Naturallacquer, Leaving Traces No.01, 2019

Hong Zhenyu  

Hong Zhenyu is a Chinese artist born in 1982 who lives and works in Beijing, China. He was graduated from the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University. In 2007, he became member of the Chinese Society of Arts and Crafts. Devoted to lacquer and mixed-media practices, he demonstrates a rare precocity and singular dedication in his mastery of traditional craftsmanship. Whether in the layered polishing of lacquer surfaces or the intricate inlay of eggshell, mother-of-pearl, and precious metals—far surpasses the attainments typical of his generation, approaching an almost instinctual virtuosity. Yet he refuses to rest on technical display alone, actively situating his practice within multiple contexts of contemporary art: cross-media experimentation allows his work to migrate fluidly between painting, sculpture, installation, and object-making; meanwhile, his appropriation of readymades, interrogation of temporality and materiality, and exploration of contemporary reinterpretations of Eastern aesthetics liberate the ancient medium from its traditional constraints of functionality and ornamentation, perpetually opening it toward the conceptual, the critical, and the experimental. Tradition, for him, serves simultaneously as deep-rooted foundation and as subject for continual re-examination, deconstruction, and reconstruction.