Guo Changan - born 1959

Guo Changan, born 1959
A Hoping Weald
copyright Guo Changan

Guo Changan is an important, leading Chinese printmaker and painter from Heilongjiang province. His style is typical for what the art world calls today the Beidahuang Art School.

Beidahuang Art School

This is not a real school, rather an art movement. It came into existence with the settlement of this remote Northeast Chinese province in the 1950s when hundred thousands of soldiers and youths were sent to Heilongjiang province by a totalitarian regime to transform this former wasteland and wilderness under harsh living conditions into prosperous farmland.

Career

Mr. Guo Changan was born in 1959 in China. He is from the generation that followed the first pioneers of Beidahuang Art School like Hao Boyi. Currently he holds a number of important posts.

Professional artist with the Heilongjiang Province Printmaking Institute.
Vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Acheng branch of Chinese Artists' Association.
Vice-president of Acheng Painting Institute.
Director of the branch of Heilongjiang province of Chinese Artists' Association.
National Chinese artist of grade 1.

The speciality of the artist are reduction woodblock prints and paintings in Chinese style. Several dozens of his artworks have been published in several Chinese magazines and newspapers like "Art", "Artist", "Duoyun", "Chinese Art Newspaper", "Heilongjiang Daily Newspaper", "Harbin Daily Newspaper" and "East Art".

Mr. Guo Changan's major artworks were exhibited and collected by art museums in Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, France, Japan and China. The television channels CCTV and KBS in Korea, Heilongjiang TV, and Harbin TV (both province of Heilongjiang, Chna) introduced the artist's works.

Ten artworks by Mr. Guo Changan were used to issue postal cards by the National Postal Service of China.

Reduction Woodblocks - Reduced to the Essentials

Silver Prize in 2008

Guo Changan, born 1959
Vernal Snow
copyright Guo Changan

The technique of reduction woodblock prints is said to have been invented in Yunnan, the Southwest province of China. Most Yunnan artists use this technique in the meantime, while the artists of Heilongjiang province - the Beidahuang Art School - use in their majority the conventional way of making a woodblock print by carving one block for each color.

Guo Changan is one of the few Heilongjiang artists who works in reduction woodblock technique. This technique is rather difficult and requires good planning by the artist as only one or a maximum of two blocks are used. The designs for each color are carved onto the same block. Once the outlines and contours of one color have been carved, the complete edition set has to be printed for that color. With the carving of the next color, the original surface is inevitably destroyed and cannot be reproduced.

Advantage of Reduction Woodblocks for Buyers

Best Artwork Prize

Guo Changan, born 1959
Loving in the Three River I
copyright Guo Changan

The reduction woodblock technique not only saves blocks, but also insures that the original edition size cannot be expanded later - no matter how well the print sells. It is also a kind of guarantee for the buyer that his purchase is not devalued by pulling more impressions than the original planned number.

With the conventional technique additional copies can be printed later and offered as A.P. (artist proof) or HC (hors de commerce). Artists and dealers of the 20th century have developed a great lot of fantasy and twisted all kinds of Latin and French words or crazy abbreviations to circumvent the concept of limited edition prints.

Limitation to Few Colors

Guo Changan uses the reduction woodblock technique the straight way. He hardly ever uses more than three basic colors. For him it is an ideal concept for another reason: to reduce the colors and the design of a print to the essentials. Chinese artists have followed over centuries an old rule - something like "showing more by drawing less". Thus Guo Changan's woodblock prints are both modern and traditional.

Next to the limitation to few colors, it is the color gradation that the artist uses which gives his works a unique style. This is a technique that is not in the Chinese tradition and which other masters of Heilongjiang do not often apply. The technique originated in Western arts and gives the final art work a three-dimensional look. Japanese printmakers introduced the technique with the shin hanga movement to great artistic and commercial success.

Affiliations

Guo Changan, born 1959
Revival
copyright Guo Changan

Member of Chinese Printmakers' Association.
Member of Chinese Artists' Association.

Exhibitions, Awards and Collections

1998 - "Warm Winter I" won the golden prize in the First Young People Prints Exhibition of Heilongjiang province. 1998. The exhibited prints were collected by Heilongjiang Art Museum and Shenzhou Prints Museum.
1998 - "Warm Winter I" was selected for the 14th Chinese National Print Exhibition in Chengdu and was published in the official exhibition catalog.
1999 - "Midwinter" won the grand prize in the 9th National Art Exhibition and was collected by China National Art Museum in Beijing.
2000 - "Festival of Double Ninth" was selected for the 15th Chinese National Print Exhibition and was published in the exhibition catalog. This print was collected by Guangdong Art Museum.
2002 - "Under the Quiet Shade of a Tree" was selected for the 16th Chinese National Print Exhibition and was published in the official exhibition catalog. The same print was selected for the China-Hongkong Print Exhibition and was collected By Anhui Art Museum.
2003 - "Bright Moon in the Sky" was shown in the Heilongjiang Province Art Exhibition in Harbin, China, and won the golden prize.
2004 - "Snow on a Fine Day" won the silver prize in the 10th Heilongjiang Art Exhibition and was selected for the 10th Chinese National Art Exhibition and was collected by China National Art Museum in Bejing.
2004 - "Merry Spring" won the golden prize in the 5th Art Star Exhibition of Heilongjiang province in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.
2007 - "The Sunlight in September" was selected for the nation-wide Heilongjiang Print Exhibition in the United Kingdom. The artist exhibited overall 5 prints that were all bought by British art friends.
2007 - "Loving in the Three Rivers I", "Loving in the Three Rivers II", "Loving in the Three Rivers III" were shown at Shenzhen International Biennial Print Exhibition in Shenzhen. They won the prize of best artwork.
2007 - "Loving Hometown", "Hometown", "Express my Emotion of Silver Birch", and "Vernal Snow" were selected for the Shenzhen International Biennial Print Exhibition.
2008 - "Warm Spring", "Vernal Snow" and "Charm in Autum" were selected for the 4 Northeast Cities Art Exhibition. "Vernal Snow" won the silver prize and "Charm in Autum" the copper prize in this exhibition.

Gallery of Guo Changan Woodblock Prints

And because they are so BEAUTIFUL, we show you here a few more of Guo Changan's reduction woodblock prints. At the time of the first release of this article (June 2008) they were by the way pretty cheap, and also art lovers and collectors with a small budget can afford them. The first auction with prints by Guo Changan takes place on June 1st, 2008. Please contact us if you like Guo Changan prints and want to buy.

Dieter Wanczura (June 2008)

Best Artwork Prize

Guo Changan, born 1959
Loving in the Three Rivers III
copyright Guo Changan

Guo Changan, born 1959
Story of Old City
copyright Guo Changan

Guo Changan, born 1959
The Purple Flower
copyright Guo Changan

Guo Changan, born 1959
Charm in Autumn
copyright Guo Changan

Best Artwork Prize

Guo Changan, born 1959
Loving in the Three Rivers II
copyright Guo Changan

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