Contemporary painting, the ‘loop’ and the Chinese context

Abstract

This article explores my own painting practice in relation to my pedagogical experience in both China and the United Kingdom, in order to see how traditional painting and the pedagogy of painting can be repurposed in forms of contemporary painting. Discussion in this article will be based on three examples of my expanded painting practice that engage with the notion of ‘the apparatus’ (Foucault) of painting in relation to the studio, as well as through different materials and mediums: painting, installation, performance, video and so on. The apparatus is, of course, not just about media but about the whole process of painting and its encounter. In these examples of practice, aspects of the apparatus of painting are revisited and re-visioned. Also, these examples demonstrate my thinking around the apparatus of painting’s relation to the loop. Importantly, as a painter, this article offers my practice’s response to the question: how does a contemporary (Chinese) painter go forward in the teaching and making of art? This question is vital, especially when there are (Chinese) traditions and histories that should be acknowledged and drawn on, in order to avoid simply repeating or adopting western modes of art practice.