Peace within #3

Discordant, gestural, yet guided lines traverse the surface of Yuan Chen’s Peace within #3. The density of the mark-making is broken and balanced by the passages of activated white acrylic that perfectly complement the vibrant blues, reds, and yellows. In the center of the composition, where the colors bleed into each other, Chen achieves a Gerhard Richter-like effect that culminates in an enigmatic wash of pigment. There is a markedly reduced intentionality in this central passage. At the same time, the rest of the brushstrokes—with their tick impasto and horizontal direction—are noticeably deliberate, and the central portion appears guided more by fate than the hand of the artist. One of Richter's primary motivations was removing himself and his artistic intentions from his work, and I see this intentional unintentionality in Peace within #3. Chen, however, takes it further and positions the intended alongside the purposeful in this lively and alluring painting.