Qiu Shihua

untitled . 2012

+ Galerie Urs Meile . art basel

Looking at first glance like near-monochromic white canvasses, under longer scrutiny Qiu Shihua’s ethereal paintings reveal--in a process of visual perception reminiscent of photographic development--the gradual appearance of magnificent aerial or frontal landscapes.
Despite their seeming whiteness, the depicted scenes are actually masterfully constructed through different layers of varyingly diluted paint and primary colors.
Resulting from the artist’s process of mental visualization, Qiu Shihua’s contemplative paintings reflect his Daoist approach to existence and imply some references, in terms of structure, to pre-modern Chinese landscape painting. Combining traditional Oriental philosophy with a personal interpretation of Western classical pictorial
elements drawn from Romanticism and Impressionism, in Qiu’s paintings the light plays a central role and, acquiring not only a material but also a highly spiritual dimension, becomes the “punctum”. The light is the access key to the revelation of the image, which occurs only with the surrender of our acknowledged logic of thinking and viewing in favor of an active and time consuming process of observation / non-observation.
Galerie Urs Meile

untitled . 2007