Spirit: The Paintings
of Q. Wang is a collection of contemporary paintings by Q. Wang, a current
resident of Southern California. In this
“Coffee table” style of high-quality art-book of 44 selected works of artist Q. Wang created
during the period from 2006 through 2010, are displayed with only title and
date of origin; leaving the viewer to “feel the art”, or as stated in the Preface, “hear the music” without the distraction
of a narrative.
Working with acrylic over conventional sized canvases, Q.
Wang’s work is easily categorized as being modern art, abstract, using color
and lines in very unique and impressive ways. Although, admittedly Q. Wang openly discusses his attraction to the art
of Maurice Utrillo, I sense some subliminal influence by other renowned
artists. I feel the American legend
Alexander Calder aligned with his floating shapes; along with aspects
reminiscent of Andy Warhol in his Hillary
Clinton portrait; Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gough with some cubism. This said, the originality of Q. Wang stands
on his own merit with a fundamental Asian influence. Just as it is obvious to a viewer if a
picture on a wall is hung at an angle, not being straight, it is amazingly
impressive how parallel, perpendicular, round and exact the geometric shapes
are within Q. Wang’s work. He definitely
has a highly advanced mathematical spatial relation aspect to his art,
resulting in hypnotizing introspection and, in my case, a highly emotional
impact. His core talent brings
simplicity in shape and form. One of, if
not my true favorite, is titled, Woman. In it, Q. Wang takes a red circle, two
red domes and a red triangle placed over horizontal colored backgrounds
bringing to mind a “nude” like some Hermann Rorschach inkblot test revealing my
own thoughts. Other favorites of mine
are titled Kiss and Lovers, where two “stick figures”
embrace each other, one yellow and one red, over a green background. Just as universal highway and building
signage uses stick figures to represent men and women with respect to safety or
even a restroom, these figures are international and global in its
representation of the love within humanity.
I could go on and talk about Q. Wang’s use of dimensional
relations in his landscapes, or his obvious sense of passion for a lady he
painted, or even the comedy within his work; but to understand his work you
simply need to see it. This book is
beyond excellent as a showcase for his talent. Next to having the opportunity to visit a gallery with his work, this
book can be easily bought and will truly embellish the library of any
art-loving collector. As the famous
French film producer Jean-Luc Godard said, “It’s not where you take things from
– it’s where you take them to.” Q. Wang
has taken me further into the appreciation of my surroundings, people, and
love. That is what art is all about.
