Lalan, a Chinese female artist who resided in Paris for almost fifty years, is known for her multitalented creative works as a composer, a dancer, a choreographer, a director, a writer , a poet, and a painter. She is the female painter of an era where Western influences fused with Eastern inspirations. Her works represent Chinese-ness and contemporaneity in the form of paintings. Lalan’s paintings began with her very fluid typographical works, which were representative of Eastern philosophy, to abstract landscape paintings produced later in her lifetime. Her oil painting, printing, watercolour and scroll formats demonstrate sensitivity and creativity of an artist who possessed a truly cross-cultural perspective.

This exhibition invites you to explore the beauty of Lalan’s watercolour paintings selected from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum’s private collection. The watercolour works which were produced during 1966-1978 range the free-flowing abstract paintings which incorporate the energetic strokes characteristic of Chinese typography, drawn swiftly without predetermined designs, uncontrolled and full of intensity, to the large-scale landscape paintings of semi-abstracted valleys showcasing precision and delicately blended tonal layers. From first-hand observation of natural details, the artist produced images that capture the balance between beautiful forms and meaningful content.