“My Left Hand”: An Exhibition of Works by Zhu Xinjian

Coinciding with the launch of Complete Works of Zhu Xinjian, an exhibition titled “My Left Hand” opened in Gauguin Art Gallery in Beijing on March 16, 2016. Zhu Xinjian was a renowned painter and a representative figure of Chinese “new literary painting.” A 2007 stroke left Zhu unable to draw with his right hand, but he continued working anyway until he passed away on February 10, 2014.

Using his left hand, Zhu created simple and natural works that contrasted his previous pieces with power and lack of restraint. On display are his final pieces drawn with his left land.

“His works are simple and pristine, pure yet poetic, reaching for dreams of a painter, but unable to make them happen,” remarks Lang Shaojun, researcher at the Chinese National Academy of Arts. “His works share similarities with contemporary Chinese master Qi Baishi and French master Henri Rousseau. Most uniquely, he left modern passion and ideology with traditional water and ink.”

“They taste ‘spicy,’ a gift of his era,” comments Chen Danqing, a distinguished Chinese painter.

“His unique schematization put him in an unshakable position in modern Chinese art circles,” asserts Li Xiaoshan, a Chinese art critic.

“Throughout the history of Chinese painting, nobody has ever eclipsed him in terms of artistic originality,” declared Jia Fangzhou, a modern Chinese art critic, in the preface for Complete Works of Zhu Xinjian. “His sincerity, frankness and effortless mastery made his style singular and enduring.”

The exhibition closes April 15, 2016.