Two figures pause on a mountain path beneath pines as if awe of the landscape that looms before them. The fractured surfaces of a cliff fill the entire remaining surface of the painting, relieved only by cloud patches in the middle and at the top of the work. Graded color washes on the forms give some semblance of three-dimensionality but the surface of the painting is basically flat, with only slight visual deviations in depth. Those facets are further accentuated by contours in gold, a technique used in early Buddhist paintings and some Qing dynasty court works but hardly seen since. The result is a striking visual statement, with verisimilitude balanced perfectly against formal concerns and decoration.
Wu Qiang was born in Changding, Fujian province. He studied in the Chinese Painting Department at the Chinese Academy of Fine Art, earning a Bachelor’s degree in 2005 and a Master’s in 2005. Since graduation Wu has been serving as Lecturer in the Art Institute of Zhejiang University.
Even before graduation Wu Qiang began exhibiting his paintings, earning an Award of Excellence at The Second National Chinese Painting Exhibition held in Dalian in 2003. The following year Wu participated in The Tenth National Art Exhibition and another painting was selected for The Eleventh Zhejiang Art Exhibition organized by the China Artists Association in Hangzhou. Since 2007 Wu has contributed to exhibitions in Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. In 2008 Wu had his first solo exhibition, in Beijing, and since then has had individual shows in Tokyo and Hangchou.