Czech artist adopts Chinese art

After thousands of years, traditional Chinese water-and-ink paintings remain alive and well in modern China. That being said, water-and-ink works from a western painter remain a rare thing.

But now Beijing's Times Art Museum is welcoming visitors to just such an exhibition, "Frontline," from the hands of Czech artist Jiri Straka.

He fell in love with the country when he first came to China in 1995 on an exchange scholarship. And the country's traditional paintings caught his eye as well. Years later, he's grown into a full-fledged artist - devoting himself to studying Chinese ink painting, but with an European perspective.

And his style continues to evolve. This latest exhibition presents several blue-and-white porcelain pieces to the public for the first time.

Painter Jiri Straka said, "The technique used in porcelain painting have similarities to ink painting on paper, but the material is different, so there are other variables to look out for, which is quite a creative process for me. I began to try painting on vases this summer. After many attempts, I found that blue-and-white porcelain was suited only to certain traditional Chinese themes, but its fun in any case."

Jiri is bringing a unique perspective to ink painting, for instance a particularly western composition. He's also blending in watercolor. This sort of fusion even continues on into his personal life. He's married to Chinese painter A Qin, who helps drive Jiri's creations.

A Qin, curator of Czech-Chinese Contemporary Art Gallery, said, "We are going to continue working hard on painting, of course, that's our job as artists and art promoters. We are grateful that we've met many outstanding artists from both China and the Czech Republic, it's an inspiring feeling to introduce them to each other's home countries. It's been a great journey so far. "

In May of 2012, the couple opened their own art gallery in Beijing's Songzhuang - an area home to many bohemian artists. A number of Czech art exhibitions have been held since then, and now the couple is planning to initiate an exchange program for undergraduates in Czech and Chinese art institutes. The aim is to support cultural exchange between two countries.