Tag: Recreation
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yes, no coffee today. #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
Yes, we have no coffee today. A Shanghai Starbucks coffeeshop as a failed business. A photo for #WordlessWednesday
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fish and chips #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
Fish and chips Asian style. Negombo, Sri Lanka 2016. Photo for “WordlessWednesday”
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siem reap heartbreakers #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
missing those heartbreakers from siem reap
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electricity buddha #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
a little buddha protects the power supply in sri lanka
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retrieval by nature #WordlessWednesday
Retrieval by nature. Ta Prom, not far from the area where Francis Ford Coppola shot scenes for Apocalypse Now.
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Old Sketchbook – Early Drawings and Quiet Memories
A brief reflection on an old sketchbook. The post shows early drawings, loose lines, small studies and the quiet charm of pages that have travelled through many years. It keeps the tone simple and personal, treating the sketchbook as a companion rather than an object.
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corporate concept #WordlessWednesday
Chaos Investment Company. Shanghai, Putong. A photo for #WordlessWednesday – no words, just pictures. Allow your photos to tell the story.
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just two characters
I recently uploaded a YouTube video exploring my calligraphy, from traditional to asemic styles. Despite my son’s initial doubts about the channel, this step led to an unexpected request from a Chinese editor to create characters for a new book. Drawing inspiration from Zen masters, my designs were well received and quickly led to a…
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Minor, Major and a Video – A Small Musical Note
It has been another busy week. The Chinese have an idiom for this: “qí hǔ nán xià” (it’s hard to dismount when you’re riding the tiger). To step back from this hyperactivity, I am sharing a relaxing video featuring my painted bookmarks, complete with a new intro and outro. I also present a new piece…
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Farewell Beijing, Hello Chongqing: A Traveling Exhibition
Travel memories from China — a 1979 journey up the Yangtze, encounters with painter Xue Mingde, and reflections on decades of change in Chongqing.
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Dreamtellers
The Surrealists really turned my world around. First was André Breton who opened the door to this world for me. Then came the painters like Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico etc.
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How We See – A Short Article on Perception
I share a few thoughts on visual perception and how our habits shape what we see. Using a hollow face illusion, Roy Lichtenstein’s sculptures, and photography by Mike Utley, I compare Western and Asian perspectives. We can see how different cultural backgrounds influence composition, such as using multiple vanishing points or focusing on the communication…
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Ophelia Painting (2022) – A Quiet Contemporary Study
A brief note on a 2022 Ophelia painting. The post comments on mood, composition and the way a familiar motif can be approached in a quiet, contemporary manner. It keeps the tone simple and reflective, paired with the finished piece.
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At Front page of Chinese Newspaper Again
The 光明日报 guangming daily has published a quite detailed report about me, and that on the front page. Last year an article about me, with a focus on calligraphy, appeared in this important newspaper,
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teaser for next exhibition
I’ve been needing a few short video clips for my work for a long time. With a little effort I was able to get something going myself, but then the result was too boring for me and I left this task to someone else.
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My Pyongyang Gig
the last report – promised Now that I’ve started and someone shouted “more”, I would also like to share my Pyongyang experience. But don’t expect a suspenseful story like the one about Kabul. Actually, after Kabul, no stop was dangerous anymore. The most brutal in Pyongyang was the aesthetics (not only in the cityscape…
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My gig in Kabul
not about art – still worth reading In my last blog post, I promised to write about my Kabul trip if there was interest. Here we go: Preliminary remarks By the mid-1980s, I had finished my dissertation and it was time to trade the comfortable student life for respectable work. A friend I had known…
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My Ukraine Contribution – A Small Personal Gesture
Recently, I read about an initiative for artists to paint sunflowers in response to the war in Ukraine. But I am not the type to just paint a given symbol on command. Still, artists must take a stand against barbarism. This led me to create an abstract work based on the classic dove of peace,…
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state of the art 2022
I recently resumed my annual self-portrait series, “state of the art.” Rather than a realistic likeness, these portraits reflect my current mental state and worldview. This latest piece started well, but a sophisticated scam attempt in my online trade distracted me. My annoyance led to a frustrating mistake—leaving fingerprints on wet ink, which ruined some…
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Flyer for my Beijing Exhibition
Flyer for my exhibition in Beijing this spring. Honoring 50 years of cultural exchange between Europe and China.
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snow and ice and corona
I am sharing a few new works and studies that explore the idea of a “snow landscape in lockdown.” Branching out from my ongoing Corona series, these pieces reflect on Austria’s heavy reliance on winter tourism. Lockdowns here determine many fates and spark highly controversial, heated debates. I wanted to capture the sharp contrast between…
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Painting Through Winter Depression
Winter depression through the decades — a personal collection of ink paintings from the 1980s to 2022, and how painting became a coping tool.
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Triptych Variant: A New Version in Ink
A new ink painting created to replace one panel of a recent triptych — and a comparison of both versions side by side.
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New Year’s Pastime
Ringing in the New Year with Chinese calligraphy practice, a poem by Tang Yin, and thoughts on what it really takes to master an art form.
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2021 Year in Review
A look back at 2021 — new publications, an honorary certificate, and two exhibitions in Beijing and Vienna planned for the year ahead.
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Handmade Painted Bookmarks with Dried Flowers
Twenty handmade painted bookmarks combining ink art with pressed flowers and leaves, made during a quiet holiday season.
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Corona and the Sea: Painting the Invisible
Three semi-abstract paintings exploring the invisible reality of Covid-19 through the metaphor of the sea.
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Portrait and Figure Drawings: A Retrospective
Portrait, figure and nude drawings spanning five decades, including drawings made blind in the dark.
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Out of the Blues into the Blue: A Painting on Isolation
The composition clears the way to the blue of the sea and the sky. Perhaps the picture is a little too melodramatic, but a good mood is powerful in its own way. It relies on the tension of opposites—the natural balance of yin and yang—contrasting heavy, dramatic elements with clear, uplifting space to give the…
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Cyprus – Paphos: A Photo Diary
A photo diary from Paphos, Cyprus — faded coastal billboards, a day trip into the mountains, and impressive Orthodox monastery icons.
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Sketches of Chinese Minority People
Forty-year-old charcoal sketches of Chinese minority people from a 1980s journey.
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A Painting Inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s “Reminiscence of Marie A.
A painting inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s poem “Reminiscence of Marie A.”
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A Certificate of Honor for Austrian-Chinese Relations
Receiving a certificate of honor for Austrian-Chinese relations, presented by former President Heinz Fischer.
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My Essay on Qi Baishi in the China Report
A special anniversary publication on the relationship between Austria and China features contributions from prominent figures like Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, and Sebastian Kurz. My own piece is the longest and focuses on the painter Qi Baishi. I wrote it because the Vienna World Museum is receiving an…
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A Painting Inspired by Brecht’s “If Sharks Were People”
A painting inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s satirical story “If Sharks Were People,” transforming sharks into blossoms of predatory innocence.
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Nude Drawing: Academy Studies and Life Drawing
Early academy nude drawings from life-drawing sessions in Beijing, and the struggle to escape the influence of Fritz Martinz.
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Paint Away Pain: Creating an Abstract Painting
In this personal studio reflection, the author describes how painting helped transform a difficult day into an abstract work. Influenced by music and spontaneous brushwork, the painting explores emotion, color, structure and the expressive possibilities of gestural abstraction.
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Recent Work: Day 6/7 new bookmarks
Some more bookmarks. There are still lots of dried blossoms and leaves from last spring and autumn and I could do quite a few more of these.
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Recent Work: Day 3/7 blossom and calligraphy
Smaller painting with a single blossom and traditional Chinese calligraphy
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Recent Work: Day 1/7
Painted calligraphy by writing various poems by Tang Yin (唐寅 1470–1524) on top of each other.
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A few rays of sunshine for your weekend
After my old love for “The Blue Rider” flared up again and after a long beautiful walk through the Vienna Woods, this picture was then taken.
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my favorite Taoist – enjoy your day!
Photograph of a female Daoist from Shanghai laughing all over her face
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An Obsolete Stock Certificate Painted Over with a Mao Poem
A century-old Austrian stock certificate overwritten with a Mao Zedong poem, exploring the decline of empires and the rise of China.
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Another long article about me in a Chinese newspaper
An interview with Chinese newspaper Guangming Daily on studying at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Austrian-Chinese cultural exchange.
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Chinese TV invited me for calligraphy
I was on Chinese TV 3 days ago showing me writing a couplet for Chinese New Year and talking a little about my life and years in China.
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withered leaves and blossoms
withered leaves and blossoms used for artworks, on paper, mixed media or just as bookmarks.
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just blossoms and buds
In Chinese painting, opposites play an important role: emptiness – existing, calm – movement, strength – weakness, etc. In a small series, I tried to capture and express some of these ideas.
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Early Woodcuts: From Surrealism to Expressionism
A selection of early woodcuts marking the transition from Surrealism to Expressionism, technically raw but expressive.
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A Homage to Gerhard Richter and Hideaki Yamanobe
A graphic work paying homage to Gerhard Richter’s “Cloud” and Hideaki Yamanobe’s monotypes, made after visiting a Richter exhibition in Vienna.
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Bookmarks – my love for old leaves
After I hadn’t painted for a long time due to my job, I started to sniff it again about a year ago. In order to regain my sensitivity as quickly as possible, I collected withered leaves and then blossoms and flowers in spring. The first thing I did with it were bookmarks.
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Out of the Dark: An Oil Painting from Post-Cultural Revolution China
An oil painting of Chinese children emerging from the shadow of the Cultural Revolution, recently published in a book on Austrian-Chinese history.
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The Principle of the Balance in Chinese Painting
In the first part of “The Essence of Chinese Painting,” I explore the fundamental principle of dynamic balance. Unlike Western art, which relies on a static scale, Chinese painting uses a dynamic scale. This approach contrasts heavy, visible brushstrokes with the powerful counterweight of empty space. Whether in a single character or Ma Yuan’s one-corner…
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Sketches from the Peking Opera
Charcoal sketches of Peking Opera performances made in Beijing in 1979, mounted in a traditional Chinese album.
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student prank with Wang Ziwu 王子武
During my time at the academy in Beijing, I recommended the then-unknown Xi’an painter Wang Ziwu. He was invited and, despite being shy, painted an excellent portrait of me. The next day, he gifted me and my Australian colleague Claire two paintings. As a prank, I painted a copy of Claire’s picture and swapped it…
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When I First Met Lu Yanshao 陸儼少
A memory of watching landscape painter Lu Yanshao demonstrate his slow, deliberate brushwork at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
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Chinese Seal Carving: History and Key Terms
A look at the history and key terms of Chinese seal carving, and its deep connection to Chinese painting and calligraphy.