Hu Chi-Chung
Hu Chi-Chung (胡奇中) born in 1927, China, Zhejiang , died in 2012, USA, Los Angeles.
Hu Chi-Chung came from a humble family that lived in a small mountain village, where he divided his time between fishing and hunting. He became interested in art at an early age; he drew in the sand, as he had no paper. He left his village and family when he was only thirteen years old.
In 1948, during the war, he decided to go to Shanghai and enlist in the navy. Two years later, when he was still in the army, Hu Chi-Chung left mainland China and settled in Taiwan. During this period, he began to paint regularly.
In 1954, a work-related trip to the United States had a decisive effect on his art. During the trip, he visited the de Young Museum in San Francisco and discovered the Impressionists and the abstract work of Willem de Kooning. The discovery of these genres marked a turning point in his pictorial approach and led him towards abstraction.
In 1957, he founded the Four Seas Artists Association with his friend, Fong Chung-Ray, and then joined the Wuyue Group (Fifth Moon Group) in 1961. He experimented with various techniques, which included, in particular, the addition of sand to his oil paints.
In 1967, he was selected to take part in the Carnegie International Exhibition 11 in Pittsburgh, along with other artists such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chuang Che, Chu Teh-Chun, and Richard Lin.
He emigrated to the United States with his family in 1971 and settled in California, in the famous Carmel Village.
His art, which borders on abstraction and combines bright colours, solar disks, and terrestrial forms, depicts dreamlike landscapes suffused with joy and vitality.
Personal exhibitions
—2017 Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
1991 Contemporary Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1989 Ming Ren Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
1986 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1978 – 80 The Naples Art Gallery (Annual Exhibitions), Naples, Florida, USA
1975 The Eric, Inc. galleries, New York, USA
1974-1996 Zantman Galleries (Annual exhibitions), Palm Desert, California, USA
1973 Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, San Diego, California, United States
1972 -1996 Zantman Galleries (Annual exhibitions), Carmel, California, United States
1971 Laky Gallery, Carmel, California, United States
1969 Yu Fong Gallery, San Francisco, California, United States
S.H Mori Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1967 Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1964 Grand Hotel Club Room, Taipei, Taiwan
1958 Press Building, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Groups exhibitions
—2017 From China to Taiwan, Pioneers of Abstraction, Ixelles Museum, Ixelles, Belgium
1983 Artists of the Rockies and Golden West 10 Year Retrospective Exhibition, Sangre de Cristo Arts and Convention Center, Pueblo, Colorado, USA
1974 Fifth Moon, The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Fifth Moon, Brooks Goldberger Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1973 Contemporary Chinese Painting and Prints, Denver Museum of Art, Denver, Colorado, USA
1971 Fifth Moon, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Fifth Moon, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
1970 Five Chinese Painters: Fifth Moon, National History Museum, Taipei, USA
2nd Painting Festival, Cagnes, France
1st Calligraphy and Paintings of the Republic of China, National Museum of History, Taipei, USA
The Pintura China Contemporanea, Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid, Spain
1969 ISPAA, National Art Center of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
5th Young Artists Biennial, Seibu Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
1968 S.B. Nitikman Winnipeg Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
Now Current Show, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D. C., USA
1967 9th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
1966 10th Fifth Moon, Hai-Tien Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1965 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Fifth Moon, The Presidential Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan
1st International Peace Art, City Hall, Fermo, Italy
The Chinese Modern Art Exhibition, Galleria del Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
1964 8th Fifth Moon, Taiwan Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Fifth Moon: Five Chinese Painters, Dominion Art Galleries, Sydney, Australia
1963 Contemporary Chinese Painting, Parrish Museum of Art, South Hampton, New York, USA
7th Fifth Moon, National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
7th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
1961 5th Fifth Moon, Taiwan Provincial Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
6th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
1960 National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1959 1st Paris Biennial, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
6th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
1952 1st Armed Forces Art, Taipei, Taiwan
