Many people like to decorate their homes with flowers, but fresh flowers wilt easily. How can we preserve their beauty? Artist Hu Junyan chooses to use a paintbrush to depict flowers at different stages from blooming to withering, capturing their delicate life traces. Recently, the New Art Wave Gallery held a solo exhibition for the artist with flowers as the theme, titled “Five O’Clock in the Afternoon: Hu Junyan’s Works Exhibition”, allowing everyone to see various enchanting flower colors.
Hu Junyan’s previous works mainly focus on landscapes or still lifes, excelling in finding the poetic hidden in everyday life. Scenes such as home rooftops, corners of the studio, and outdoor views can all become his subjects for sketching. The artist’s painting style is detailed and realistic, influenced by the 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, who loved to depict subtle changes in light. In addition, he also benefits from Spain’s new realism, creating subjects based on ordinary modern life. He often paints objects from an almost staring perspective, and through subtle changes in objects and light, he records fleeting scenes on canvas, expressing his emotions and life attitude.
The series of works exhibited this time is themed around flowers, which have been the main subject of Hu Junyan’s paintings for the past 3 years. He does not paint flowers in nature, but rather bouquets placed in vases as home decorations. Hu Junyan believes that even these decorative flowers are a form of life, silently experiencing the changes of life, each with its unique allure. Therefore, he realistically depicts flowers including tulips, roses, hydrangeas, lilies, etc., in different stages, times, and lighting conditions, capturing the traces of their lives through delicate handling of layers and details.
The work “Five O’Clock Sunshine” depicts tulips in their final blooming period, shining most brilliantly before they fall, reflecting the most beautiful and final sunlight of the day, evoking both a sense of wonder at the mystery of life and prompting contemplation of the relationship between our own lives, people, and spaces. “Hydrangeas and Bellflowers” portrays two types of flowers complementing each other, exuding a simple and elegant beauty.
Feel free to visit the exhibition and admire the colorful flowers depicted by the artist!
“Afternoon at Five: Works by Hu Chunyan Exhibition”
Date: From now until March 18
Time: 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Location: New Art Wave Gallery, Room 201, 2nd Floor, Tung Chee Building, 86-90 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Image source and learn more: Art Next Gallery
