ZHIMIN GUAN 關 智民
The Art of Zhimin Guan- 30 Years in America
Essay by Pamela Sund
“Freedom is the greatest masterpiece.” -Joseph Brodsky
In a high-tech and group-think saturated world, it is often the individual artist who keeps a precious, human-centered commodity—individuality—alive. Whether visual or literary, the necessity for experiencing, fostering, bolstering, and cataloging the accomplishments of individual artists stands as a bulwark against an ever-increasing homogenization of the human experience, against the squelching of freedom itself.
The human person gravitates, by biology and inclination, toward the tête-à-tête, the one-on-one experiences in life; this is a pattern in art, as well. The artist goes face to face with the materials of production. The viewer goes one-on-one with the creation. The entire process encourages the enlivening and preservation of individuality, that of the artist and of the person experiencing the art.
Zhimin Guan’s great strength and genius lies in his spirit of independence, and his artistic evolution as a free-bird practitioner proves it. While many, if not most serious artists evolve toward a fixed identifiable style, Guan continuously morphs his oeuvre, breaking the mold, changing subjects, and evolving stylistically as personal consciousness changes, as intellect and spirit evolve, as degrees of artistic freedom are altered.
His experimental approach has led, from his mastery of academic realism, to surrealism, and to a neo-abstraction of his own order, with multiple iterations in between, turning each group of paintings into significant, cohesive, powerful bodies of work. His prodigious output in each collection is substantive in mastery and quantity. This self-directed departure is a tribute to his passionate pursuit of self-realization and transcendence through art. As the artist has aptly described this process: “My art is my experiment on myself to discover myself.” Guan’s disciplines and mediums include drawing in pencil, charcoal, and pastels; brush and ink wash; calligraphy; plus painting in oil, acrylic, and watercolor. Painting is passion and mainstay. Guan’s overarching aesthetic is grounded in the oldest continuous art culture in the world, China, and in his adopted country, the U.S., where the postmodern art style he stepped into in 1998 was characterized by a free-for-all amalgamation of art genres. This dual and dueling juxtaposition--holding to tradition while also embracing innovation, set his own artistic pursuit on a new path. The result is East meeting West, ancient meeting the newbie culture, and the artist meeting himself in new environs where he would find his own “new” way.
Another striking aspect is Guan’s fluency in each style and the cohesiveness which ties all the groupings together. The glue that binds, that underpins his overall aesthetic is his mastery of realism, a result, in part, of his training in China in the European academic style of drawing where the focus is on realistic representation of 3-dimensional form, particularly anatomy. Add to this his facile, energetic ability with abstraction, his poetic metaphysical approach with surrealism, and his ability to escape paradigms with his signature morphing of style.
Guan’s philosophical influences include Daoism and Confucianism, the belief systems of his parents and grandparents, philosophical ideas that Guan, too, holds dear. Daoism stresses cultivating harmony in life, striving to live the “no action is the best action” approach; while Confucianism stresses living as an active participant in the world, creating order in one’s life and showing concern and respect for social norms, tradition, and convention. The following quote aptly characterizes these approaches: “If the Daoist goal is to become like a piece of unhewn and natural wood, the goal of the Confucians is to become a carved sculpture. Daoists put the piece before us just as it is found in its naturalness, and the Confucians polish it, shape it, and decorate it.”1 Guan’s extensive repertoire represents both nature and culture, order and flux. How are the aforementioned approaches expressed in Guan’s work? On the tradition side, or one could say, the Confucian side, he implements the ancient Chinese laws of painting from the “Six Canons” of Xie He. One especially poignant canon that is easy to identify in Guan’s work is “Spirit Resonance,” the artist’s sensitivity to the subject and the ability to express the “vital spirit” of said subject. Another is the “bone method” in brush work, i.e., using the brush to delineate form accurately and powerfully, to express personality through line.
Add to this, ideas regarding line from 17th century Chinese landscape painter, monk, and art theorist, Shitao, which Guan has absorbed and masterfully utilizes. Ancient Chinese painting followed codified patterns; fledgling artists learned their craft by copying works of ancient masters. Shitao broke the mold, writing and creating paintings that expressed individualism, not just formulaic norms. In Sayings on Painting from Monk Bitter Gourd (what a title!), Shitao defines a single brush stroke or primordial line--also termed the Holistic Brushstroke--as the genesis of all representation. He speaks of the brushstroke as an avenue to a higher reality, as well: “A single brushstroke can define even that which lies beyond the borders of the universe.” Whether in his realistic imagery, or in the surrealistic or abstract forms, the power of Guan’s use of the Holistic Brushstroke stuns, whether in creating energy or subtlety, excitement or calm; whatever the mood calls for, Guan executes the exact line quality, which includes suggesting higher realities, i.e., spiritual essence.
Guan’s influences from the West include: from August Rodin’s intensely expressive sculptures, Guan discovered that he, too, could tap into his own emotional reservoir more forcefully, unleashing his imagination and producing work “with a stronger emotional feeling.” From Dali, he recognized the power in juxtaposing incongruous, dreamlike images in partially understandable, but mysterious ways, showing how disparate images can create provocative new realities. From Antoni Tapies, Guan saw that he could heighten the power of his own calligraphic gestures, thereby gaining more freedom in expressive mark-making in his own rambunctious abstract expressionist works.
An insightful quote from Oriental artist Liu Kuo-Sung, an artist and thinker Guan admires, applies to Guan himself and symbolizes his art practice of the last 30 years. “Painters must have new ideas, new feelings, new stories and a strong desire to express them.” Guan’s desire to explore life, to move from one culture to another, to commune with other artists, to travel and explore historically diverse art cultures, to live life close to the ground, in touch with the landscape and social scape keeps his own art fresh and his personal iconography and painterly approach, refreshing.
Expressing individuality but staying reverential to tradition is a Guanian goal; his respect for beauty, quality of representation, being able to mime reality, but to also break out into expressive abstract visions are important to the artist, but above all, beauty is of ultimate value. (You will never see Guan taping a banana to a wall and calling it art). Guan’s aesthetic position and practice reminds me of a quote from Sigmund Freud in Civilization and Its Discontents: “Beauty has no obvious use; nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it.”
On the following pages, you will witness, in each of six categories of Guan ouvre, the ideas expressed above. Each series is prefaced by detailed explication of that body of work, plus close examination and detailed descriptions of individual representative works. Enjoy the show!
1.Landscape Paintings
For centuries, landscape painting was a highly revered Chinese artform. Instead of creating images of real-world places, artists painted imaginary scenes, gateways to the beauty of the natural world. “Eye-walking” through a painting was thought to have the power to restore the soul. This invitational soul-restoring quality shines in Guan’s entire landscape ouvre, from his realistic representations to his more abstract iterations.
It was in Minnesota that the artist--struck by the diversity of the landscape, from the flat plains and farmlands of the west to the northern rocky shore of Lake Superior--discovered a new, old subject. As Guan describes it: “The Minnesota landscape has a sublime, expressive, natural, and eternal beauty that is close to my heart.” From the tree-lined plains, to prairie grass and wheat fields and snowy winter scenes, Guan set out to mine and mime each season’s offerings, studying light’s changing effects on the landscape. As a result, he created alluring bodies of work, en plein air and in the studio. Snowscape II (Plate ) is an example. Hot pink and illuminated light dominate and delight, while minute details of tree branches and native grasses, plus shadows, become subjects of their own. The signature Guanian brush stroke, delicate and precise, is evident in all of these sense and soul-inspiring works, including Waterlilies No. 4, (Plate ) where photorealistic images of lilies, water, and reflections mesmerize, pulling the viewer toward a meditative state.
Guan expanded his landscape horizons with his National Park paintings. After visiting several U.S. National Parks, awed and inspired, he created a major body of work entitled Pilgrimage to Nature. In his own words, he describes the experience: “I’ve embraced the American landscape and the spirit which it embodies as a major subject. The magnificent mountains and rivers exude a mysterious and unfathomable passion, the majestic plains and forests are full of hidden treasures.” Along the hidden treasure line are his Cloudscape Badlands (Plate ) a painting of depth-seeking flair with a swath of cloudy sky that energizes the canvas; and Badlands Impression (Plate ) a work of abstract genius. The minimalist but exuberant gestural marks speak loudly of Chinese aesthetics, as the form and coloration exemplify Western Badlands characteristics.
Guan’s signature use of walnut panels as a painting ground is featured on the final pages of this series. A synergistic effect results when nature scenes are painted on wood itself, a double entendre occurs. Because the walnut ground also frames the scene, the sense of the natural world is enhanced. Gracefully articulated examples include Aspen where yellow ochre leaves prevail and Buffalo River, a work that features a fall scene of intense cadmium orange foliage reflected in icy Minnesota waters.
2.Paintings on Metal
So stunning are Guan’s Paintings on Metal, that this series resulted in multiple solo and group exhibitions, including Melting Metal, Melding Cultures at the Plains Art Museum in 2007. Guan’s ground-breaking use of polished cut steel as the ground for landscape, seascape and portrait paintings offers striking visual appeal. The metal signifies industry: manufacturing, commerce, commodity, cash. The contrast between industrial metal and images of the natural world creates tension, yet conflict is resolved as the beauty of the metal in polished form, matches Guan’s elegant painting style, resulting in a sublime aesthetic quality.
Polished steel as the ground also functions as a mirror. Interestingly, the viewer becomes a momentary part of the work as his or her reflection appears on the surface. As art critic and curator Rusty Freedom points out: “The metal/mirror symbol is crucial to understanding Guan’s iconography. For the artist, the metal reflects an image, but distorts the image in the process, thus changing the image. Changing how we see images is also a function of the artist. That image is not the real thing, it is a new thing.”2. Guan’s polished metal American Dreamer series is a corps d'elite of masterworks. Subjects are fellow artists and others. Paintings of Jerry, Mike, and Carl (Plates give 3 numbers) are examples. The fluidity of paint applied to polished steel gives an entirely new sensuous appearance to Guan’s portraits, a feeling similar to qualities found in John Singer Sargent’s opulent figurative works. Facial features in Guan’s portraits are so accurately rendered, that a palpable presence of the sitter appears. The artist describes the intent of this series thus: “My aim is to capture the spirits of local hard-working people. Being an artist and recently naturalized as a U.S. citizen, I have observed many artists, friends and colleagues that I think have big dreams, and they are the backbone of America. Some are famous, some are not so famous, but in this popular culture, what does it really mean to be famous? These normal people get a lot of my respect.” Talk about respect: this entire series exhibits Guan’s high regard for the working class, as much for the creators of culture.
Regarding land and sea scape images: Guan’s photorealism commands attention, as in Seascape (Plate ) which is mesmerizing. White-capped water rolls toward the viewer as light at dusk becomes the major focal point. In Winter (Plate ), dormant trees, whose dried leaves are delicately painted in “rain drop” style, form the horizon line. A partially snow-covered field, textured with muddy tracks, evidence of human presence, comprises the foreground; the footprints stand as possible traces of the artist, as well.
3. Abstract Paintings
Guan goes for the cosmic, the genesis of geological forms in his abstract expressionistic works. They are filled with wildly energetic textures and sweeping swaths of color. Powerfully articulated singular calligraphic brush strokes populate many of the foregrounds, providing spatial definition and tension. The gestural quality in each is packed with vital energy. Using the literal landscape as inspiration, Guan moves beyond realistic description in his soaring, transcending landscape aesthetic.
The Chinese term for landscape consists of two characters, 山 水 (shān shuǐ), which mean mountain and water. Guan’s artistic response to mountains and water is in keeping with two art practices; the abstract expressionism originating in the West and the historical landscape subject of China. But unlike the famous, serene images of someone like Chinese artist Fan Kuan (ca. 960-1030), such as Travelers among Mountains and Streams, in soft monochromatic tones, Guan’s images rock the boat.
On one of his many return trips to China, Guan visited areas above the Lugu Lake region, 9,000 feet above sea level. Circling up mountain roads was treacherous, the summit views expansive. Inspired by mountain top vantage points, Guan created his powerful Summit Series. A striking example is Summit #2 (Plate ) a work of action painting if there ever was one; black and red dominate. Abundant use of dark value symbolizes charred surfaces in this imaginary earthquake scene. Red symbolizes fire flumes, as light-toned shapes stabilize opposing poles of Yin and Yang. The calligraphic words “divine spirit” overlay the emotionally charged composition, as chance happenings, accidental drips and splatters, enliven the entire picture plane.
Guan’s pilgrimages to U.S. national parks provide additional inspiration for abstract expressionist works. Two series, the Torrent watercolors, and the Glacier Melt oil paintings are eye-candy examples. Guan’s abstract approach opens an avenue for transcendence, for the viewer to ride the cosmic wave toward higher things. The Torrent series, inspired largely by the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park are characterized by colors of canyons and surrounds: orange, rusts, maroons, and yellows. In Orange Torrent (Plate ) for example, abundant bright orange and exploding granular textures speak visual volumes about natural forces. Guan brilliantly captures air movement, too, the most virtuous of natural elements according to Chinese philosophers. The cool palette of Glacier Melt II (Plate ) draws the viewer further into the temperature of things, into the coolness of the icy blue shapes, while dynamic orange gestural marks furnish the exclamation point. The series is aesthetically stunning, a powerful visual reference to climate: to cooling periods, warming periods, and to, possibly, a direct statement about current climate concerns. Additional abstract gems include Spring (Plate ) a more light-hearted offering of effervescence, of rebirth, of nature bubbling forth and coming to life through the artist’s invigorating brush work-- swirling strokes of aqua and lime green.
4.Fossil and Nude Paintings
Guan’s Fossil and Nude paintings represent his first stylistic departure after emigrating to America. It is with this ground-breaking series, that Guan developed a sophisticated personal iconography using the female nude as anchor. A postmodern influence, the amalgamation of styles appears in his use of his three painting languages all on the same picture plane: realism, abstraction, and surrealism. The paintings feature ancient, earthy elements: stone, wood, sea shells, fossilized fish, among them, plus realistically delineated headless female torsos that echo the aesthetic beauty of Greco-Roman culture. Embedded in each is a sense of the eternal vs. concrete reality, poetic feeling vs. logic. For example, in Fossils (Plate), a headless female torso appears to be embedded or trapped in stone, her hand raised toward the area where her face would be, her identity fractured, her vulnerability exposed. The entrapment seems, at once, both her protection and her prison. The sensuous quality of the flesh represents fragility; while the stone, the fossil of the fish, and tree branches symbolize geological history. On the middle right, a sliver of water appears; small in size, but metaphorically significant, the element reads like an escape hatch, a path to a life beyond fossilized existence, a possible reference to Guan’s own personal exodus. Each image combines similar imagery in codex-like, mysterious ways, engaging the viewer’s imagination in the deciphering.
Guan’s masterful show-stopping nudes highlight the artist’s ability to create photorealism in the rendering of human flesh. This remarkable technical prowess is represented in WRAP (Plate ). Here, the female figure is viewed through cellophane, a feat of enormous close observation and execution. The unusual tension-filled vantage point stuns. A feeling of captivity yet serenity prevails, as tension becomes the work’s subject as much as the nude figure. In the nude paintings, even when narrative elements appear, as in Praying Landscape (Plate)--where the figure is kneeling on a stone slab, rocks strewn about, a golden sky in the background--or in Letter (Plate ) --a memento mori tribute-- it is the delicate, tactile flesh that captivates. Interestingly, Guan sees the vulnerability of the nude woman as metaphorically representing the human condition. This revelation speaks volumes regarding symbolism and meaning in the entire Fossil and Nude Series. Regarding style, there is a definite postmodern influence, though the delivery of the mysterious iconography is all Guan’s own.
5.Portrait and Figure Paintings
Think of it, today’s iPhone captures images of the human person, millions of them, maybe billions every day. And prior to about 5,000 years ago when an artist first painted a naturalistic likeness of person, billions of humans had already perished, with no visible trace of what each person looked like. It took an eye, and a twig or a brush, plus an extraordinary desire and gift to create a convincing likeness and a portrait was born. Today, this art is dying out and being replaced by ubiquitous selfies, even AI created images. As Guan notes, “We are on the verge of losing one of the greatest human achievements.” Indeed. In this series, and in Guan’s American Dreamer paintings from the Paintings on Metal section in this catalogue, we witness his heroic efforts to keep the portrait tradition alive.
From figure to face, likeness and artistic quality have equal proportion in Guan’s portrait and figurative aesthetic. He achieves an exceptional artistic and realistic quality due to his natural gift and prowess with human anatomy. Mastery is represented throughout. In each portrait, a stillness is present, as though the person portrayed is caught in the eternal net of time. The subjects of Guan’s portraits include fellow artists, friends, and others in his milieu, plus models, an approach similar to that of the great Russian portrait artist, Ilya Repin who painted the intelligentsia and friends, like Leo Tolstoy, for example. Echoes of Repin appear in Guan’s superbly painted portraits and figures, especially in the naturalistic quality.
Examples include his portrait entitled James O’Rourke (Plate ), founder of the Rourke Art Museum, a venerable Minnesota institution. The portrait of O’Rourke is uncannily descriptive of the sitter’s personality: his graciousness, his intellect. The viewer meets him as he was in real life because the artist imbued these traits in his O’Rourke’s likeness. In another portrait, Student, an introspective, questioning gaze is sensitively captured and locked in time, her beauty on display. Guan’s self-portrait, Zhimin Painting is of a different stylistic order; it speaks of modernity through Gauguin-like coloration and simplified form. A cluster of robust leaves symbolize the painter’s love of nature; while his posture and hand on the canvas denote his undying artistic purpose and drive.
In the figurative works presented in this series, Guan’s models are often engaged in culture-preserving activities, both musical and literary, as in the images Blues and Ted (Plates number them both). All in all, whether figure or face, Guan’s genius with portraiture comes to the fore in this and in his American Dreamer series.
6. Alley Paintings
Respect for family, home turf, and cultural memory are metaphorically represented in Guan’s stunning multiple images of the alleyway of his childhood home in Bozhou, Anhui province, China, a place that remains close to his heart and mind, both psychologically and architecturally. The houses depicted were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in the local Anhui style. The two or three-story structures are constructed of stone and brick with black tile roofing. The general layout consists of shops in the front, with residences and workshops in the rear. The walls are made of durable brick shingles, coated with an earthen paste--an artist’s textural dream--while the narrow walking street, the alleyway, is paved with maroon flagstone.
Guan’s paintings are reverent; they speak of hallowed ground. Formally, textures supply a visual feast, a sumptuous tactile experience. Variations of light and value, plus differing palettes: from ochre and rust tones, to pale greens and yellows, along with shades of grey, suggest changing seasons and times of day. The intense texture of the inner walls and facades contrast with smooth areas of sky and clouds that billow above the stately structures. The spatial depth, created by the receding alleyway, suggests the breadth and depth of ancient Chinese history.
A representative example is Alley #3, (Plate ) where the overall Oriental-feel is enhanced by intricately described cornices and lintels and the photorealistic quality of the naturalistically rendered flagstones. Areas of wall described in sand and rust color with a greenish patina tint, stand out, as though each area, infused with such exciting visual interest, could stand alone as an abstract expressionist painting.
This series’ piece de resistance is Home Alley. Here, Guan overlays the architectural image with exuberant, personal calligraphic marks that are actual lines of poetry. On the right, the lettering reads: “I tried to pursue dreams and reputation for thirty years but only found eight thousand miles of cloud and moons.” On the left: “Don’t worry that the road ahead doesn’t have a soul mate, if you keep your good virtue, the entire world will know you.”