Memories of My Childhood
童年时的记忆--旅美中国当代艺术家胡任乂纽约个展
此次在纽约Ethan Cohen Fine Art展出的旅美中国艺术家胡任乂的作品都是最近几年的新作，也是胡任乂在纽约的首次大型个展。Ethan Cohen Fine Art是美国首个专业代理中国当代艺术家的画廊， 成立于1987年，对中国当代艺术有着极其重要的作用。Ethan Cohen是个工作狂，对中国当代艺术的热爱下，从上世纪80年代开始就和中国当代艺术结下深厚渊源，徐冰，艾未未，古文达，王玉平，岳敏君等都首先和Ethan Cohen进行最初的代理，中国艺术当代热也从那时候开始。
Ethan Cohen充满热情地邀请旅美中国当代艺术家胡任乂在其画廊举办首次大型个展，也充分说明这个资深画廊的特殊历史地位。胡任乂是最近几年在纽约相当活跃的中国艺术家， 在旅美这么这么多年以来，胡任乂创作了无数作品，包括油画，水墨，和多媒体作品， 成为博物馆及私人收藏家今年来重点收藏对象。Ethan Cohen表示， 胡任乂的作品涵盖所有概念，包括历史，流行，音乐，戏剧等等，他的成功是理所当然的。
在国内艺术市场极其混乱的情况下，纽约的艺术市场显得有条不紊，更没有中国拍卖行那么违反常规地操作，收藏家在纽约反而可以以更合适的价格买到需要的艺术品，画廊负责人朱岑说，真正的收藏家不会在中国拍卖行里起哄，他们也不会相信那些虚假拍卖数字。Ethan Cohen Fine Art 将在新的时刻把中国艺术以全新的概念介绍给大家，由此画廊成功举办胡任乂个展，可见其热情。
A Rising Art Star
I have know Hu Renyi for almost two years and have been following his work closely. I am proud to present this rising young artist's frist solo show in United States.
Hu Renyi is a one of the determined and dedicated artists of the newest generation coming out of China. But after the Cultural Revolution, Renyi is a blend of opposites and contradictions. His life and works are filled with the reconciliation and calligraphy in an era of fast food and Western music, Hu Renyi is prominent among the new literati. This is seen clearly in his different styles of painting.
His oil are at once both sweet and sour. We see stoic figures from history and politics become saturated and caricaturized. Here humor is often blended with touches of irony and tagedy. Renyi's unique series of diary paintings tells stories in an expressive and fresh style of calligraphy and figure. Perhaps these works on mounted rice paper are created as rebellion against, as well as homage to, his father's strict lessons with the brush. Pushing even further, his calligraphic landscapes works are beginning to create a new vocabulary and style in a mix of traditional techniques and contemporary imagery.
Ethan Cohen
Voice of Young China
An artist's memories of a new era
Young Chinese artists today are placed in a unique position. Great paths have been carved for them by the frist generation of Chinese AvantGarde. The political and social issues of their time gave inspiration to these older generations of artists and the collective movements and artist's groups provided inertia and strength. This vanguard coined many iconic images and gave rise recognizable themes and styles indelibly linked Chinese Contemporary Art.
One of these young artists succesfully carving new paths in Hu Renyi. I frist met Renyi at Ethan Cohen Fine Arts over one year ago when he came to display same of his newest paintings. Right away he struck me as a bright young man full of engergy and passion. After looking at and discussing this latest series of works with him I soon realized that he also had a sigular perspective and a unique wit. These frist works of his that of simple images sometimes humorous and sometimes haunting. Immediately I was left with a desire to know more about these works, the stories they told and the young man who created them.
Hu Renyi was born at the tail end of the Cultural Revolution in Suzhou. While having no first hand experience of these culturally and artistically restrictive years, he began his experiences in an environment equally occupied with the hopeful promise his childhood were family, friends, poets, painters, criminals and the everpresent government officials. Alongside this cast are the people who populated the vivid history lessons of his father - political figures, revolutionaries, heros and villains.
As a child, Renyi's father forced him to daily practice traditional calligraphy. The artist has told me how hated these exercises. However, like so much of China's turbulent history, he has since learned to make it his own. Now, calligraphy, at once traditional and contemporary, provides subtext for portraits and can stand on its own to tell stories of Renyi's past. In his most recent calligraphic works, he says how as he paints, he can hear the voice of father. If we listen now, through Hu Renyi's paintings, we all can hear the sounds of a new China. The trials of past and hopes for the future speak in oil and ink with the voice of a child's memories.
Patrick Regan
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