Lion Nie

Born in the 1970s
Artist, Curator, Current Director of Beijing HanJian Fine Art Gallery

Nie has art studios in both Beijing and Vancouver. He has been in love with painting, drawing and photography since childhood. He studied at the Department of Fine Arts of Henan University and the School of Economics and Management of Peking University. He is a member of the International Photography Society and the Photographic Society of New York. He has been engaged in brand planning, creative work and art collection for over twenty years. His personal works have been collected by many domestic and foreign companies, institutions and collectors.

 

Exhibitions

2024【REGROWTH】Abstract Paintings and Installation Art, solo exhibition, Lipont Gallery, Vancouver
2024【What on Earth】Duo solo exhibition, JIG ART VANCOUVER
2024 Group exhibition【Question】Abstract in China 2023-2024, Yichi Shanhai Art Museum, Beijing
2023 Group exhibition【19 codes】Manuscripts and Works; HanJian Fine Art Gallery, Beijing
2022 Solo exhibition【Relationship】Works by Lion Nie, HanJian Fine Art Gallery, Beijing
2021 Group exhibition【Informal】contemporary art exhibition, HanJian Fine Art Gallery, Beijing

 

REBIRTH – Reading Lion Nie’s Paintings

The first time I saw Mr. Nie Jijun’s (Lion Nie) works was in his studio in Vancouver, with beautiful surroundings, a quiet garden, and a bright studio. An abstract acrylic work with green as the dominant colour came into view. His works seem to have a certain gravity and vitality, as if they immediately could take root in the present, grow, and infinitely evolve.
We all grow up and live in a social environment so, strictly speaking, all our output is social. Immigrant artists from all over the world bloom in this new land of Vancouver. Nonetheless, “art is true temperament,” and inevitably, artists still reset their creative paradigm and language, projecting and continuing their original creativity, formats and media. Canada’s unique and diverse artistic wealth continues to write a unique and diverse art history for the Canada’s Pacific Coast.

Mr. Nie’s arrival has injected new energy into this development. He made the symbol he used, the Möbiusband, and his original expression more vivid and dramatic, either making it the protagonist that fills the canvas, or using it to define the tone and extension of the meaning of the painting. The Möbiusband often is considered to be the creative source of the infinity symbol “∞.” If we walk on it, the journey will go back and forth endlessly and regenerate… infinite territory and unpredictable encounters.

It is not easy to achieve the visual pleasure of abstract works. The artist needs to have a strong sense of colour matching, and be adept even at generating synaesthesia, writing feelings with feelings, such as depicting auditory perception as visual representation, and taste perception as musical notes. Nie’s habit of painting with music, coupled with his keen perception and free and bold brushstrokes, has created a series of paintings that are vigorous, tranquil, profound, or bright, such as the triptych of Lyrical Tones, Blues, and The Smell of Peat in June.

Temporality, stages, cycles, and regeneration also are ubiquitous in Nie’s works. Works such as Beginning of Spring, Awakening from Hibernation, Grain Rain, and Summer Solstice come into view. The Chinese 24 solar terms comprise a system that integrates knowledge of astronomical phenomena, phenology, and seasons; it reflects the changes of seasons and natural laws. Nie uses seemingly disordered brushstrokes and colour blocks to summarize natural objects in the orderly world and establish his own visual kingdom. Regrowth, Unknown Growth, Natural Construction, and Memories in the Valley jump out of the regular world and adopt a painting language that is timeless and not defined by generations, expressing some phenomena and subtle existences in the metaphysical category, and are naturally revealing.

After a transoceanic journey, the artist came to Canada to complete the new paintings Flowing City and Wandering between Cities series. The entire series is set and summarized in Reborn and Symbiotic World. I can’t help but sigh at the torrents and ups and downs of the real world, the encounter of wind and clouds, and the profoundness and tranquility hidden in it. Everyone’s fate and footprints are gathered into the notes of life, interweaving and echoing. After reading Mr. Nie’s new works, it feels as natural as breathing, and as fresh and open as rebirth!

Toni Zhang McAfee
Director, Lipont Gallery

Lion Nie 语言 (Quotes)

抽象绘画是唤醒自己的认知,用思想去表达当下心境或未曾感知的世界。

Abstract painting is to awaken one’s own cognition and use thoughts to express the current state of mind or the world that has never been perceived.

——Lion Nie

 

艺术离不开“爱、恨、生、死、欲”的表达,抽象绘画更加注重精神性与情感性的存在,其作品与成长经历、认知是一致的,否则作品的呈现是虚假的表达。

Art is inseparable from the expression of “love, hate, life, death, and desire”. Abstract painting pays more attention to the existence of spirituality and emotionality. Its works are consistent with growth experience and cognition, otherwise the presentation of the work is a false expression.

——Lion Nie

 

世界原本就是黑、白、灰的世界,因为有了人类,有了情绪、心里的激荡,视界才变得艳丽多彩。抽象艺术需要用心去欣赏,作品打动你的不止是眼睛,而是触动你与作者共鸣的心灵。

The world is originally a world of black, white and gray. It is only because of humans, emotions and inner agitation that the world becomes colourful. Abstract art needs to be appreciated with heart. The works impress not only your eyes, but also touch your soul that resonates with the author.

——Lion Nie

 

艺术虽无用,却是精神的良药。

Art is useless, but it is a good medicine for the spirit.

——Lion Nie

 

我的作品中蕴涵着东方传统书画的文脉,以及对视觉设计、摄影艺术、西方哲学观的理解,这些元素正在滋养着我。

My works contain the cultural context of traditional oriental painting and calligraphy, as well as my understanding of visual design, photography art, and Western philosophy. These elements are nourishing me.

——Lion nie