The Exhibition Showcases Huang Yuxing’s Tribute to Traditional Chinese Painting and Craftsmanship On View at Phillips’ Asia Headquarters in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District from 11 September –4 October Hong Kong–4September2024–PhillipsX, a selling exhibition platform operated by the global Private Sales team at Phillips,is pleased to announceA TRIBUTE TO TRADITION: Another clue about Huang Yuxing, a brand new project by the acclaimed Chinese contemporaryartist. Taking place from 11 September to 4 October at Phillips’ galleries in Hong Kong’s West KowloonCultural District, theexhibition showcases Huang Yuxing’s tribute to Chinese tradition. It goes beyond contemporaryart, emphasizing the curatorial approach.The artworks chosen for A TRIBUTE TO TRADITIONnot only cover the artist's iconic oil paintings, which have been setting records in the auction marketbut also present a series of unseencreative attemptsby him. They include Chinese ink paintings drawn by Huang Yuxing during histeenage years, landscape paintings that offer a contemporary interpretation of traditional Chinese shan shui works, and a collection of pieces such as a purple clay teapot sculpture, lacquerware, ceramics, as well ashand-carvedstamps that showcase his passion for ancient craftsmanship. These exemplify his lovefor traditional Chinese landscape painting andembody his enthusiasm for the ancient and ever-evolving craftsmanship passed down through generations of Chinese people.

Dina Zhang, Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, China, Phillips, said: “Weare honored to collaborate with Huang Yuxing to present his incredible body of work through thisproject, which combines the artist’s creationsas a special plotand interprets the fusion and correlation between ancient and present, Chinese and Western, tradition and contemporaneity,as well ascraftsmanship and art.This exhibition allows viewers tosee Huang’s versatile creative skills, which span a wide range of media and interpret traditional aesthetics with a unique contemporary perspective. We look forward to welcoming collectors who admire Huang Yuxingand art enthusiasts to ourAsia headquarters for this opportunity to experience and celebrate the artist's extraordinary talent and creative practice.”

HuangYuxing, said: “I am a Chinese painter,and I think learning traditional Chinese techniques is compulsory. For me, ‘contemporary’and ‘traditional’are like two intertwinedstrands of DNA, with spirals that connect and conflict with each other. Although they grow in different soils, theyabsorbthe same nutrients. They are two distinct timelines, yet they often overlap and cover each other. By integrating innovative techniques from both East and West to interpret traditional skills, I hope to bring new life to these long-standing artistic traditions.”

Among the exhibition highlights isSeven Treasure Pines Teapot, which presents a fierce collision between traditional techniques such as purple clay and lacquer, and Huang Yuxing’s contemporarylandscapeart, paying homage to tradition. For the first time, Huang collaborated with the purple clay master Mr. Wang Qiang, combining his signature palette of fluorescent colours with two intangible cultural heritages: purpleclay art and lacquer. The overall shape is round at the top and square at the bottom, echoing "the dome-like heaven embraces the vast earth.”The image displayed on the teapot is inspired by the artist’s monumentalSeven Treasure Pines, a seven-panel paintingexecuted in 2016-2019, which presents viewers with a radiant cosmos with a fantastical tableau resplendent in luminous jewelstone.

Seven Treasure Pinescaptures and embodies Huang’s deep fascination for Tibetan Buddhism. Fromleft to right, each panel represents one of the Treasures of Buddhism: coral, agate, pearl, gold, silver, tridacna stone, and azurite, exploring the immensityof the universe. The teapot sculptureis octagonal to showcase the integrity of the painting, and it symbolizes eight planets in the solar system by being dividedinto eight parts. The octagonal bodyof the teapot serves asa window frame of the view, which appears to be an outdoor scenery or an installation. The lidknob and lid are composed to represent "the sun" and "the moon,"resembling the rise and fall of the sun and the moon, echoing the concept of heaven and earth, expressing the vibrant circle of life.The teapot handleis made using the lug technique, enhancing its upward feel. It is embellished with mother-of-pearl inlay, creating a shimmering effect against the lacquer background reminiscent of stars in the night sky.Lacquer is a natural resin extracted from lacquer trees with a long history in Chinese culture as intangible cultural heritage. Crafting exquisite lacquerware involves numerous complex processes; replicating Huang Yuxing’s Seven Treasure Pinesrequires hundredsof layers of colouring techniques. Thepurple clay used to make the sculpture is the dark reddish-purple clay, known as Dicaoqing, which comes from Ding Shu Townshipin Yixing, Jiangsu Province.