Artist
Chinese Artist | Professor, China Academy of Art
Hu Shourong is a Chinese artist and professor at China Academy of Art. He holds a doctorate and formerly served as a doctoral supervisor. Working primarily on xuan paper, he has pursued a long-term investigation into the relationships among ink, color, line, form, and the responsive surface of the paper. From his early ink studies of figures and the human body to later work in luminous color, monochromatic space, and intricate linear structures, he has continually extended the possibilities of painting on paper. He uses the term “Generative Paper-based Painting” to describe this artistic path.
In 1987, Hu Shourong graduated from the Department of Chinese Painting at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, now China Academy of Art, and joined the faculty. His work has since centered on xuan paper and on the relationships among ink, color, line, form, and the responsive surface of the paper.
From early figure and life studies in ink to later work in luminous color, monochromatic space, abstraction, and intricate drawing, Hu has continually reconsidered the organization of the image. Figures, flowers, vessels, and abstract forms are reconfigured through diffusion, layering, overpainting, and calligraphic brushwork. The visual character of the work changes markedly from one period to another, while its sense of form, material judgment, and pictorial order remain continuous.
“Generative Paper-based Painting” describes this artistic path. The absorbency, diffusion, and irreversibility of xuan paper directly participate in the formation of the image. Through repeated marks and successive layers, ink and color acquire depth and rhythm. Structural Ink, Conflict and Balance, Generative Floral Field, Deep Blue, and Microgenesis address, respectively, form and ink structure, pictorial tension, color relationships, monochromatic space, and fine-scale order.
Since 1979, Hu Shourong has participated in exhibitions in China and abroad. His works were selected for the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th National Exhibitions of Fine Arts of China. From 1989 onward, he maintained an extended program of exhibitions, solo projects, institutional visits, teaching exchanges, lectures, and periods of artistic work in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. This European trajectory, extending across more than two decades, developed alongside his teaching and sustained investigation of painting on paper.
Figures and the human body were central to Hu Shourong’s early practice in ink. Contour, ink masses, unpainted space, and calligraphic brushwork organized the figure, gradually moving the image beyond direct observation and establishing the early foundations of Structural Ink.
From the 1990s onward, color entered the existing structure of ink. Figures, flowers, vessels, and abstract forms were reorganized through layering, diffusion, and overpainting. Space shifted from concentrated relationships among forms toward more open, layered structures. During the same period, exhibitions and artistic exchanges brought the work into galleries, public cultural institutions, and art academies across several European cities.
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the awareness of form and the order of brushwork established in Hu’s early ink figure paintings have continued to inform work in luminous color, monochromatic painting, abstraction, and intricate linear drawing. The series differ in color, structure, density, and relationships of form, while retaining continuity in material judgment and pictorial order.
The five series now provide the principal points of entry into this long artistic development. They are not discrete stylistic categories.
In 1989, Hu Shourong was invited to participate in a modern painting exhibition in Cologne. From then until 2012, he continued to take part in exhibitions and solo projects across Germany and other parts of Europe, alongside institutional visits, lectures, teaching exchanges, and periods of artistic work. Extending across more than two decades, this European practice involved galleries, art associations, public cultural institutions, and art academies.
From the 1990s through the early 2000s, Hu’s work appeared at Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken; Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung at Schwerinsches Palais, Berlin; Künstlerhaus Göttingen; PwC at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin; and Kunsthalle Villa Kobe, Halle (Saale), among other venues and projects.
In 2005, he spent three and a half months in Hamburg on a cultural and artistic exchange. During this period, he visited art academies, museums, galleries, and artists’ studios, and gave lectures and live demonstrations on teaching at China Academy of Art and on his practice of painting on paper. A solo exhibition of his paintings was held in Hamburg during the same period.
In 2012, Hu was again selected by China Academy of Art to undertake a period of study and artistic exchange in Europe. In the same year, works from the 1980s and 1990s were included in a Germany-based project on contemporary Chinese art. These European experiences expanded the settings in which his work was exhibited and discussed, while his investigation of form, brushwork, color, and space continued across different cultural contexts.
This section is based on information confirmed by the artist, historical CV records held by the studio, and available documentary sources. The original-language titles, organizing bodies, and exact dates of several early projects remain under review. Where no official English title has been located, historical Chinese titles are presented in editorial translation.
Berlin, Germany
Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Germany
Hamburg, Germany
Cologne, Germany
Hamburg, Germany
Europe
Professor, China Academy of Art Member, China Artists Association Member, Guizhou Provincial Research Institute of Culture and History
Doctoral Supervisor, China Academy of Art Member, 8th, 9th, and 10th Zhejiang Provincial Committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Standing Committee Member, Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD) Chair, China Academy of Art Branch of the China Association for Promoting Democracy
The following selection presents major exhibitions, publications, and professional activities from Hu Shourong’s artistic career. Complete exhibition records, European projects, publications, writings, and media materials are available through the related pages and accompanying documents.
Held his first solo exhibition of Chinese painting in Nanjing; work selected for the 7th National Exhibition of Fine Arts of China; participated in a modern painting exhibition in Cologne; held a solo exhibition of contemporary ink painting in Berlin.
Undertook a period of artistic exchange in Germany and held a solo exhibition in Hamburg.
Work selected for the 8th National Exhibition of Fine Arts of China; participated in the touring exhibition Chinese Art in South Korea.
Held the large-scale solo exhibition National Flag · National Anthem · Dove of Peace in Hangzhou; work selected for the 9th National Exhibition of Fine Arts of China; published Hu Shourong: Paintings.
Work selected for the 10th National Exhibition of Fine Arts of China; participated in the Japan International Ink Painting Exchange Exhibition, Tokyo.
Spent three and a half months in Hamburg on a cultural and artistic exchange, including academy visits, lectures, painting demonstrations, and a solo exhibition.
CCTV-4 broadcast the documentary Ink Jiangnan: The Art of Hu Shourong.
Selected by China Academy of Art for a period of study and artistic exchange in Europe; works from the 1980s and 1990s were included in a Germany-based project on contemporary Chinese art.
Held Bouyei, Homeland, Guizhou—Paintings by Hu Shourong, Guiyang Art Museum, Guiyang.
Held Intuition in Ink and Color—Paintings by Hu Shourong, Hongfuyuan Art Museum, Tai’an, Shandong.
This section lists selected projects. Complete records are available on the Publications, Writings and Media page.
China Academy of Art Press
Sanxitang
New Arts, no. 6, 2012
China Academy of Art Press
China Culture and Art Publishing House
Television documentary produced and broadcast by CCTV-4
Television documentary produced by Hangzhou Television
Heilongjiang People's Fine Arts Publishing House
