Amanda Wei Gallery is delighted to present you "Unparalleled Beauty", a solo exhibition of Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Shengxian.
Unparalleled Beauty reveals feminine, as well as geographic aesthetics. Based in Shanghai, Qiu Shengxian believes that this international city is full of wonderful contradiction and strange contrast. To Qiu, Shanghai is a conventional yet beautiful place, romantic, half-hearted, vainglorious, yet elegant and surprising.
Qiu combines his emotions towards this place with emotions towards women he admires to create Unparalleled Beauty. It is an artistic icon integrated with the East and West as well as past and present to represent Shanghai and his inspiring muses.
Together with the strong personality of the artist, the artistic icon in his works that perfectly describes the “east meets west” element in Hong Kong is the reason for the gallery founder, Amanda Wei to present the works by Qiu Shengxian. Amanda especially appreciates the subtle details hidden in the feminine motifs where Western items such as red wine, cigars, and cigarettes appear interestingly in the artworks.
Qiu’s signature “Fashion Baby” and “Mother and Child” style have been the attractions for art institutions and individual collectors worldwide. Inspired by his beloved and parents, his artistic style is inducing without the natural description of traditional Western paintings. His works focus on integrating the oriental style and atmosphere together with the meaning of human life and ideal thoughts, creating an unforgettable impression with strong personalities in his signature works. His oriental style has also made a splash in the fashion world in Europe.
When Fashion Meets Art - "Mother and Child" interprets the meaning of life
The inspiration for “Mother and Child” originates from Qiu's experiences in life and emotional expressions. He had a very hard life growing up in the era of the Cultural Revolution, but he was still well taken care of by his parents nevertheless. Whenever the artist recalls his childhood, he has a sweet memory and promising faith in the future.
His works implicitly remind people of the true meaning of life in an artistic way. Under the rapid human development and technological advance, the true meaning of life lies within the value that we should be sincere with unconditional love - just like mother and her children.
"Fashion Baby" Collection - A Master Conception
Based on the prototype of his wife as an artistic icon, Qiu Shengxian consistently uses an oriental woman with an obscure bald head image as the media to express his emotions, in which Buddhism and Western music are the main influence to his works.
During his university studies, Qiu had an art research trip to Wutai Mountain in Shanxi where he met the famous Venerable Tung Ywan.
Studied Economics at the Peking University, Venerable Tung Ywan converted to Buddhism in the late 1930s because of the national crisis and her thoughts towards the temporal world. She gave up her affluent life and practiced as an ascetic nun, who later became known as one of the “Four Master Nuns”.
The other impact is derived from the Irish bald-head female singer Sinead O'Connor from Dublin. Her soft but gloomy voice touched numerous audiences and Qiu, and her superficial glamour indulges audiences into an unreal world that people are fond of.
After starting his art career in metropolitan Shanghai, Qiu Shengxian had an idea in mind to create a captivating and superior conscious “Fashion Baby” image. She is his beloved one with natural born elegance, oval-shaped face, cherry red lips as well as a delicate oriental and implicit style. She is Venerable Tung Ywan who pursues the true meaning of life as a Buddhist nun. She is also Sinead O'Connor who sings heartily with her amorous feeling and deepest soul.
After a few transformations - the perfect combination of reality, religion, and art realize the unique “Fashion Baby”. This collection is a representation of the creator’s deepest soul: a mix of ancient and modern, ignorance to sins, cruelty, jealousy, lies, hypocrisy, passion for true love, unconditional love and purity.