Siu Kui Cheung (張紹渠) fuses classical Chinese art forms with a distinctively Western style of painting, reflecting his cultural roots and training in China and his peregrinations across Europe and North America to expose the true beauty and meaning of the human condition. This has resulted in his signature fusion style, which emphasizes the balance between imitation and creativity and the unification of medium and form. He strives to produce a study of texture and transparency in each of his paintings through his unique combinations of egg tempura, a water-based paint, with oil. Siu Kui’s evolving subject matter reflects his metamorphoses from an early career as a portrait artist in Hong Kong to an émigré painter of still life forms in Canada. In recent years, he has grown captivated by the magnificence of landscape. Siu Kui’s new works seek to capture the play of light and matter in both natural and man-made vistas. And, drawing from his study and practice of calligraphy, he is also creating a new oeuvre of contemporary Chinese ink wash paintings.
Born in Canton (now Guangzhou), Siu Kui Cheung (張紹渠) first studied with the art educator Feng Gangbai, who was celebrated for his portrait paintings. In 1969, he moved to Paris to continue his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts.
Cheung launched his career in Hong Kong as a portrait artist during the 1970s. He painted individual or family portraits of the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir David Trench; of Sir Cho Yiu Kwan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Legislative Council Member Fung Hon Chu; General Director of the Hong Kong Spinners Industry, T Y Wong; also Ho Sin-Hang, President of the Hang Seng Bank, and its General Manager Quo-wei Lee, later Chairman of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, as well as many others. Many works from this early era are displayed at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In addition, he designed the famous New Year scroll painting of the God of Wealth for the Hang Seng Bank that became a poster seen widely throughout homes and stores in Hong Kong.
For the past four decades, Cheung has called Canada home. He maintains a rigorous attitude toward painting, balancing imitation with creativity, uniting meaning with form. In pursuit of perfection he has spent a lifetime reading and constantly traveling. Besides delving into music, literature, philosophy, and a wide range of artistic fields, he has visited in Russia, Italy, Spain, Holland, and Japan, among other countries, to study thoroughly the work of masters there.
