Girl with a Garland, 1990s, by Walasse Ting, courtesy of Alisan Fine Arts
There’s an electricity to Walasse Ting’s works — and it’s not just the bright psychedelic colors with which this Chinese-American artist, who passed away in 2010, paints. His brushstrokes are exuberant, and you can sense the energy in every linear dash and splash of color, all quick flicks of the wrist. His oeuvre is buoyant, with that same painterly joie de vivre people tag on to Matisse.

Born in Shanghai, Ting found fame in Paris — where he became part of the CoBrA avant-garde art movement — and then New York, which was then flourishing under the Abstract Expressionist and Pop periods. His style was similarly geographically fluid, a vibrant mashup of both East and West. But there’s also a tinge of melancholy to his paintings, despite the spirited vigor of the palette, adding an extra meditative layer to his works. If you’re in Hong Kong, check them out yourself at Alisan Fine Arts in Central, Hong Kong. Walasse Ting: Symphony of Colours runs until June 30th.

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