Dr.Claudia Brown

Professor of Art History at Arizona State University

Hu Chunwei finds stark beauty and timeless integrity in remnants of industrial architecture. His works focus on details and segments of infrastructure. He instills in these a clarity of form which gives the viewer a new perspective. The factory setting gains a heroic quality as pipes and valves fulfill their function in a stable environment. The man-made becomes a feature of natural beauty. This is not a shiny new “landscape” of mechanical installations, but rather a well-tended and carefully maintained visual panorama.

Hu Chunwei’s work takes the three-dimensional world and clarifies it. Planes are smooth, and expanses of color are even. Shadows have consistency and a predictable pathway. Materials reveal their variations. Light plays off metal siding. Patches on a wall show rhythm and juxtaposition. A horizontal pipe sweeps across our view. A single vertical lamppost stands elegantly to one side. Valves suggest dynamic possibilities. Surfaces are stained by moisture. Structure and joinery show themselves in a ladder or a series of welded parts. The brick wall shows its predictable joins in mortar and its unpredictable variation in color.

For this series which the artist calls “Guanfu” or “Circulation”, he introduces steam as an element. The naturalness of the emission is emphasized. Cloud patterns swirl about the pipes or fill subterranean spaces. We are reminded of clouds and mist swirling about a mountain or emanating from a cave. These mists don’t engulf anything, nor do they come on too strong. Instead they seem to suggest energy or possibility. Another feature of the series is the use of a deeper picture space so that framing devices allow us a glimpse into something further, something well beyond the picture’s surface. Draped forms introduce yet another layer of mystery. Signs add to our imaginary status as workers, not just observers.

Hu Chunwei paints what he sees, but he sees something that most of us pass by with indifference if not disdain. At a time when industry is scrutinized for spreading pollution, Hu Chunwei reminds us that engineers and maintenance crews have created mechanical systems of intricacy, purpose, and integrity.