SHAN WEIJUN

Shan Weijun attaches great importance to the purity of expression in his paintings. On the surface he depicts the French countryside, however Jiangnan, China is the image’s underlying theme. He skillfully uses Chinese traditional painting tools - rice paper, brush, and ink - and meticulously traces on the paper. The accumulation of different shades of lightly applied ink creates a rich, subtle suburban landscape. The artist compares the creative technique of painting in the studio everyday in this calm and slow point-by-point manner as “a thousand points.” This kind of pointillism is reminiscent of the Impressionist pointillism that flourished in France at the end of the nineteenth century. The difference is that Shan Weijun uses only grayscale ink. The subjects featured in most of his paintings include mountains, stones, trees, and clouds. The static landscape presents a kind of detached artistic conception, beyond attachment to the material world, and trains the viewer’s eyes to stay on the image, allowing the viewer to enter the realm of contemplation. This undoubtedly has a close relationship with the artist’s choice of “meditation style”. The work may seem simple, or a Chinese copy of pointillism, yet is actually a more complex masterpiece of ink painting that combines Chinese culture, French feeling, and contemporary aesthetics. “Thousands and Thousands of Points,” as the artist explains, is his personal method of Zen retreat.