Zhong Chen - Unfinished Journey
Sept 07 - Oct 02
"I left Zhongshan, China, and arrived in Australia at the age of 19 in 1989 to explore my love of painting. I have returned many times to my birthplace of Zhongshan, which is near Hong Kong and Macau. Since arriving in Australia, I have studied in London and been to New York and Europe, but I had never been to Shanghai.
I had to visit Shanghai.
I chose Shanghai as my destination for the Unfinished Journey project. The opening of Shanghai to foreign trade in the 19th century created a large influx of Westerners and by the 1930's Shanghai was an exciting mix of oriental splendour and European ideas.The once called "Paris of the East" fascinated me, influencing my paintings with its advertising posters of the 19th century.
I am interested in how Shanghai's colorful past might relate to my own sense of transcultural identity. Upon my journey, I found an inspiring blend of the old and the new in Shanghai: its architecture is in fact a mix of French and Chinese styles. The richness of the colours of the traditional Shanghai gardens and the metropolitan contemporary lights of the bustling city have positively inspired my new paintings.
My new series of pixel paintings - Shanghai Autumn - explore the rich colourful past of Shanghai and relate to a new colourful fusion of ideas and cultures."
Zhong Chen, Melbourne, 2005
