Hong Yuan Xu
The multi-styled paintings and collage of Hong Yuan Xu attest to this chameleon-like artist's creative and restless talents and his life-long commitment to the pursuit of artistic development.
Born in 1963 in the Jilin Province of Inner Mongolia, the second child in what would prove to be an artistically fruitful family; Hong Yuan exhibited artistic talent early on. Unable to receive formal training commensurate with Hong’s artistic impulses, Hong developed his skills privately with the meager art supplies his family could acquire. Hong learned quickly and, upon graduation from high school, had become quite skilled in painting, collage and drawing. However, with no prospects for a career as a professional artist, Hong began a series of day jobs. For a number of years he worked as a leather crafts designer, later as a police officer where he developed a prison arts program. Throughout, Hong continued painting and crafting exquisite collage pieces. His work was so remarkable that a number of American collectors took notice.
Hong is an artist whose impulse for creativity is rarely at rest. He is continually seeking new modes of expression and unusual contextual combinations of collage. In 1989, realizing his artistic development could only advance outside of China, Hong relocated to the United States with the assistance of several US art dealers. As a result, Hong's work began to take on Western styling. Throughout this early period, certain characteristics and patterns became visible. Hong brought together a rich Eastern painting tradition, combined with Westernized geometric patterns and bold colors. With strong hues of red, green, purple, and metallic gold’s and silvers; Hong Yuan's early collages combined ancient Chinese culture with an open gaze into the future.
Hong's more recent work, all done in acrylic, has taken on a decidedly westernized appearance. Though his palette has grown more monochromatic, with earth tones such as umber, sienna, and tans predominating, westernized, abstract images, exquisitely rendered, are making their appearance for the first time.
Acrylic Painting Acrylic paint is a synthetic paint combining some of the properties of oils and watercolor. It is water soluble, quick drying, permanent and can be used on a wide variety of surfaces to create effects ranging from thin washes to rich impasto. Impasto is thickly applied opaque paint retaining the marks of the brush or other instrument of application. Impasto is a feature of oil painting and certain types of acrylic, but is not possible with watercolor or tempera. Acrylic paint was first used by artists in the 1940's and has become a serious rival to oil paint, gaining favor with a wide number of artists.
