Painting to me is a process of discovering, shaping and reshaping my inner being. I work spontaneously – starting with a line or a dot, similar to Chinese calligraphy... then I let the drama begin to develop among the colours and lines under my subconscious control. I seek in my work rhythm, harmony among conflicts, lines with energy, and even surprise. I chose to do abstract painting… the language utters energetic rhythm, subconscious cries, and subtle poems.

(Chinyee, 2018)

Alisan Fine Arts is proud to present our fifth solo exhibition by the late Chinese American artist Chinyee (b. 1929 Nanjing, China). This will be the first solo exhibition of her work since she passed away last June. Chinyee’s work, often been described as “Lyrical Abstraction”, is permeated with influences from both East and West. Her loose, unformulated brushstrokes reflect both Asian brush techniques and years of careful study of modern abstraction. The symphonic, colourful, and optimistic aura of her works is edged with dynamism.

Anchoring the exhibition will be a selection of works from the 1960s, two of which were recently part of the critically acclaimed exhibition Action, gesture, paint: a global story of women and abstraction 1940-70, exhibited at Whitechapel Gallery in the UK, Fondation Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, France, and Kunsthalle Bielefeld in Germany. Showing alongside paintings by Joan Mitchel, Helen Frankenthaler and Elaine deKooning, Chinyee’s A touch of red and solitude no.2 were part of a long overdue survey of female abstract painters, most of whom were overlooked in the decades that were dominated by the New York school artists. Our exhibition also includes a selection of Chinyee’s works from the 1980s through 2018, both on canvas and on paper, many of them being exhibited for the first time.

Enraptured By Color coincides with the exhibition Asian American Abstraction: Historic to Contemporary at Hollis Taggart, which includes 3 paintings by Chinyee and is curated by Jeffery Wechsler, previously the Senior Curator of the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum. Wechsler has praised her works:

Expanding upon and invigorating basic themes and techniques that have occupied her for over five decades, Chinyee’s recent work moves gracefully among the various media of oil painting, watercolor and collage. From image to image, her overall production reflects a natural blending of opposites: subtlety balanced by exuberance, contemplation balanced by spontaneity.

(Jeffrey Wechsler, 2013)