Living Art: Four Seasons Hotel Beijing Announces New Art Residency

The capital of China is the beating heart of the country’s contemporary art scene. Over the past three decades, Chinese artists have carved out an era in the contemporary art world, earning widespread recognition on the global stage. Artist Zeng Fanzhi still holds the record for contemporary Asian art sales after his seminal work The Last Supper took HKD 180.4 million at a 2013 Hong Kong auction. Though a modern phenomenon, the roots of contemporary Chinese art run deep, and Four Seasons Hotel Beijing supports this rich artistic heritage by providing inspirational opportunities for young Chinese artists to both create and exhibit artworks across a variety of innovative platforms.

The Hotel’s latest effort towards elevating young Chinese artists is Art Residency, the first program of its kind in a hotel in the capital that brings art up close and personal for hotel guests and builds on the established Four Seasons tradition of supporting local arts and culture.

For Art Residency’s inaugural edition, Four Seasons Hotel Beijing collaborates with the talented artist Cui Fenghua. With bold colours and broad strokes, Cui creates paintings that explore the relationship between the contemplative inner mind and the bustling mania of the world in which we live.

Born in Shandong Province, Cui is a sensitive soul whose spiritual heartache led her to quit her 9-5 job and begin painting. For her art is not a professional pursuit, but a form of meditation that manifests as physical progressions through time and space. It has been said that the wisest among us are those that know they know nothing at all. This philosophy guides Cui’s brush, and her explorations and attempts to understand the world around her. To fully appreciate her talent, the viewer must step back and observe the pieces from a broader perspective, a perspective in which each of us is mortal, and each of us stands alone in the face of a vast, unknowable universe.

“I’m thrilled to share my inner world with more people and find inspiration in my interactions with them during my Art Residency,” says Cui. “It’s a great opportunity for an artist, and I’m truly touched that there are so many art lovers at Four Seasons Hotel Beijing who want to learn more from artists and connect with them.”

“Fenghua is a young and immensely talented artist, who inspires all around her with her work. I’m excited to bring Four Seasons guests a one-of-a-kind art experience with Fenghua during her live painting series and other activities during her Art Residency with us,” says Four Seasons Hotel Beijing General Manager Andrew De Brito.

During Cui’s residency she will create art live in Four Seasons Executive Club Lounge, inviting guests to become a part of the creative process through conversation or simply being present while she paints. Cui will also create a performance art piece at Mio, and will be available to give personalised tours of the renowned 7.9.8. Art District upon request.

Cui’s work will be available for purchase during her Art Residency, with 5 percent of the profits going to the charitable organisation Educating Girls of Rural China (EGRC), which helps underprivileged girls go to school.

Since 2013, Four Seasons Hotel Beijing has played an active role in promoting and showcasing top talent from China’s incredible arts scene in an extensive and carefully-selected in-house art collection, as well as in a broad range of creative initiatives including the vibrARTion Project, pop-up design shops and Art Residency.

Whether it be commissioning Qin Feng’s Landscape of Desires No. 4 & 5, showcasing Jen Feng’s Tang Dynasty calligraphy-inspired copper installation Romancing the Metal or exhibiting the 400 soaring stainless steel butterflies of Jayne Dyer’s Butterfly Effect in Beijing 2012, Four Seasons is a hotspot for top-tier creative talent from around the world.