Britta Erickson

Chua Ek Kay is regarded as one of Singapore's leading ink practitioners, celebrated for his distinctive visual vocabulary that bridges Chinese ink painting traditions and Western aesthetics. After the Rain is the first major survey of Chua, covering over three decades of his prolific practice. This catalogue includes essays that illuminate Chua's approaches to ink painting and underscore his contributions to its development in Singapore. It also features a heretofore unpublished manuscript interview by Chua, discovered posthumously in his study, as well as reflections by Mrs Chua Ek Kay. A biographical timeline produced in consultation with Chua's family further enhances the presentation of his work.

Born into a poor farming family and coming of age during China’s century of civil strife, Qi Baishi transformed the elite brush art of China’s literati scholars into a universal art form appreciated by people of all social backgrounds. His distinctly modern art language breaks through class and cultural barriers through use of expressive “carved” brushwork, juxtaposition of vibrant colours against deep and rich ink tones, poetic economy in form and composition, and choice of emotionally resonant subject matter. For these reasons, Qi Baishi’s art is the ideal gateway through which art lovers of any class or culture can learn about the millenia-old tradition of Chinese brush painting. A selection of Qi Baishi’s seal carving—the art of the “iron brush”—links his origins as an artisan carver to his life as China’s most celebrated calligrapher, poet and painter. The scholarly discipline calligraphy then forms the basis for our understanding Qi Baishi’s distinctive carved brushwork. In painting, landscapes and figures are two subjects that appear early in Qi Baishi’s career and provide us with an opportunity to appreciate the poetic economy of his brushwork and the universal appeal of his humanist themes. Finally, birds and flowers form the bulk of Qi Baishi’s oeuvre and a chronological selection allows us to explore the development of his unique brush, ink and colour language over the span of his productive career. Published in association with Marquand Books and the Mozhai Foundation.