Cheung Yee (Zhang Yi) Abstract Sculptures

Cheung Yee, Cast Paper painting, wall sculpture, black, edition CHEUNG YEE (1936–2019) The Chinese artist Cheung Yee, a pioneer of the contemporary art scene in Hong Kong, died in Los Angeles on December 4 at the age of eighty-three. The Hong Kong Museum of Art confirmed his passing. Best known for his paper castings; bronze relief; and wooden, stone, and bronze sculptures, which mixed Western modernism, traditional Chinese aesthetics, and elements of folklore and ancient philosophies, Cheung cofounded the avant-garde Circle Art Group with Hon Chi Fun, Wucius Wong, and several other peers. The group was active from 1964 to 1971. Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1936, Cheung was raised in Hong Kong but was forced to leave the region when the Japanese invaded China during the Second Sino-Japanese War; his family relocated to Guangzhou. When the conflict ended, Cheung returned to the region and began learning Gongbi, a realist brush technique in Chinese painting. In the 1950s, he studied art at Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, where he met his wife. Throughout his schooling, Cheung pursued his interests in archaeology and began experimenting with different materials and with approaches to copperplate etching, welding, and modeling. In 1964, Cheung’s first major retrospective was organized by the City Museum and Art Gallery at Hong Kong City Hall. The following year, he received a grant from the Institute of International Education to study in the United States and Europe. Since then, he has had solo exhibitions at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, AO Vertical Art...