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GBA4 | GBAFOCUS Friday, July 9, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY Exhibition The moving art of Lalan She bloomed in her adopted country of France while retaining a Chinese cultural core. Chitralekha Basu reports on a retrospective show of Lalan at Asia Society Hong Kong Center. orn Xie Jing-lan in Guiyang, China, Lalan is the way she keeps expanding her in 1921, Lalan turned to painting oeuvre, exposing herself to di¡ erent artistic Lalan’s landscape painted on a scroll only in her mature years. And her thoughts and also experiments with artistic takes up an entire room at the Asia Society works were not seen as high-value mediums,” says Poon. “In an artistic career Hong Kong Center. Bcollectibles until some years after her death spanning four decades she kept challenging in a car accident in 1995. herself in di¡ erent mediums and at the same “Lalan was under her fi rst husband Zao time tried learning from di¡ erent masters Wou-ki’s shadow,” says S. Alice Mong, execu- and was inspired by di¡ erent artists.” tive director of Asia Society Hong Kong Cen- Lalan celebrated her friendship with those ter, where a retrospective show of the Chinese- who helped steer her artistic journey in some French artist’s works is taking place. of her paintings. She had met the music com- Having a famous, and sought-after, painter poser Edgard Varese (1883-1965) through the Belgian poet Henri Michaux (1899-1984) and for a partner may not always be the ideal An installation view of Lalan’s works at setup for a woman who is herself artistically paid homage to both in her works.To Edgard the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. inclined. And so it was with Lalan. Varese, 1985, invokes the musician’s composi- Eventually, she separated from the husband tion, Deserts. It’s a bare golden landscape as the focal point. Both paintings are replete with whom she had shared a school (Hang- with hints of a storm brewing at its center. with literati features, as seen in their play with zhou National College of Art, now China Remember Henri Michaux, 1984, shows an perspectives and tweaking of natural forms. Academy of Art) and settled down in Paris apparently tranquil landscape done in soft, — looking to absorb some of the fi nest artistic soothing colors except for the rippling waters Through the lens of time ideas, and techniques, circulating in Europe’s in the foreground where the turbulence, and Although the passionate intensity and tonal cultural nerve center in the postwar years. mystery, are concentrated. Go with the Wind, 1968, a diptych by the Chinese-French artist Lalan now showing at depths in Lalan’s early paintings seem to reso- She would marry the musician and sculp- the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, seems powered by a cloudburst of restless energy. nate with the sensibilities of Zao, both Law tor Marcel Van Thienen in 1958. And yet, it The Chinese touch and Poon insist Lalan’s style was distinct from wouldn’t be until the 1970s when Lalan, who Although Lalan left China in her mid-20s features and Daoist philosophy in her paint- that of her illustrious fi rst husband. studied music at Hangzhou and trained in and came into her own as an artist only in ings — ideas she made her own and served up “The early resonances were because of their the Martha Graham technique of dance after France, her adopted country, her core artistic in her inscrutable, singular style. shared cultural background. Both were from arriving in Paris in 1948, began combining sensibilities remained noticeably Chinese. In “There is an element of calligraphy in some eastern China,” says Law. Then “while Zao her skills — in music, dance and wielding the the video of her last recorded performance, of her most iconic paintings,” says Ti¡ any trained to be a painter, Lalan was completely brush — and giving performances to small Lalan is seen practicing qigong — a traditional Law, assistant curator at the ASHK. “It’s in self-taught.” groups of audiences in community cultural Chinese form combining physical movement Duel of Words, Quarrel between Light and She goes on to add that Lalan’s works are centers. with breathing and meditation. Her moves Dark, 1963. You see the brush strokes mim- often marked by rhythm and a thematic unity “Lalan integrated the arts,” says Mong. bring to mind the swirling splashes of paint icking the calligraphic act. There are traces while Zou’s have more to do with abstract “Nowadays we take integrated art for granted, bespattering the canvas in her later paintings, of a Chinese character, but it’s not very well expressionism. but she was doing that in the 1970s.” creating dark unknowable shapes in earth etched, more like a symbol.” Since the last 20 years or so, Lalan is no tones in the process. She points out how the painting looks like longer a stranger to collectors of 20th-century Painting with the body The infl uence of the East is also apparent an approximation of the yin-yang symbol. Chinese art. Her stock rose after the likes of The Lalan show at ASHK is the fourth in in the presence of Chinese calligraphy, literati The canvas is divided into black and white Shanghai Art Museum (now China Art Muse- a series of works by 20th-century women um) and Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Chinese artists. Artists featured in previous Paris started collecting her works. Two years editions include Fang Zhaoling, Pan Yuliang back Sotheby’s Hong Kong dedicated an auc- and Irene Chou. The idea, says Mong, is to tion exclusively to Lalan. revisit works by women who were active Poon says the point of hosting a solo show in the same period as the internationally by an artist who is no longer under the radar acclaimed Chinese master painters such as is to encourage viewers to read Lalan’s paint- Wu Guanzhong, Chu Teh-chun and Zao, “but An Allen Lam choreographed dance ings in the socio-historical context in which weren’t appreciated in their lifetime.” inspired by Lalan’s works, as seen they were created and wonder about their Doris Poon, ASHK associate curator, who through an augmented-reality app. signifi cance today. co-curated the show with Veronique Ber- “We would like audiences to rethink the gen, adds that the series is “essentially about value of popular names in the art market. We women who overcame the challenges of their have tried to expand the academic discussion time to shine as artists. Also we explore their on Lalan’s works,” she says, referring to the connection with overseas cultures.” panels featuring art scholars, curators and In this league of remarkable women, Lalan gallery owners that ASHK has organized. is uniquely distinguished. Not only did she Allen Lam was invited to choreograph a new relentlessly experiment with di¡ erent forms dance composition in response to the video of artistic expression, but she also managed to of Lalan’s 1995 performance. The piece was put them all into the same exhibition space. It performed in the striking outdoor spaces of was as if the cloudburst of restless energy that the ASHK building. A file photo of young Lalan, then called she had poured into paintings likeGo with the It’s all part of a concerted e¡ ort to acquaint Xie Jinglan, sailing to Paris. Wind, 1968, in the early stage of her painting more people with the legacy of a free-spirited life, could not be contained any longer within artist who remained in relative obscurity dur- the fi nite space of a canvas. So Lalan worked halves, informed by the Daoist idea of binaries ing her lifetime. her own body like a moving paintbrush, con- complementing each other. tinuing the journey from where her painting The idea is less obvious in a painting called To read an interview with Asia Society Hong had left o¡ through dance and music. On the High Pass, 1979, in which faint out- Kong Center executive director S. Alice Mong, “I think one of the interesting things about lines of mountain ranges appear against a please click on https://bit.ly/2SOZydo pale background. Much of the canvas is left blank, while the image seems lit by its ambi- Contact the writer at ent luminosity. [email protected] A keen onlooker, however, might be able to [email protected] appreciate the contrast between “the accent IF YOU GO and the void,” says Law. Although it looks empty, the painting, she says, represents “a Extended Figure: the Art and Inspiration of Lalan complete landscape, including all the ele- Dates: Through Sept 19 ments around us… like air and mist.” Venue: Chantal Miller Gallery, Asia Society At Full Moon, 1984, makes a fi ne compan- Hong Kong Center 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty In At Full Moon, 1984, Lalan puts a spin Lalan was among the early practitioners of integrated arts, combining music, dance and ion to High Pass. This too is a mountain land- https://asiasociety.org/hong-kong/exhibi- on the realistic depiction of nature. painting in her performances. scape in pale colors with a huge full moon tions Books Get inspired at Hong Kong Book Fair By REBECCA LO ties with Hong Kong, evident in iconic authors Rap Chan, Su Hei and Shirley to learn how to make treats.” photos such as Lee with the Star Ferry Loo will put their favorite things on If that weren’t enough, an Educa- Bookworms can once again rejoice: as a backdrop as well as some of his display as part of a showcase titled tion and Careers Expo and a Sports Hong Kong Book Fair is back next key movie moments captured on Hong Words to Warm the Heart to help fair and Leisure Expo will run simul- week after being absent for a year Kong postage stamps.

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