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East meets West as Chinese artist visits Texas A&M;

By STEVE KUHLMANN steve.kuhlmann@theeagle.com
Steve Kuhlmann
Apr 4, 2017
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Chinese artist Leng Jun performs a live painting demonstration — his first in the U.S. — before an audience in the Wright Gallery on the Texas A&M University campus Monday.

Richard Nara, Texas A&M; College of Architecture

For internationally recognized painter Leng Jun, his work is more than the paint, the brush or even the techniques that he employs. At its core, it is a way to channel his spirit onto the canvas.

Jun performed a live painting demonstration -- his first in the U.S. -- before an audience in the Wright Gallery on the Texas A&M University campus Monday. He spent nearly nine hours creating a portrait of visualization major Bailee Wilson.

Associate professor Yu Xiao, who sponsored Jun's visit, said Jun is considered a "national treasure-level artist" by his native China.

"I wanted students to be able to see how you could be able to see a portrait painted live in a day," she said. "I want people to see this Chinese artist that can reach this really high level of skill. ... He is so accurate at mixing the colors and knowing where to put each stroke."

While Xiao said Jun is widely recognized for his technical skills, she said it is his passion that she believes sets him apart.

Jun, with the aid of translation from Xiao, said he views his work as a mix of Eastern and Western painting styles. By taking each of the methods back to their essence, Jun said he is able to blend the techniques of Western painting with the meditative approach of eastern tradition.

"As he sees it, the Western painting doesn't have that element of Eastern painting that comes from Daoism and Buddhism, that you have to practice and meditate at a higher level," Xiao said. "He [sees his work] as merging that spiritual level of understanding to the painting itself. It's just a blend of Western and Eastern traditions."

He said the approach is like a spiritual act, letting the quality of each stroke represent himself as he "leaves a part of himself on the canvas."

For the students and community artists who came to the demonstration, Jun said he hopes that by being able to see the process from start to finish, they will be able to separate the history behind the style from the work itself.

"Western-style painting has been around since the Renaissance, so it has a long history," Xiao said. "He wants to take out the history. ... It has been expanded and developed so much, so he wants to return to this essence of painting. Just like a religion, you always want to return to the source to figure out how it is done."

Xiao said Jun was invited for the event by the nonprofit Education Advancement Fund International and hosted by Texas A&M's College of Architecture.