Brushes & Lines｜ Lu Tian Bo & Chris Chan & Reynaldo Magat Group Exhibition Introduction

Galerie Koo is delighted to announce a joint exhibition “Brushes & Lines” by Chinese artist Lu Tian Bo, Hong Kong artist Chris Chan and Filipino artist Reynaldo Magat.

Calligraphy was the paramount visual art in pre-modern China. Using only brush and ink, Lu Tian Bo developed his techniques over the years. Today, this powerfully graphic art is still celebrated as an outward expression of the artist’s inner psychology. Its rhythm, movement and flow is accessible to anyone who views it, not only to those of us who can read Chinese characters.

般若 01 (2023), Paint brush on Rice Paper (framed), H34 x W44 cm

Unlimited creativity allows Chris Chan to develop his favourite Yuan Dynasty literati landscapes with this flowing effect of ink lines, using different levels of ink lines and ink rhythms to express the sense of distant mist and undulating hills, enriching the layers of the painting. Since 2018, he has been using the direct flow of ink lines to create his works. In the process of flowing ink, he added the traditional brush technique to orient the flowing ink and form the scene of overlapping mountains. Together with the embellishment of pine trees and the traditional landscape composition, the work brings out the ancient rhythm from a modern approach.

Majestic Mountain 11 (2020), Chinese ink on Rice Paper, H133 x W33 cm

Reynaldo Magat’s technique is very delicate, for him, it is almost impossible to be too emotional, one can only be inspired and everything will fall into place. Every line has a purpose and every omitted space has a role. The lines and spaces will move in harmony and will tell you a story in the end. Much like life, you cannot really judge it by a single event, you need to see the whole picture. Magat chose this technique because he wanted to bring out the subject only through tones, shades and shadows.

Equine II (2023), Pen and ink on Strathmore Paper, H42 x W27.5 cm

“We are delighted to showcase Lu Tian Bo, Chris Chan and Reynaldo’s artworks to art and culture enthusiasts in Hong Kong,” says Cecilia Koo, gallerist of Galerie Koo. “In their exploration of the meaning of drawing and painting, the three artists have fully utilised the characteristics of their hard or soft brush tools, together with an understanding of modelling and the use of lines in Chinese and/or Western contexts, to present linear art in different spaces of thoughts on an infinite plane, as well as the contemporary experimental field they have built with ink.”

Exhibition Details

• Brushes & Lines｜ Lu Tian Bo & Chris Chan & Reynaldo Magat Group Exhibition
• Date: 4-25 Nov 2023
• Time: 11:00-19:00 Tuesday to Friday｜12:00-17:00 Saturday
• Venue: Galerie Koo
• Address: 7/F Vogue Building, 67 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong

About the artist – Chan Sze Cheong Chris

Chan Sze Cheong Chris graduated from the Hong Kong Arts Centre School of Art with a Diploma in Pure Art and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Higher Diploma in Chinese Ink Painting.

His work [Gui Hang] won the Gold Award in the UOB Annual Ink Painting Awards 2019 and was exhibited at Art Central 2021.

His works have been exhibited in Hong Kong City Hall, Hong Kong Central Library, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Taichung Dadun Cultural Centre, Taichung Hong Kong Arts Centre, National Father's Memorial Hall, Taipei, Palais des Beaux Arts, and Mokpo Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeollanam-do, Korea. He is currently a member of the International Colour and Ink Painters Alliance in Taiwan, the Hong Kong Modern Ink Painting Society and the Danqing New Paintings Society. His works are collected by various organisations and private individuals.

About the artist – Lu Tian Bo

Lu Tian-bo (b. 1946), courtesy name “Ku Bo”, art name “Ji Lu Sheng”, a native of Zhenhai, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, is now a member of the Chinese Calligraphers' Association. “dān qīng huà qì bù huà xíng ，wàn dǐ wú gǔ shū nán chéng ，qiú dào zhōu qín gǔ hòu chǔ ，chāo rán yì xiàng jiē cāng míng。”* This poem written by Lu Tian-bo is a reflection of his own artistic creation

Lu Tian-bo studied under Master Bao Liu-ke, with Zhu Sui-liang and Ou Yang-xun as his role models, and diligently trained in the "Two Wangs" running script. Over the past few decades, he has learnt from a wide range of inscriptions, including running script, cursive script, clerical script, seal script, and regular script, and his cursive script, in particular, has a strong, strict, and elegant essence, which was as distinguished as those seen in the Wei and Jin dynasties. Occasionally, he composes landscapes and paints in calligraphy, copying notable relics of the Song and Yuan dynasties, which are famed for their lushness and denseness. Over the years, he has carved no less than a thousand seal scripts in a simple and down-to-earth style, which was selected by the Calligraphy magazine in the 1980s.

About the artist – Reynaldo Magat

Reynaldo Magat was born in the Philippines with 4 siblings and learned early on that he had a different technique and approach to making art. In 1991 he graduated from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. He learned the technical aspects of art and how to apply it to buildings and structures. He appreciated the knowledge and probably the prestige that came with the profession, as he was able to lead a team in the direction of the concept that he visualised.

Reynaldo moved to Hong Kong in 2007, hoping to continue along the path he had chosen and plan to enhance this knowledge by meeting and collaborating with other designers in the field with different ideologies. During this time, he was exposed to architecture, interior design and landscape.

2023 was the year that he decided to pursue art as his chosen career and he felt that he was more fulfilled and at peace as he was able to do the one thing that he is most passionate about, which is making art. He will continue on this path as he feels that he has started something that is truly his.

Source of the above information: PR