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MA Kelu, <1989 No.1>, Oil on canvas, 168x203cm, 1989
MA Kelu, <Riverside>, Oil on paper, 19x26cm, 1974
[China] MA Kelu 1989 No.1 Riverside
As an important founding member of the “No Name” group, Ma Kelu has been independent of the Official Chinese art system since the beginning of his art practice, pushing the frontline of developing contemporary abstract painting. Without invoking common reality, the artist abstracted landscape into dispersive images of colors; his minimal use of colors rendered rich layers on the image. Riverside was painted at the height of the “No Name” group gatherings. The gray paper carton is smudged in olive green willows. While a work painted en-plein-air took less than ten minutes, it marked the artist’s first ink-painting-like oil painting, in which the atmosphere, brushstroke and aesthetics were revealed on paper. Ma Kelu’s style inched gradually towards abstraction thereafter, where images became richer and purer. Color, the vernacular of the light and his adamant brushstroke in 1989 No.1, represents certain characteristics of expressionism. His creations is maintained an independence, openness and inquisitive quality that embody his thoughts and practice as the artist absorbed oriental culture and art, meanwhile, they conveyed the plight and struggles of his generation, as well as the pursuits and transformation of life experiences. |
