating through his large and empty studio， Zhou fell into an excited creative state， crazily waving his brushes. “The rushing Hukou Waterfalls seemed like thousands of Chinese people with black hair and yellow skin， thronging to jump into an abyss and rising again after Nirvana…” It took six hours for Zhou to fill the 3-by-8-meter canvas with muddy yellow paint. “I felt empty，” recalls Zhou. After finishing the final stroke， he collapsed on the floor.

In June 2006， Spirit of the Chinese Nation sold for an impressive price， pushing Zhou amidst the top ten Chinese oil painters in terms of auction earnings. Xu Zhantang， one of the top five collectors in the world， has been acquainted with Zhou for many years. He advised Zhou to keep a low profile and keep working hard. Despite popularity with many collectors and investors， Zhou kept his head down and avoided saturating the market by keeping most of his work himself. He hopes that one day they can be comprehensively exhibited and studied.

“Divine Instruction Spiritual Inspiration”

In the late 1990s， Zhou Changxin and his wife lived in a ten-square-meter room and spent all their income on paint and books. Today， Zhou rents a small threestory building in Beijing as his studio. In his large underground hall stand several large-scale paintings of which Zhou is most proud， including Amoluo， Fates and Origin.

In early 2006， Zhou completed a 1.5- by-3-meter painting of plum blossoms， but couldn’t decide how to name it. By accident， a student of Ji Xianlin， a master of Chinese culture and philosophy， saw it and snapped a picture for Ji to see. “The flower should only come from heaven. Just name it ‘a(chǎn)moluo，’”suggested Ji. A Sanskrit term， amoluo literally means “a flower that never dies.”

After he finished Soul of the Chinese Nation， a blank 3-by-8-meter canvas was stored in his studio for three years. Zhou was pondering a new grand theme： the fate of humans， nature and the universe. Not until December 2， 2008， did Zhou decide to break the white. “At that time， my mind was empty，”he recalls. “Following only God’s instruction and spiritual inspiration， I danced my brush across the 24-square-meter canvas， just like roaming the world of the soul.” Three hours later， Zhou was wearing a vest， with his coat off， and Fates was completed.

What is the color of primitive universal chaos？ Perhaps different spectators can find different answers from Fates. “Fates strays from real life in favor of representing subjective creation，” opines Wang Yong， researcher at Chinese National Academy of Arts. “Zhou Changxin has depicted a deep and abstract spiritual world to symbolize the fate of human beings and at the same time， make the audience feel the unpredictability of fate.”

In May 2013， Life · Color – Tour Exhibitions of Zhou Changxin’s Art debuted at the Venice Biennale. The foreword of the exhibition reads： “The heavy color oil painting Zhou Changxin spearheaded， either themed on nature and people or abstract expression， vividly expresses colors， miracles and mysteries of humans and nature. Choosing Venice as the starting point， Zhou wants to salute Italian and European art masters and initiated exchange between Chinese art and European art as well as global art.”

In terms of heavy-color in the global context of oil painting， Zhou says， “I extend the short lines used by Van Gogh， making lines become an unstrained and unique expressive language. This is my contribution to oil painting. Line is the core factor of heavy color oil painting， which focuses on the expressive strength of changeable lines， and at the same time pushes the power of color to the extreme.”

“Always There”

A freight truck， a van， two assistants and a photographer make up Zhou Changxin’s “mobile studio.” He spends a lot of time outdoors painting natural life. Most of his 2，000 representative works were produced at the spot they depict.

In August 2011， Zhou and his team ventured to Tibet for the fifth time， taking a more adventurous northern route across an area lacking permanent residents. In the evening of August 21， in rain peppered with hailstones， their car got stuck in mud on a road 5，000 meters above sea level. Low on supplies and affected by altitude sickness， the exhausted team gave up and retreated. Not until 9 o’clock the next day did they arrive at a safe haven.

Despite painting in the wild for almost 20 years， Zhou considers this experience most exciting and unforgettable. The dire situation and oxygen deficit gifted Zhou a spiritual baptism. “When you sleep 5，000 meters above sea level， you can only exhale and hardly inhale， just like a fish，” he recalls. “The situation made me think a lot about the value of life.”

On December 12， 2011， Zhou began to paint large-scale Origin， with focus on Tibet. At 9 o’clock in the morning， Zhou faced the huge 3-by-8-meter canvas as if seeing again the mountains， valleys， forests and lakes of Tibet. Using both hands， two hours and fifteen minutes later， he completed Origin， portraying a sun looming over Tibetan mountains.

In his opinion， Tibet is the birthplace of all mountains and waters， and also the origin of Chinese spirit and soul. “Tibet sends me back to my own essence，” exclaims Zhou. “Heavy color oil painting inherits the characteristics of traditional Chinese heavy color painting， which diver-sifies pictures. This diversity mirrors the features Tibet boasts.”

In recent years， Zhou has studied calligraphy and combined heavy color oil painting with Chinese porcelain， creating“heavy color ceramics” featuring singular artistic flavor. “A successful artist must develop spiritual strength exceeding his physical strength，” remarks Deng Pingxiang， a renowned art theorist. “And his spiritual power should bestow his body some super power. I found this idea embodied in Zhou Changxin.”