HKU Bulletin April 2010 (Vol. 11 No. 2)

48 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin 49 April 2010 Published by the University of Hong Kong The Bulletin is the University magazine that features our latest activities, events and plans. It aims to keep the local and international community, informed of new breakthroughs in a wide range of disciplines initiated by members of the University. Editorial Team Editor: Henry Wai, Registrar Chief Editor: Katherine Ma, Director of Communications Managing Editor: Shirley Yeung, Publications Manager Writers: Kelvin Au, Kathy Griffin, Allison Jones Design and production: The Graphis Company Ltd. Photographers: Randy Cheung Photography, Eric Lee & Co. Contribution and Feedback With special thanks to staff and students who kindly contributed their time and their photographs to the Bulletin . We welcome contributions of content for publication. Items should include the author’s name and University contact details. Please direct contributions, comments or suggestions to the Communications and Public Affairs Office at bulletin@hku.hk for consideration. Care for the Environment While our publication is printed on environmentally friendly paper, we urge you to share your copy with friends and colleagues, and help reduce our carbon footprint. Alternatively, you may choose to unsubscribe at bulletin@hku.hk , and read the Bulletin online at www.hku.hk/publications/bulletin.html. Arts and Culture The Taiwanese painter Shi Song is famed for his ethereal portrayals of the Buddha. Working in several mediums, including oils, ink and prints Shi has captured a solid fan base with his Buddhist inspired collection. Now his work is to be displayed in Hong Kong for the first time. Born in Shanghai in 1947, Shi moved to Taipei at the age of two and went on to study art at the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-arts, in Paris. On returning to Taipei he continued to paint while working as an editor but, when his mother fell ill in the mid-1980s, he sought solace in a series of ink line drawings of Guan Yin, the compassionate bodhisattva in Buddhism. Thus began his love affair with capturing the Buddha on canvas. Not long after he started the first series Shi’s mother passed away, and he continued with the drawings in the hope of acquiring insight into his grief and gaining a deeper understanding of life’s transience. His interest in Buddhism led to meditation and further reading of the Buddhist scriptures. Then, in 1995, inspired by those scriptures he embarked on a retelling of the Buddha’s life in oils which resulted in a Curator of the University Museum and Art Gallery, Yeung Chun-tong says public museums in Hong Kong seldom exhibit the work of Taiwan artists and so, “This exhibition will provide a chance to help understand contemporary art in Taiwan. In September last year our Museum displayed the paintings of another famous Taiwan artist, Liu Guo Song, and it is our wish to introduce more Taiwan artists to Hong Kong.” He adds that Buddhist themes in art are currently very popular in Hong Kong and there is particular interest in Shi’s ink drawings of Guan Yin (Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara). “I am sure visitors would like to see how a Chinese artist illustrates the life of Buddha Sakyamuni in oil, a western medium,” he says. From March 24 to May 9, 2010 the Museum and Art Gallery will display three groups of Shi’s Buddhist-themed works produced over the past twenty years. The collection includes his first series of line drawings of the Bodhisattva Guan Yin, oil paintings of the life of the Buddha Sakyamuni, still lifes, woodcut prints and Chinese calligraphy taken from the Buddhist scriptures. The exhibition is jointly presented by the Museum and HKU’s Centre of Buddhist Studies. CAPTURING THE BUDDHA on canvas A series of works by a Taiwanese artist attempts to bring the Buddha closer to mankind. dozen paintings set in a natural environment with trees, as trees played such a dominant role in the Buddha’s life. In an attempt to humanize the Buddha and bring him closer to his earth-bound brothers Shi took the unusual step of illuminating his subject with sunlight, thus departing from the conventional representation of the Buddha as being lit from within. Many of Shi’s paintings are meticulously executed in a photorealistic style and are striking for the sense of harmony and peace that they exude. His remarkable ability to capture natural light has seen him compared to Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. The University of Hong Kong Bulletin www.hku.hk/publications/bulletin.html