Fong Chung-Ray
(1933)
An abstract artist since the 1960s, Fong Chung-Ray (馮鍾睿) is considered to be one of the major Chinese avant-garde artists. Initially, his work focused on abstract landscapes, but he gradually moved away from this movement when he turned to Buddhist spirituality. By going beyond the formal representation of nature, Fong Chung-Ray has revived the spiritual essence that emanates from the paintings by the great old masters and invites the viewer to contemplate.
Born in 1934 in China, Fong Chung-Ray was obliged to leave his family at a very young age and go into exile, due to the Chinese Civil War. The worsening political situation obliged him to leave China and he moved to Taiwan in 1949. His passion for art and inquiring mind led him to take an interest in Western art, which he discovered through reading journals and books in the American Library in Taipei.
In 1957, he founded the Four Seas Artists Association. During this period, he experimented with abstraction and used new Western techniques, such as painting with oils on canvas. In 1961, he became a member of the Wuyue Group (Fifth Moon Group) and participated in many exhibitions.
In 1971, he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation grant that enabled him to travel to Europe and the United States.
When he settled in San Francisco, in 1975, he began to work with acrylic paints.
Personal exhibitions
—2024 – Art Basel Hong Kong with Galerie Vazieux, Hong Kong
2019 – Fong Chung-Ray. Wakes of time, Vazieux Art Gallery, Paris, France
2018 – Hong Kong Art Week 2018, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
-Fong Chung-Ray – Enlightenment: 199 8-2018, Galerie du Monde, Hong-Kong
2017 – The Eternal Abstract : Fong Chung-Ray solo exhibition,, Asia Art Center, Taipei
2015 – Fong Chung-Ray – A Retrospective, Galerie du Monde, Hong-Kong
2014 – Fong Chung-Ray – Between Modern and Contemporary, Chinese Cultural Foundation
– Solo Exhibition, Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2011 – Solo Exhibition, Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2008 – Fong Chung-Ray, Recent paintings, 1997-2008, Modern Art Gallery, Taiwan
2004 – Solo Exhibition, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco
1997 – Beyond abstract, On The Rim, Gallery San Francisco
1992 – Solo Exhibition, Allrich Gallery, San Francisco
1990 – Solo Exhibition, Art Modern Gallery, Carmel, Californie
1987 – Solo Exhibition, Landell Gallery, Carmel, Californie
1983 – Solo Exhibition, New World Gallery, Carmel, Californie
1979-83-86 – Solo Exhibition, M.M Shinno Gallery, Los Angeles
1978-82 Solo – Exhibition, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco
1975 – Solo Exhibition, Bank of America World Headquarters Gallery, San Francisco
1974 – Solo Exhibition, National Museum of History, Taipei
1973 – Solo Exhibition, Marianne Schreibern Gallery, Munich, Germany
– Solo Exhibition, Fine Arts Commissions, Scottsdale, Arizona
1972 – Solo Exhibition, Downtown Gallery, Honolulu
– Solo Exhibition, Lee Nordness Gallery, New-York
– Solo Exhibition, San Diego Museum, California
1971 – John D. Rockefeller III Fondation’s award
1970 – Solo Exhibition, Yu Fong, Gallery San Francisco
1968 – Solo Exhibition, Magic Touch Gallery , Taipei
1967 – Solo Exhibition, Hai-Tien Art Gallery, Taipei
1965 – Solo Exhibition, The National Taiwan Art Museum, Taipei
1964 – Solo Exhibition, National Taiwan Art Center, Taipei
Public exhibitions
—National Gallery of Art and Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
National Taiwan Arts Center, Taipei, Taiwan
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taichung, Taiwan
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
The Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
The Rockefeller Foundation
Hawaii Cultural Foundation, Honolulu, U.S.A.
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.
The San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, U.S.A.
Kaohsiung Art Museum, Taiwan
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
Shenzhen Fine Art Institute, China
M+ Museum, Hong Kong
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
San Francisco International Airport Museum, U.S.A.
Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), U.S.A.
Groups exhibitions
—2024 “The Birth of Modernist Art Movement in Taiwan”, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
2022 “Individuals, Networks, Expressions”, M+ Museum, Hong Kong
2021 “Landscapes of the Soul”, Asian Art Museum, Nice, France
2020 Hong Kong Spotlight by Art Basel, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
“Quintessence”, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
“3E14”, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Taipei Dangdai, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Taipei, Taiwan
2019 Ink Asia, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
“In Ink – Current Trends of Ink Art”, NanHai Art, California, USA
Art Basel Hong Kong, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Taipei Dangdai, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Taipei, Taiwan
2018 “The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art At M+”, M+ Pavilion, Hong Kong
“Beyond Ink”, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Ink Asia, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Art Shenzhen, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Shenzhen, China
Art Basel Hong Kong, Presented by Asia Art Center, Hong Kong
2017 “The Influence of Abstraction – The Fifth Moon”, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
“Beyond the Brush: Abstract Ink Paintings Since 1960”, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
“From China to Taiwan: Pioneers of Abstraction (1955 – 1985)”, Museum of Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium Art Basel Hong Kong, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Ink Asia, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Art Shenzhen, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Shenzhen, China
2016 “The Fifth Moon”, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Art Shenzhen, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Shenzhen, China
Art Paris, Presented by Galerie Sabine Vazieux, Paris, France
2015 Art International, Presented by Galerie du Monde, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 “The Moment for Ink”, San Francisco State University Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2012 “International Ink Exhibition”, Dr. Sun Yet San Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
2011 “45th Anniversary Exhibition”, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2010 “One Hundred Paintings in One Hundred Years”, Dr. Sun Yet San Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
“Beyond Vision: Highlights of Abstract Paintings from The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Collection”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
2009 “Fong Chung-Ray and Richard Wilson”, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2008 “One Hundred Years of Chinese Art”, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2007 “The New Face of Water-Ink Painting”, Modern Ink Painting Group Exhibition and Symposium, Hong Kong
“Animal Painting”, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, USA
“Modern Water-Ink Painting Biannual Exhibition”, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
2004 “The 4th International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen”, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
2003 “The Experimental Sixties: Avant-Garde Art in Taiwan”, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2002 “Contemporary Chinese Abstract Artists’ Exhibition”, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
“The 3rd International Ink Painting of Shenzhen: Metropolis Ink Painting”, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
2001 “Chinese International Abstract Painting Exhibition”, The Fringe Club, Hong Kong
1997 “Beyond Abstract”, Gallery on The Rim, San Francisco, USA
1991 “Tong-Fang Art Association and Fifth Moon Group 35th Anniversary Exhibition”, Taipei, Taiwan
1987 “Derivations, Five Chinese American Artists”, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, USA
“Chinese Artists in America and Europe”, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
1986 “Contemporary Chinese Painting Exhibition”, Hong Kong City Hall, Hong Kong
1985 “Associated Art Show of Six Artists from Taiwan”, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China; Sichuan Art Gallery, Chengdu, China
“International Ink Painting Exhibition”, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1984 “Associated Art Show of Six Artists from Taiwan”, China Art Museum, Beijing, China
1978 “Frontrunners in Modern Chinese Painting”, State University of New York, New York, USA
1976 “Frontrunners in Modern Chinese Painting”, Chinese Cultural Center, San Francisco, USA; Smith Gallery, Santa Cruz, USA
1974 “Fifth Moon Group Exhibition”, Taipei, Taiwan; The Art Club of Chicago, Chicago, USA
1973 “Fifth Moon Group Exhibition”, Denver Art Museum, Colorado, USA
1972 “Fifth Moon Group Exhibition”, Taipei, Taiwan
1971 “Fifth Moon Group Exhibition”, Academy of Art, Hawaii, USA; Taipei, Taiwan
1970 “Fifth Moon Group Exhibition”, Taipei, Taiwan
“The First Exhibition of Calligraphy and Paintings”, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
“New Directions in Chinese Painting”, University of Kansas, Kansas, USA
