Fong Chung-Ray

Fong Chung-Ray (b. 1933, China) started his formal art training at the Cadre College of Arts and Crafts during his time at the military in Taiwan. After graduating in 1954 with a degree in fine arts, he served as an officer and created art works for the Navy. In 1961, he was invited to join the influential Fifth Moon Group. In the past six decades, Fong Chung-Ray has trailblazed an experimental fusion of Chinese traditional ink art and abstract expressionism, a result of a unique amalgamation of cultural, stylistic, and period influences in his life. Born in China’s Henan province into a family of accomplished scholars and artists, Fong was exposed to the learning and appreciation of fine arts since childhood. However, the civil wars and foreign invasions ensued, which led to him joining the military and later moving to Taiwan as a teenager. Thereafter, Fong became inspired by abstract expressionism, which he firmly believes is the closest movement spiritually to traditional Chinese paintings, and has invariably remained significant throughout his artistic career, comprising of a wide range of styles and medium. In 1989, Fong developed a technique in which he applied acrylic onto plastic sheets with the resulting designs transferred onto paper. Evidently, works made during this period are marked by a transition from his previous fluid, natural landscapes to harsher, man-made scenery, reflecting his shifting views on the evolution of mankind, ultimately representing the passage of time. The multilayered concoction of materials immediately conjures visions of flaking paint, scratches, and torn paper, all layered over writing, revealing details that goes beyond external presentation. His works are collected by many important institutions and collections internationally, including Ashmolean Museum, United Kingdom; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, United States; Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University, United States; Centre Pompidou, France; Guangdong Museum of Art, China; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, United States; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan, among others.