The cool, serene paintings of Xiaogang Zhu depict the inhabited places of the world.
Xiaogang Zhu hails from China, the most heavily populated country on the globe, so perhaps it is natural that he is drawn to scenes of human activity. His radiant gouache paintings are calm and lyrical, yet there is an underlying hum of energy as people go about their daily lives.
Waterways are a favorite subject for Zhu. He paints them at every time of day and from every viewpoint. His canals, rivers, seaports, and quiet harbors teem with maritime traffic. Boats, sea walls, and buildings rest lightly in their own reflections.
"Talking Rain-China," gouache/paper, 14" x 20"
The artist moved from the People's Republic of China to America a decade ago with his wife and their son, who was then six years old, in order to attend graduate school. Zhu was also interested in seeing American art at first hand. The avant garde element had been the focus of the Chinese media, but Zhu was pleased to learn the real story—that figurative art is alive and flourishing, as well as nonobjective and experimental work.
"There is a wonderful diversity of representational art here," he says. "It is a popular style for people to have in their homes." He has found plenty of subject material on the rainy seacoast of the pacific northwest, where he now lives with his wife and two sons. However, he does not confine his work to this area. He also travels back and forth to China in order to paint the Yangtze river landscapes for which he is best known.
"At the Old Bridge --China," gouache/paper, 14" x 10"
Zhu holds a BA in art and design from the Suzhou Institute of Silk Technology, and earned his MA in painting from Radford University in Virginia. He was a professor of art at Shanghai Jiaotong University in China, and was a noted textile designer as well. His keen sense of pattern and spatial relationships may be attributed to his experience in working within the close parameters of textile design. He is continually refining his skills and evolving his subject matter. His paintings are models of coherence, and they positively sing with precise nuances. While his color and imagery is set down with a strong, clear hand, the shadows are delicate and luminous. The atmosphere is thick with translucent mist.
He is a popular teacher of art workshops because his technical knowledge is so finely tuned. He instructs his students to consider the effect of every brushstroke on the total development of a painting. He also advises them to mix colors with a light hand in order to maintain vibrancy.
"Center of Town—China," gouache/paper 14" x 20"
Zhu's American-born son, who is now almost four, likes to advise his father as well. "Sometimes he tells me what colors to use." says Zhu. "I just listen. If I am at the beginning of a painting, I will humor him once in a while. I can always cover it up." The child's own works of art sometimes find their way into the galleries as packing material around the paintings, for, like his father, he is very prolific.
A true international citizen, Zhu is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society. He has exhibited annually in their international exhibition in New York, as well as in the annual exhibition of the Northwest Watercolor Society in Washington State. His work has been included in two exhibits at the Albuquerque Museum in New Mexico and two more at the Frye Museum in Seattle, Washington. For the past two years, he has been chosen for the prestigious Artists of America show. In addition, he has maintained a regular schedule of solo exhibitions at galleries throughout the American west.
"Sailing Northwest," gouache/paper, 18"x 14"
His primary medium is gouache, an opaque water-based paint that, in Zhu's hands, has an astonishing range. Zhu does not use it as an incidental highlighter over thin washes, as many water colorists are in the habit of doing. Rather, he uses it like oil paint, with dry brush strokes on top of the under painting.
"Gouache colors are brilliant," he notes. "They dry closer to their original strength than watercolors do, because you add less water and the paint remains thicker. They can be used to create the usual watercolor effects as well, and they have the malleability of oils. This aids in creating smooth gradations and transitions of color."
"Shadow and Light—China," gouache/paper, 10" x 14"
Zhu has found his new life in the United States especially satisfying because he has found that he can keep holding his workshops, but they consume less time than his professorships in China. He is therefore able to devote himself to painting, which is of course, his first love.
Collectors and fans throughout the world can only second that emotion. It means that there will be many more of Xiaogang Zhu's cool, serene waterscapes in years to come, and they will continue to light up our eyes.
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