Chak 翟宗浩

Known primarily for his landscapes, Chak paints the forms of the natural world in abstract and poetic ways. After showing internationally—having lived in Japan and the USA for several decades—Chak: Landscapes and Other Natural Occurrences, is one of the first significant solo exhibitions of the artist’s work to be displayed in Hong Kong. The UMAG exhibition highlights both his larger two-panel canvases and smaller works on paper as a way to illustrate the artist’s evolution of thought. This catalogue is published to coincide with the exhibition.

Solidly grounded in traditional methodologies, Chak’s philosophy of painting is drawn out in oil, acrylic and ink. Each composition is a manifestation of the painter’s belief in the need to remain in conversation with nature. His study of plants, rivers and hillsides are influenced by the painter’s idealised mission to recreate nature through his own sophisticated form of craftsmanship. Chak is fascinated with the calm that nature offers each of us to recharge amidst our hectic days within urban environments.

翟宗浩以山水畫見稱，他以抽象和富有詩意的方式描繪大自然的輪廓。繼在世界各地參展後──他曾居於日本和美國數十載──《翟宗浩：山水與其他自然意象》展覽是翟宗浩在港舉辦最重要的首個個展之一。是次展覽精選展示他的大型雙屏布本作品和尺寸較小的紙本作品，以呈現其思緒的演變。此為配合是次展覽而出版的圖錄。

翟宗浩的繪畫哲學紮根於傳統技法，他的油彩、塑膠彩和水墨作品處處流露着這種哲學思想。每件作品的構圖布局，皆體現這位畫家堅持其作品需與自然對話的信念。通過一己之精湛且成熟的繪畫技法來重塑自然，是翟宗浩的理想化抱負。這項使命於他對植物、河川和山坡的研究影響深遠。大自然那使人感到平靜安寧、以及為身處繁華鬧市且日無暇晷的人注入動力的能力，使翟宗浩為之著迷。

Chung H. Chak graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1981, where he studied with the modernist master Liu Kuo-sung. With his students, Liu stressed the necessity of considering multiple artistic traditions and unconventional modes of brushwork as a way to transform Chinese painting. During his undergraduate years, Chak incorporated a broad range of contemporary theories and materials, for which he received many prestigious awards, including honours from the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial (Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1979) and Youth Art Now: Asia (Hong Kong Arts Centre, 1980). After graduation, he was awarded a Monbusho Scholarship to continue his education at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts. Chak then went on to study in the United States, completing an MA from Ball State University in 1986, an MFA from Queens College in New York, a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and the National Artists Program at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York City. Throughout the 1980s and early ’90s, Chak’s work was shown widely in Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo and Taipei. After living abroad for nearly 30 years, he returned to Hong Kong in 2009.

翟宗浩，一九八一年畢業於香港中文大學藝術系，師從現代水墨先驅劉國松，劉氏以改革中國書畫為己任，對學生影響深遠。他就讀本科期間醉心當代文化理論，嘗試融會各方思潮與物料從事創作，屢獲殊譽，此中包括「當代香港藝術雙年展」油畫獎（香港藝術館，一九七九年）及「年輕藝術家：亞洲區」推薦獎（香港藝術中心，一九八零年） 等等。畢業後獲日本政府文部省獎學金負笈東京藝術大學（油畫科第四研究室），繼而赴美國繼續研修，先後在一九八六年獲印第安納州鮑爾州立大學碩士及紐約市立大學皇后書院藝術碩士學位；後來經皇后書院基金會舉薦，保送緬因州斯考基幹繪畫雕塑學院深造，次年入選紐約PS1當代美術館的國家藝術家駐留計劃。從一九八零年至一九九零年代，翟宗浩的作品在香港、紐約、東京和台北廣泛展出，經過接近三十載旅居海外的歲月，翟宗浩於二零零九年末返回香港。