Oil on canvas

160 × 200 cm. 63 × 78 3/4 in.

Signed in English, and dated on the right of the canvas edge
EXHIBITED
24 Oct – 8 Nov 2015, Things Happen Naturally, Nanhai Gallery, Taipei

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly by original collector from the artist
Important Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist and issued by Galerie Ovo, Taipei

Strolling Along the Path of Life, Cherishing the Good Time
The Touching Warmth and Poetic Sentiment of “Life Flow” by Chris Huen

“I don't want to miss out on the subtle experiences of life, it is a loyalty and pursuit to being alive.”
—— Chris Huen

Born in 1991, Hong Kong's young artist Chris Huen draws inspiration from ordinary life and through his art, seeks to discover a unique sense of “introspection”. In his eyes, those “seemingly mundane and uninteresting moments are often overlooked by us,” but are precisely what piques his interest in observing, contemplating, and portraying: “How do we perceive what we see? And in what state do we understand our relationship with them?” “I want to capture the passing of time through poetic depictions.”

With his unique painting style of focusing “flow of life,” since graduating from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2013, Chris Huen has held solo exhibitions at the Hong Kong Gallery Exit, Taipei Nangai Gallery, London Pilar Corrias Gallery, and Tokyo Ota Fine Arts Gallery. He has also participated in the Absolute Collection Guideline exhibition at the Nanjing Sifang Art Museum, receiving widespread attention from collectors both domestically and internationally. In recent years, his works have been highly sought after in auctions, with his piece Me in Tung Chau Street Park setting a record for the artist with a price of HKD 2.25 million in the 2023 spring auction at China Guardian Auction. This highlights his market appeal. His works have also been favoured by numerous public institutions and are included in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, the Kadist Art Foundation in Paris and San Francisco, the Yuz Museum in Shanghai, and the K11 Foundation in Hong Kong.

Vivid Brushstrokes: The Lively Scenery of a Blue Summer

Influenced by the traditional technique of ink painting, Chris Huen often uses a technique of short, continuous brushstrokes to present the objects as he sees them. His brushwork is unrestrained, vivid, and possesses a light, flowing sense of breath and vitality. The technique of staining and colouring with brushstrokes shows a hazy transparency, allowing the colours to express an oriental brushwork charm in the subtle changes of light, also showing the artist's dual capture of space and time. The deliberately blank spaces in the composition seem to refer to those “fleeting moments” in memory. Completed in 2015, Walking Along a Pale Green Walkway goes against the typical indoor brown tones found in most of the artist's works and uncommonly depicts the scenery of outdoor strolling with a refreshing blue-green colour scheme. It brings a subtle coolness that brushes against the skin in the gentle breeze of summer.

The Extraordinary Beauty in the Ordinary, The Remarkable Colours in the Ordinary

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
—— Vincent van Gogh

In Walking Along a Pale Green Walkway, the artist skilfully creates a glass-like, translucent texture, creating an atmosphere of light and shadow both inside and outside the blue French windows. He seamlessly connects different dimensions of space and scenes, following the flow of colour and brushstrokes, and at the centre of the composition, the protagonist – the artist himself – is seen checking his phone, taking a step forward, preparing to go for a walk. His frequent companions in the painting – the beloved dog “Balltsz” and the puppy “Mui Mui”- leisurely follow alongside, adding a taste of real-life. Walking out of the cool blue indoors, the protagonist is about to make a right turn at the intersection, entering the pale green pedestrian path. There, rows of small trees stand straight, vigorously sprouting green branches, with lush grass surrounding them. The pavement on the side leads into the distance, symbolizing the path to the future, yet also seeming ordinary.

Through the narrative description of these scenes, the artist firmly captures the fleeting moment of time and space, yet within it lies the ever- changing nature of light, shadow, and colours, injecting a rich sense of three-dimensionality into these ordinary moments, infusing them with a unique beauty of life. The viewer's gaze dances along with the rapid strokes, gradually recreating the image from their own memories: tree shadows, streets, pedestrians, beloved pets. These seemingly plain landscapes and objects, in the artist's highly grounded portrayal, give birth to the most moving resonance with the true essence of life. In Chris Huen's delicate brushstrokes, they don't assume an air of high-mindedness, only emanating a richness and familiarity that comes from real-life. In this familiar everyday life, they exhibit a treasure for the “here and now.”

In the bustling and fast-paced contemporary life of this vibrant metropolis, Chris Huen brings us a feeling of lazy summer coolness. In that leisurely moment of ever-changing light and shadow in his painting, he showcases the most genuine emotions, perceptions, and appreciations for the seemingly ordinary but precious people, things, and moments around us.

Price estimate:
HKD 700,000 – 900,000
USD 89,700 – 115,400