Lui Shou-kwan Centenary: The Legacy of New Ink

The exhibition echoes the “Lui Shou-kwan Centenary: Abstraction, Ink and Enlightenment” exhibition currently staged at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford by paying homage to the artist’s legacy here in “his” city, Hong Kong, that was his home from 1948 until his passing in 1975. Lui Shou-kwan was a pivotal force in forging Hong Kong’s unique artistic identity, synthesising the traditional painting techniques from the Mainland with the Western style imparted by the city’s colonial roots. From the outset of his artistic career, Lui actively sought to revolutionise Chinese ink painting and through the appropriation of elements associated with Western Abstract Expressionism into his practice, effectively launching what was later termed the New Ink Movement. Throughout his career, whose breadth covered representational, semi-abstract and abstract works, his chief concern remained focused on the image’s ability to emote the individuality and spirit of the artist, no matter the rules and techniques that might be abandoned in that pursuit.