“As an artist I endeavor to understand and accept human nature in all of its complex majesty. Painting allows me to share the processing of experience. I enjoy the storytelling aspect of art. Each painting shares part of a larger journey, starting from a naive and hopeful worldview to one that holds [...]

Feng Zhengjie paints striking contemporary women. With their coloured hair, richly hued clothes and luscious, expressive lips, the women appear irresistibly dazzling. And yet, the wandering expressions in their eyes render them elusive and enigmatic. Reminiscent of Warhol’s screen printed celebrities, Feng’s paintings reflect a vision of futuristic pop. His generic portraits of women are [...]

When I was young, I practiced painting. It was a natural extension from Chinese calligraphy. I remember being fascinated with beautifully “watery” paintings of landscapes, wildlife and buildings produced by ancient Chinese masters, and I certainly tried very hard to mimic the natural flow of brush strokes common in many Chinese paintings, but [...]

Two hundred years ago, the little Indian kingdom of Marwar, in what is now Rajasthan, was a bloodsoaked and troublesome place. The long decline of the Mughal empire encouraged squabbles in the Hindu ruling dynasty; in 1751 an upstart second son, Bakhat Singh, came to power, having murdered his father the maharaja a quarter-century [...]

Through his paintings and sculptures, Gernman Anselm Reyle is reviving concepts of 20th century art history. He often cites the painter Otto Freundlich as a great influence. Minimal and abstract, Reyle’s works are notorious for eye-catching colors and surfaces. His paintings can be drippy, gestural or sharply geometrical, yet his works are [...]

The work of George Condo is grotesque, comic, baroque and sinister. His paintings, drawings and sculptures portray humanlike figures that make one think of caricatures and cartoon films. But these characters are brought to life on canvas in an expressive utterly painterly manner. Condo goes about his work in the traditional way, [...]

Delicate and elegant as they are, ancient costumes have alwways been a symbol of Chinese cultural tradition, as clearly witnessed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. But as time passes by, that materialism and consumerisn gradually change the Chinese culture - Western style attire substitute traditional ones. By making a contrast between [...]

A senior Canadian artist, Takao Tanabe (born in Prince Rupert, right here in British Columbia) has been making paintings for nearly 50 years. While he began his career as an abstract painter, he is primarily known as a landscape painter. Although his references to the land were not always conscious, Tanabe believes [...]

I am not plugged into the art world fully, so I have not heard of Austrian artist Heimo Zobernig before today. But, just seeing some of his work, I was instantly captivated. Without even reading his artist’s statement, I could guess his intentions. Although minimal, his works certainly betrayed a very rich, inquisitive, mind - [...]

Neil Young (no, not the Canadian musician) is an emerging contemporary Canadian painter. His work and process combines structure to organic movement, creating abstract paintings that explore light, contrast, texture, and colour. His bold use of colour and well-balanced compositions are quite the feast for the eyes.

“Art is my voice, my release of submissive [...]