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LOTS 813-814PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN COLLECTION
IRENE CHOU (ZHOU LÜYUN, 1924-2011)
Abstract
Details
IRENE CHOU (ZHOU LÜYUN, 1924-2011)
Abstract
Album of seven leaves
Ink and colour on paper
Five leaves measure approx. 18.5 x 21.2 cm. (7 ¼ x 8 3/8 in.)
Two leaves measure 16 x 19 cm. (6 ¼ x 7 ½ in.)
Executed in 1992
Abstract
Album of seven leaves
Ink and colour on paper
Five leaves measure approx. 18.5 x 21.2 cm. (7 ¼ x 8 3/8 in.)
Two leaves measure 16 x 19 cm. (6 ¼ x 7 ½ in.)
Executed in 1992
Further details
Irene Chou was a graduate of the legendary, now closed, St. John’s University in Shanghai. Her paintings made a breakthrough in the early 1980s from a traditional style to one that was modern in its bold, expressive dynamism and colours, and yet was firmly based in ancient Chinese practice of Taoism and Buddhist beliefs.
Her style changed in the early 1980s after becoming a student, together with the collector, of a Chinese qigong master Hsu I-fan, initially with the sole intention of improving her less than ideal health. After about a year of meditative practice, Chou began to feel moved by an energy she had not known but could not verbalise. She started to paint to express the energy she was feeling. Within the seemingly chaotic abstraction was a coherent reference to an energy that in many of her later paintings resembled a spinning galactic force field. One could “see” what is within the mysterious spaces in her canvas that resembled a black hole in space that was in fact packed with tremendous energy, like the well-known saying in Tao De Jing by Lao Tsu, the founder of Taoism: “What can be named is not the truth…By not seeking, one perceives clarity.”
Chou’s practice also brought her closer to a fundamental Buddhist tenet: compassion. She often talked about a spontaneous feeling for other’s pains after her daily qigong practice. Previously compassion for others was an abstract idea she held dear. Now, she felt its strength that also helped her overcome her depression from the death of her husband, a depression from which she did not believe she could escape. Pain she realised was common among people. Her pain in losing her husband was not more painful than many others had experienced. The compassion and the unleashed energy gave her an artistic freedom she had not had before. Her strokes became stronger, “wilder” and bolder; the colours more brilliant. The paintings show that clearly.
In the language of Chinese calligraphy, she moved from correct penmanship to the “running” style of writing that resembled abstract painting. She had mastered the rules and then she knew how to go beyond the rules. Her paintings became not just a stylistic statement but an expression of an inner personal energy she could not name. These paintings project a force that would hit the viewer like a cosmic hurricane. Irene Chou was more than an abstract expressionist painter. Her paintings project some of the most cherished ancient Chinese wisdoms.
Brought to you by
Sibley Ngai