[Hong Kong, China] ‘Karin Birch: Reasons for Painting’ Exhibition

Karin Birch’s solo painting exhibition ‘Reasons for Painting’ is scheduled to open[...]

Karin Birch’s solo painting exhibition ‘Reasons for Painting’ is scheduled to open at Hanart TZ Gallery from 2 to 6 pm on Saturday, October 19, 2024. The artist will attend the opening reception to communicate with art lovers. ‘If a painter is not transformed by his own paintings, why should he continue to paint?’ French philosopher Michel Foucault believes that transforming oneself with one’s own knowledge is quite close to aesthetic experience. A painting to be completed gradually transforms during the painter’s painting process. At the same time, this painting also transforms and shapes the painter’s temperament, thought and endurance. Whatever the reason for painting is, it is the ‘inevitability’ of the painter in the long creative journey. It is the continuous choice made by a unique individual for value and meaning. It is neither an accidental cause or result nor a universal truth or knowledge. Karin Birch regards artistic creation as a way of ‘caring for oneself’. She uses painting language and devotes herself to writing to change and transform herself. Her contemplation of life and perseverance in craftsmanship are all integrated into her creation. From brewing inspiration, stretching the canvas, mixing pigments, starting production to placing the work, the entire creative process is her own cultivation and self-reflection – reviewing, contemplating, commemorating, forgetting; being idle, vigilant, praying, and relaxing; indulging in hobbies and cultivating emotions. ‘A person who paints is like a unique radio with emotional will. It receives, translates and interprets the pulsations, codes and breaths of the universe and the world. And plays it out with its only loudspeaker. The loudspeaker has its own limitations, thus showing such and such a sound’. Karin Birch believes that the images vaguely seen and perceived in her mind must be painted on the canvas before she can truly see them. Karin Birch’s paintings combine complex techniques: geometric abstract simplicity, straightforward writing brushwork, symbolic image symbols, calm and gentle repetition, shaping a metaphysical landscape that seems microscopic and also distant-viewed, capturing an introspective and detailed spiritual pattern. The starting point of Karin Birch’s creative process is like an incomprehensible private whisper. Autobiographical creation hides a healing aspect. Through the refinement of craftsmanship, individual emotional thoughts are transformed into intuitive and open abstract landscapes. Viewers look at the paintings and stroll among them, allowing intuition to experience the beauty of the abstract realm. It has been eight years since Karin Birch’s last solo exhibition. This exhibition sorts and selects more than thirty paintings by Karin Birch from different periods, touching on the creative aspects of the past twenty years, and uses painting to dialectically discuss the’reasons for painting’. Most of the works are exhibited publicly for the first time, including the latest series ‘Contemplating in a Secret House’ (2021-2024) and ‘Prime Numbers or Imperfect Squares’ (2024). The ‘Contemplating in a Secret House’ series consists of ten paintings, including ‘Beginning’, ‘Transparency’, ‘Opaqueness’, ‘Jigsaw Puzzle of Hong Kong Island’ and ‘Cosmic Memorial’.
In this series, there are three pairs of twin compositions. It explores the intertextual relationship between paintings and provides a viewpoint of being in a secluded house. The ‘Prime Numbers or Imperfect Squares’ series reproduces seven prime numbers (1801, 1889, 1949, 1951, 1973, 1997, 1999) in a grid pattern and combines with nearly perfect yet imperfect squares to become perceivable numbers and geometries.
The opening hours for the full text are from October 19 to November 30. The specific business status is subject to the opening situation on that day.