Chinese-born Hong Zhu An (b. 1955) is one of the finest artists in Singapore today. Trained under famous art scholar Wang Zidou at the Shanghai Art and Craft Institute, the artist is proficient in both Chinese and Western Art. Painting in acrylic and ink, his works exude a serenity and energy that calms the mind and offers insightful abstract interpretation alongside enchanting visuals. Constantly growing in both skill and prestige, he has exhibited his works in South East Asia, the USA and Australia and has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the UOB Painting of the Year ‘Grand Award’. His works have been collected by major institutions such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Princeton University Museum in New York, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Singapore Art Museum.

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Hong Zhu An's paintings glow with the layered pigments that are placed stroke by stroke upon rice paper, the under-layers burning their way to the surface of the blocks of the colors. Each layer consists of thousands of calligraphic strokes, creating an expanse of color and depth. 
 
Hong Zhu An has a deep love of the line or stroke and his understanding of its importance as a fundamental of Chinese artistic expression does not contradict his search for new avenues in Chinese art. Wielding his brush fearlessly even as he charts new artistic territory, Hong Zhu An allies eye and hand in brave new ways to connect with the age old Chinese sensibility, the ability to converse with nature and make it scintillate on intellectual, philosophical and spiritual levels that are uniquely his. His works are resplendent because they reveal the beauty of the world, life, and man. From oracle bone inscriptions, to calligraphy, to the glaze blue arabesques of Ming porcelain, the line is more aesthetically and philosophically fundamental to Chinese culture, so necessary that painters spend a lifetime mastering it. 

The grand scale Hong Zhu An uses can also be read as a visual prompt designed to recall the great narrative tradition of Chinese painting, the comparison serving to underscore his formal and conceptual distance from China and the classical art historical trajectory. Similarly, by invoking nature as inspiration for these new paintings, but categorically denying their identity as landscape images and iconographic allusion to any particular symbols, Hong is pointedly marking his break with tradition. His works are thus not only resplendent with zen, but also innovative and pulse with artistic depth. 


Awards

1994                                             
UOB Painting of the Year Grand Award, Singapore

1988                                              
The Best 100, The National Ink Painting Competition, China



Corporate and Public Collections

The Singapore Art Museum, The National Art Museum, Philippines, The Newark Museum, New York, USA, The Spencer Museum, New York, USA, The Princeton University Museum, New York, USA, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, USA, The Oxford University Museum, UK, The National Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, Singapore Airlines, The National Library, Singapore, The Peninsula Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, The Grand Plaza Hotel, Singapore, Raffles, The Plaza, Singapore, Fullerton Hotel, Singapore, Langham Southgate Melbourne Hotel, Australia, LaSalle SIA College of the Arts, Singapore, National Institute of Education, Singapore, United Overseas Bank, Singapore, Credit Suisse First Boston, Singapore, Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Asset Management, Singapore, Goldman Sachs, Singapore, McKinsey & Company, Singapore, Wheelock Properties (Singapore) Ltd, Singapore, Fidelity Investments, Singapore, SC Global Development Ltd, Singapore, Coutts Bank, Singapore, Kheng Leong Co (Pte) Ltd, Singapore

2022
Notations in Space, Singapore Tyler Print Institute - Creative Workshop and Gallery, Singapore 

2021
Trangression throughout the Volatile World, Asia Art Center Taipei New Flagship Space

2019 
Hong Zhu An: Confluences, Asia Art Center Taipei II, Taipei, Taiwan 

2017
Solo Exhibition Unabating Spring, Ode To Art Contemporary, Singapore

2014
Beyond the Grid, Singapore Tyler Print Institute - Creative Workshop and Gallery, Singapore  

2015 
Pure Heart – A Bali Purnati Foundation Artist Residency, Private Museum Singapore
 
2013 
The Limitless Void, The Private Museum, Singapore

2012 
Ascetic Serenity, Singapore Tyler Print Institute - Creative Workshop and Gallery, Singapore 

2011 
Inner Dawning, Ode To Art Contemporary, Singapore

2009 
Intrepid Heart, Naked Soul, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Singapore
Silence, Ode To Art, Singapore

2008 
Reflections on a Long Journey, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong

2006 
A Deep Breath of Life, Art 2 Gallery, Singapore
New Exuberance, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong
Ten Years of Painting (1996 – 2006)
Paintings for Sale by Silent Auction, YADDO Art, Windsor Ballroom, The Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore   
The Fifth Shenzhen International Art Biennale, China                
Asian Art Mosaic, a Charity Auction show organized by Yaddo Art, Singapore

2005                                              
New Directions, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong KongBali Escapade – Recent Paintings by Hong Zhu An, iPreciation Pte Ltd, Singapore
The Second Beijing International Art Biennale, China

2004                                              
Going Forward, Plum Blossoms Gallery, New York, USA

2003                                              
A Long Journey, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong KongFluid Transitions, The Esplanade, Singapore

2002                                              
Ancient Hues, Plum Blossoms Gallery, New York, USA
Ancient Hues, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Massachusetts, USA


2001                                  
The Color of Memory, Plum Blossoms Gallery, New York, USA

2000                                              
Field of Virtue, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Singapore
Field of Virtue, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong
Melbourne Art Fair, Art Forum, Australia

1997                                              
RMIT Master of Arts  Graduate Exhibition, LaSalle Gallery, LaSalle-SIA College of The Arts, Singapore

1996                                              
The Essence of Art, Art Forum, Singapore

1995                       
UOB The Painting of the Year Winners’ Exhibition, UOB Plaza, Singapore
East – West: Abstraction Meets Calligraphy, The Substation, Singapore

1987                       
Hong Zhu An – Exhibition, National Art Museum Shanghai, China