Wei Kan
Contemporary Master of the
Yunnan School of Painting
by
Lihua Zhao, for Fine Art Registry®
Contemporary Chinese master of the Yunnan School of painting, Wei Kan, who hails from Shandong Province, creates beautiful frescoes and modern pen and ink and wash drawings. Taught by Zhang Hongbin, one of the founders of the famed Yunnan School, Wei has worked full time as an artist since 2001 and has made a name for himself in China. In seeking ways to expand internationally, Wei came across and has implemented the Fine Art Registry® patented tagging and registration system for his works.
Wei's Teacher, Hongbin Zhang
Wei's teacher, Hongbin Zhang, is a well-known Chinese-American painter, a member of the Chinese Artists Association and Professor at the University of California in San Francisco. Previously, he was a dean as well as Professor of Shandong Arts at that university.
In 1987, Mr. Zhang was invited to lecture at the California State University in San Francisco as an emissary of the Chinese culture and became known as "the bridge between Chinese and American culture."
Screen printings of his works were best-sellers in the United States, Japan and other countries. Professor Zhang has been honored as one of the most successful Chinese painters in the USA.
Between November 1989 and November 1990, when Hongbin Zhang came back to China and taught at the Shandong Arts and Crafts Academy, Wei spent a year studying under him. Since 1993 Professor Zhang has made the United States his home but to this day, returns to China every year to teach during his summer vacations.
Painting Style
The emergence of the Yunnan Modern School not only caused a great stir in Chinese painting, giving Chinese art lovers something new and fresh, but it also made a splash in the West. It received accolades from all around the globe, giving contemporary Chinese painting a new place in the world.
The elegant lines and gorgeous colors interweave to express the fantasy and romance in the artist's mind. The vivid colors contrast with the somber and subtle unconventional pen and ink style. The overall effect combines the best of traditional Chinese art with the best of Western art in a unique artistic language.
Wei Kan's painting style is reminiscent of earlier Chinese Dunhuang frescoes and the colorful charm of traditional Chinese realist painting.
When you view his paintings, you can easily see the blending of Eastern and Western styles: the traditional lines of the Orient with modern Western color composition. The result is a combination of beautiful lines and rich colors, which is what the Yunnan Modern School is all about.
Media
Wei Kan uses the typical media of the Modern Yunnan School, which consist of gaoli (Korean) paper, calligraphy brush, marker pens, acrylic pigments and ink and wash. He takes full advantage of modern tint and texture, boldly integrating Western abstraction into his paintings.
The visual beauty of Wei Kan's work comes from the interwoven rough and smooth textures, the strong colors and the unusual forms.
Exhibitions and Publications
Wei Kan's work has been featured in many Chinese exhibitions, has sold at Chinese auctions and has been broadly published in a number of magazines.
"In 1998, I begin to receive commissions and orders," says Wei, "most of them as a result of the articles in art magazines and periodicals. I have already completed about thirty commissions, many of them for frescoes."
The most representative of his fresco works is Map of Enduring Saisa, approximately 100 feet long by 10 feet high, painted at a museum showroom in the city of Tai An. Wei can take anywhere from two weeks to eight months to complete a fresco.
In 1991, The Rock Youth was selected for the Shandong Youth Fine Arts Exhibition, winning the Silver Medal. Lotus Woman was selected by the second Chinese Sports Fine Arts Exhibition in 1993 and in 1997, Wei took part in the Shanghai Arts Exposition, followed by the Interactive Times - 1999 Invitation Exhibition of Chinese Paintings in Chongqing. In May of 2000, Wei's paintings were shown at the New Chinese Paintings Exhibition in Shanghai and Nanjing and in 2001, Wei's Dream of Childhood was chosen for exhibition at the Century Exhibition of Chinese Paintings in Beijing. In 2005, Wei participated in the Beijing International Fine Art Biennial Exhibition where he won several awards. In 2006, he showed his work at the 11th Guangzhou International Arts Expo.
Wei Kan and Fine Art Registry®
Kan heard of Fine Art Registry from Lihua Zhao, Fine Art Registry representative for China. "Through Lihua's introduction of Fine Art Registry, I am so happy to find that FAR® provides a platform just like a window facing towards the world," says Wei. "With the support and services of Fine Art Registry, I hope that my artworks will enter into the international market as soon as possible, so that I can realize the most value from my works, and have greater success. Meanwhile, FAR always has a very good reputation abroad, not only providing the unique tags for artists, but helping them register their artworks, and creating a permanent record in their database. This is very good for artists to protect their copyrights, and at the same time it’s also good for my buyers or collectors. I must be responsible for them!"
Wei Kan was thrilled to find Fine Art Registry and looks forward to a successful future with FAR supporting him all the way.
Visit Wei's Fine Art Registry gallery here.
— by Lihua Zhao
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August 30, 2008
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