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October Issue 2006

Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Jove Wang

Jove Wang, known throughout the international art market for his astoundingly beautiful tributes of his Chinese homeland, will be making his east coast debut at Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC. This powerful exhibit of Wang's newest achievements in oil painting, entitled Cultural Intrigue: Jove Wang, A Contemporary Asian Master, illustrates the gallery's unceasing efforts to bring the nation's most revered artistic talent to Charleston's rising influential art market. The exhibit will be on view from Oct. 6 - 28, 2006.

Considered to be one of the most acclaimed Chinese-American oil painters working today, Wang was born and raised in the bleak climate of northeastern China. Upon being one of seven students accepted to the prestigious Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai in 1984, his artistic vision began to incorporate the dualities of traditional Chinese and European academic techniques taught at the academy. Through guidance from mentors who had studied Russian classicism at the Repin Institute in St. Petersburg, Wang developed his signature artistry of melding venerated 19th century European sensibility with traditional Chinese calligraphic brushwork.

Yet, Wang's current explosive following in the United States would not have been possible without the giant leap of faith he took in 1990. With only a single contact in Los Angeles and forty dollars, Wang immigrated to California. Over the course of several years he established his artistic reputation through portrait commissions and his devotion to incorporating the distinctive natural light of California into his work. It was only a matter of time before his masterful artistry was recognized by the California Art Club, an institution that has launched many an acclaimed artistic career.

In 1997 Wang won the prestigious Best of Show award at the 1997 California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition. Now a signature member of the CAC, Wang has earned such coveted accomplishments as Best of Show at the Carmel Art Festival and First Place at the Cincinnati Art Club National Juried Viewpoint Exhibition. His continually growing list of commissions includes a portrait of Cardinal Roger Mahoney, which hangs in Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome.

Wang's arresting depictions of such varied subjects as a calmly inquisitive Tibetan boy, an embracing couple in a rural Chinese village, and even the watery expanse seen from a Venetian gondola, speak to his startlingly clear vision of light and texture. Wang comments on the deeply personal process of choosing his subject matter: "One really needs to give both energy and consciousness to the subject before them. Truth, reflected in a painting, should come from inside the artist. With that, the artwork will be accepted by history."

To look at the surface of a Wang oil painting, one immediately admires his layering of delicate brushstrokes coupled with his lucid silhouetting of form, be it the petals of a cut flower or a group of Chinese children sweetly nestled against a village wall. To this day, Wang's personal connection to the "Black Earth" of northeastern China informs such important stylistic elements as powerful composition and an atmospheric sense of openness. Wang speaks of his own intuitive approach to his work in the Oct. 2002 issue of Southwest Art: "You can try to invent a style for your work, but true personal style and uniqueness comes from within." It is the mark of a genuine artist that Wang consistently calls on his full life experience to create distinctiveness through individual stylistic details and the penetrating tranquility echoing in each and every oil painting leaving his studio.

For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/722-3660 or at (www.ellarichardson.com).

 

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