Ju Hong Chen

Ju Hong Chen, born and raised in Communist China, avoided the Socialist realist “official line” of art training in the official art schools. He combined his own drive with his natural talent and pursued his art education on his own. This self exploration left him free from the heavy handed Cultural Revolution to experiment and create art without interference.

After the Cultural Revolution ended, Chen began to get some attention from artists in and out of the government-approved circles and organizations. In 1978, his modern Chinese paintings were a major part of the first art exhibition to occur without government sponsorship. These paintings were immensely well received because of their innovation, beauty and the absence of the taint of the Communist ideology.

Chen emigrated to the United States in 1983 seeking a greater platform for the expression of his art. His paintings, distinctively contemporary with a hint of Oriental influence, revel in the joy of light and color. They are elegant and sophisticated, capturing unique moments in time from both ancient China and the modern West. His figurative paintings are innovative, precise and elegantly painted, as well as delicately beautiful reminding one of an ancient time.

Presently, Chen lives in Oregon with his wife, an acupuncturist, and his daughter. He continues to create impressive, mystic and meditative new works drawing on the contrasts and harmonies he has experienced between East and West.

On May 2,2016, one of Chen’s early works, “Building A Buddha” 1979 (55″ x 37″) ink and watercolor on paper was formally accepted by the Acquisition committee of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, California.