In April 2016, I held the “Cheung, Chiwai Art Appreciation” exhibition and academic seminar at the Guangzhou Foreign Business Activities Centre. During the event, I gave a lecture on the appreciation, investment, and management of artworks to senior management trainees of Huaxing Bank.
From August 13 to 21, 2016, I held a solo exhibition titled “Projection of the Soul” at the Nord Art Museum in Chambon, France.
From December 8, 2016, to January 7, 2017, I participated in the Sino-French Eight Artists Exhibition at the Chow Tai Fook Cultural Centre in Shunde, Guangdong Province.
The hallmark of this year’s achievements was my participation in international art exchanges and exhibitions, with my works being transported to distant France and opened to the world for the first time. Exhibiting my paintings in the 150-year-old Nord Art Museum in Chambon attracted many French viewers. During the nine-day exhibition, visitors came in an endless stream. Many people told me afterward that they were amazed that a Chinese painter could create such powerful and soul-stirring works, prompting deep reflection and association.
This exhibition in France allowed me to see that paintings filled with deep emotions could silently display to foreign audiences of different races and colours, earning their appreciation and giving me increased confidence and motivation. During the “Projection of the Soul” exhibition, French curators, art editors, painters, and art investors held a discussion. Some of the shared viewpoints were as follows:
“Cheung, Chiwai has pioneered a new path in artistic creation with his unique and independent creative style.”
“Through portraits, he deeply analyses the human soul. Each portrait he paints tells a story about the subjects to the viewers.”
“It is not high-level painting skills that create extraordinary works, but the artist’s own personality.”
“He tries to touch people’s inner depths through these portraits. He observes the silent crowd around him, but in fact, what they are staring at is the silence of history. This is a form of silent expressionism.”
“His works exude a unique and independent beauty.”
“His seemingly clumsy painting style, often misunderstood, is actually the best hallmark of a sense of presence.”
Cheung Chi Wai Art Appreciation Event
April 9-10, 2016
held at the Guangzhou Foreign Traders Activity Center
The Projection of the Soul: Cheung Chi Wai Art Exhibition
Aug 14, 2016 - Aug 21, 2016
Parc International Cévenol,
Chemin de Luquet, 43400 Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France
During his youth, Cheung Chi Wai experienced the Cultural Revolution: enduring raids by the Red Guards, being sent to the countryside, and eventually returning to the city to work as a laborer; followed by the wave of Reform and Opening Up. Despite his early career in banking and business, these experiences only deepened his love for art and literature, enhancing his understanding of personal liberation, independent thought, and the importance of perseverance in innovation, leading him to regard the pursuit of ideals and beliefs as essential to life.
Over the past decade, participating in the organization of university student art expos and other cultural and artistic activities has greatly inspired Cheung Chi Wai to teach himself painting, motivating him to express his creative desires. Since 2006, he has been studying calligraphy and traditional Chinese ink painting; since 2008, he has taught himself watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting.
This exhibition marks Cheung Chi Wai’s first international display of his personal artistic creations, featuring dozens of his figurative works and a few landscapes created since 2008. Through these works, the artist demonstrates how to view the world with kindness, contemplate life with serenity, and blend personal emotions with society by depicting submission to, defiance of, and outcry against fate, thereby conveying emotions through art that provoke thought and emotion in viewers.
Bonjour 2017 Le Mois Franco-chinois De L'art
Dec 8, 2016 - Jan 7, 2017
Chow Tai Fook Shunde Jewellery Doc. Centre
