Primitive shapes connect French and Chinese artists

French artist Jean-Charles Blais never knew his Chinese counterpart Wang Keping, but their art works have found common ground in their reflection on silhouettes.

A show of the two artists Silhouettes at Hadrien De Montferrand gallery in Beijing displays dozens of works, paintings from Blais and sculptures from Wang. Blais is known for sticking multiple layers of torn-off advertisement posters on top of each other in the early 1980s, while Wang made his name as a member of China's first experimental artistic group the "Stars" in the end of the 1970s. He mainly focuses on sculptures of female figures, using various woods like cherry, maple and oak. Representative works of both artists are on display in Beijing.

"Their work look quite similar, all figurative. But not that straightly figurative, somewhere between figurative and abstract," says Olivier Hervet, co-founder of the gallery.

Having working in China in the art market for about a decade, Hervet says Blais' works remind him of the Chinese craft paper-cutting, and the black-and-white style of Blais' paintings also have some echoes in traditional Chinese paintings.

In an email, the French artist says that while preparing for the show, he tried to introduce a Chinese perspective that he obtained from his knowledge of traditional Chinese paintings. It allowed him to put new elements into his works such as a juxtaposition of transparency and opaqueness.

It's the first foray for Blais in China. When the show opened in April in Beijing, Blais was in Japan for another show there.

Due to the prosperity of the Chinese art market, more and more European artists are turning their eyes to China, says Hervet, whose gallery mainly focuses on art exchanges between France and China. Due to the relevance of Blais' works to Chinese culture, the French artist's work should have particular appeal in Beijing, where collectors are open to world art, explains Hervet.

Wang Keping, the other artist in the show, has lived in France since the 1980s. He has held several solo shows in China in recently years. He attracted the art world's attention thanks to his avant-garde sculpture in a groundbreaking group show at the National Art Museum of China in 1979.

Wang's figure sculptures usually are cut from one piece. He respects how a tree moves and his works are very primitive, says Hervet.

"Both artists' have lots in common. Their art has some relevance to primitive art. They both are in their 60s but gained fame early in life," he says.

Although contemporary art now has various kinds of forms and changes fast, Hervet says people also need to look back and embrace those who shaped art history.

"It's natural for people to want to find something new. But sometimes we also need to rediscover new things from the old," he says.