The Liu Kuo-sung Archives and the Ink Society are delighted to announce Bian Kai as the winner of the second edition of the Liu Kuo-sung Ink Art Award.
Roz Hammers, Ph.D, member of the jury, comments: “The three paintings that the artist Mr. Bian Kai submitted to the competition greatly impressed all members of the judging committee. He was unanimously awarded top marks. The three works show great command of the skills and techniques of ink painting while depicting highly innovative interpretations of their subject matter. His Picture of a Peach Orchard 桃園圖 invites viewers to reconsider a novel vision of a fisherman entering into an area with peaches trees, a location poetically associated with an ideal society. As we explore the murky washes of the painting, we find we are in a very different space. The painting Winter Solstice 冬至 grants us a view of the festivities of a traditional Chinese holiday that seems timeless, but details suggest the setting is a late 20th-century northern village. Animals and humans are detailed with quaint frankness through brushwork that reveals masterful naturalism. Mr. Bian has rendered the objects with a sense of concreteness in both the foreground and background. Finally the monumental Misty Rain at Maiji Mountain 麥積煙雨 is a thoroughly innovative integration of Tang and Song painting techniques. Grand in scale with precise and detailed brushwork, the painting’s coloring evokes comparisons with the elegant blue-and-green Tang landscape tradition. With mountains that engage with the Song grandeur of nature, the color palette challenges expectations. The blue of the Tang painting is replaced by a velvet-like, but ominous, black, compelling viewers to reconsider humanity’s relationship with nature. Mr. Bian Kai’s paintings display virtuosity in a variety of styles, from monochromic ink to intensely colored pigments. His themes give nuanced interpretations that update and challenge established perspectives.”
Bian Kai is awarded a cash prize of HKD100,000. Honourable mentions have been awarded to Barbara Choi and Tseng Ting-yu.
The official award presentation ceremony took place on Sunday 10 October, at the Ink Society booth. Liu Kuo-sung presented the Award via Zoom.
The Jurors:
| Roz Hammers | (Associate Professor, Department of Art History, the University of Hong Kong) | |
| Huang Kuang-nan | (Artist; Honorary Professor, National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University of Arts) | |
| Kingsley Liu | (Director, The Ink Society, Hong Kong) | |
| Liu Kuo-sung | (Artist; Chair Professor of National Taiwan Normal University; Dean of the Academy of Contemporary Ink Art, Shanghai Institute of Visual Art) | |
| Xue Yongnian | (Professor and PhD supervisor, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing) |
The Observers:
| Liu Zijian | (Artist; Researcher at the China National Academy of Painting, Beijing; Professor, College of Art and Design, Shenzhen University) | |
| Pai Shih-ming | (Professor and Head of the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University) | |
| Wang Chunchen | (Professor and PhD supervisor, Central Academy of Fine Arts; Director of the CAFA Art Museum, Beijing) | |
| Xia Kejun | (Professor, School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of China; curator) | |
| Josh Yiu | (Director of the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
Gallery
Liu Kuo-sung was unable to attend in person in 2022 and 2021 due to travel restrictions. On 7 October 2023, Liu Kuo-sung presented the awards to the 11 awardees of 2023, 2022 and 2021.
