SHANGHAI.- Qian Gang’s evocative paintings will be on view at Contrasts Gallery, 181 Jianxi Road, from November 24 – December 3. This is Qian Gang’s first solo exhibition at Contrasts Gallery, and will feature paintings from the past two years by the Shanghai-based artist. An opening reception will be held November 24th from 5pm-8pm. Gallery hours are Monday-Sunday 10 AM-10 PM.

Qian Gang’s paintings, both in color and black and white, depict figures, often with animals, in interiors and in landscapes. Using expanses of uninflected color, the painter creates an abstract, poetic realm where human beings and the natural environment become a continuous whole. At once graphic and expressive, Qian Gang’s work is a personal meditation on love, nature, and the beauty of women.

Qian Gang’s precise attention to detail allows him to conjure scenes with an marked economy of form, and yet allows for a convincing sense of three-dimensional space. This approach fosters a particularly contemporary sense of restrained emotionality and cool romanticism. Set against the backdrop of nature, his black and white paintings portray an individual, often a woman, happily coexisting in her surroundings. Qian Gang’s vision of our relationship with nature defies the common notion of isolation and loneliness, and instead emphasizes the beauty of being at one with the environment. Materialism is obsolete in this domain, and the focus is directed towards the tranquility and purity of the settings. Though seen in solitude, the woman shown in these paintings is never lonely.

Qian Gang is a self-taught artist who steered away from the path of traditional Chinese painting. Through his work, he seeks to evoke an understanding of his own personal experiences. While many of his contemporaries have focused on the display of distinctly Chinese images, such as Mao and Panda motifs, Qian Gang has not been directly influenced by the past. As an artist he adamantly lives in the present and seeks to create his own history.

Qian Gang’s paintings evoke a personal and emotional connection often lost in contemporary art. His appreciation for love and romance depart from the traditional perceptions fostered by a patriarchal society. In believing that “everybody should live,” and that “in an abstracted way love is beautiful.” Qian Gang maintains a positive approach to living that is invariably reflected and displayed in his work.

His romantic approach to love led him on a journey abroad, where hardship inevitably ensued along the way. Years even went by where painting became secondary, often occurring late in the evenings or even at all. His passion lies in his heart; one might say he lives for love having stated “in an abstracted way love is beautiful.”

Qian Gang was born in Shanghai in 1958, son of the painter Qian Da Si who did numerous advertisement and artworks during the Cultural Revolution. In 1976, Qian Gang graduated from middle school and was sent to the countryside to be reeducated. In the 1980’s he returned to Shanghai and in 1981 entered Shanghai Light Industry Training School where he studied interior design. In 1986, he opened his own interior design company. Two years later he left for America to study at San Francisco Art Academy. In 1991, he arrived in New York and was engaged in the artistic design work in the VIAMAX studio. In 1997, he established his art studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 2004, he decided to return to China, and a year later, he designed his studio and started again to exhibit in Shanghai.

Qian Gang’s work has exhibited in solo exhibitions in the United States, including those at the Edward Hopper Museum, Nyack, NY, Chas Gallery, Boston, and Caccoala Gallery, New York. He has participated in many group exhibitions including those at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai in 2005 and at the Singapore Art Museum in 2006.