{"id":193,"date":"2016-08-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/10\/ren-hui-poet-of-modern-pointalism\/"},"modified":"2021-08-16T20:10:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T20:10:01","slug":"ren-hui-poet-of-modern-pointalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/10\/ren-hui-poet-of-modern-pointalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Ren Hui: Poet of Modern Pointillism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I hope the images carry some message, but a vague one\u2026there\u2019s a trace of abstraction in my paintings even though the subjects are all rather concrete.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ren Hui moves you. His work draws you in and then forces distance to understand. As you step back to\u00a0see the big picture, Hui successfully creates tension between the three-dimensional space of the viewer and the\u00a0two-dimensional surface of his paintings. He calls his art \u201cuncomplicated and honest,\u201d but it takes a lot of work to\u00a0create a whole from so many small parts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Winter” by Ren Hui, 2012, 39.5″ x 39.5″<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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Born in Nanjing in 1957, Hui describes himself as a \u201clow-profile person.\u201d At the age of twenty, he joined the army but refrained from registering as a Communist. Army life did not suit him well. \u201cI was not a good soldier,\u201d he says, \u201cas I wasn\u2019t proactive enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RenHui-portrait\"After three years, he left the army and found work as a steel-cutter in the Nanjing Ocean Shipping Fitting Factory. A factory worker\u2019s uniform fit him as poorly as a soldier\u2019s, and he spent much of his time reading classic novels and writing poetry and unpublished articles. In the mid 1980s, Hui left factory work for good. He embarked on a long bicycle ride across central China,\u00a0from Nanjing to Tibet,\u00a0taking photographs and visually documenting the life he saw around him.<\/p>\n

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“Sailing Boat” by Ren Hui, 2012, 16.75″ x 24.5″<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

When he returned from his trip, Hui stopped wandering and started painting. Artwork gave him the sense of purpose he lacked in other lines of work. \u201cI feel more at ease when painting,\u201d he says. At first he created woodcarvings and paper cuttings. Later, he developed the method of dot painting for which he is known today. Painstakingly created from layers of paint applied in various densities, the circles that fill his paintings reference the dot matrix that underlies a photograph.<\/p>\n

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“Tiananmen Lion” by Ren Hui, 2010, 39.5″ x 39.5″<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Ren Hui\u2019s subjects range from friends and family to political figures. \u201cMy work reflects life,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have family, friends, ourselves, history, culture, trees, flowers, buildings, demolition\u2026 all of which are reflected in my work. This is our life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ai Weiwei, China\u2019s famous artist\u00a0and social commentator, compiled an exhibition of Hui\u2019s work in 2006 for the China Art and Archives Warehouse in Beijing. This exhibition, along with others in Germany, US, China, Canada, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore\u00a0introduced Ren Hui to an international audience.\u00a0In 2011, he relocated from China and established a studio in Ottowa, Canada. PAGODA RED is proud to represent his work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Explore More<\/h2>\n

Fine Art by Ren Hui<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t