Zhang Wenzhi's exhibition of lacquer paintings, Back to Renaissance, opens this week in New York, giving American audiences a rare look at the Chinese contemporary artist's work.

Starting on Thursday and running through May 26 at the Asian Cultural Center in Manhattan, the 32-piece collection will highlight works by Zhang that were inspired by neoclassical Chinese lacquer artists. The pieces on display make clear both her dedication to the labor-intensive form and a brush-stroke style reminiscent of age-old calligraphy.

The pieces in Back to Renaissance, said Zhang, represent a fusion of China's ancient traditions with globalization.

"My way of painting is a confluence of Eastern and Western techniques," she said. "Sometimes it isn't easy to achieve the result I want, and it takes me a couple of weeks to finish a piece."

Each of the exhibition's 32 works will be available for sale, with prices from $6,000 to $240,000. All but seven of the pieces are priced at more than $10,000.

The most valuable is a screen painting titled New Sacred Calligraphy Gold No 7. Zhang applied natural lacquer, gold foil, silver foil and copper foil on wood and fiber to create the screen.

Lin Jiguang, chairman of Gianguan Auctions in New York, said Zhang's work is special, particularly her strong use of contrasting colors.

"I think she is the first to use such special techniques to create lacquer paintings," he said.

Zhang describes her painting as "noble, elegant and solemn".

This is the third time Zhang has had a show in New York - sculptures in 2011 and lacquer paintings in 2012. Each of those two exhibitions were in a smaller gallery and contained only about 10 pieces, she said.

"This is the first time for me to have a more than 30-piece lacquer exhibition in New York, which is quite big considering the size of the works," said Zhang, who is also known for ceramics and whose art is part of public and private collections across Asia and Europe. These include China's National Art Museum, the Guangzhou Performing Arts Center, and national galleries in Malaysia and Norway.

Zhang received a master's degree from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where she is now a professor of ceramics. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Seoul National University of Sciences and Technology in South Korea.

She has also written several textbooks on ceramics. Her latest, The World of Lacquer, will be released on Thursday.

haidanhu12@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 05/14/2013 page8)