From Figurative to Formless: Hyper-Imagist Art

Crushing Dunhuang murals with Dalí's dreams

Let Buddhist philosophy transform into universal visual symbols

Recently, Mr. Keyang Wu's article The "Oriental Power" in Contemporary Chinese Buddhist Oil Painting Art has been officially included in Art and Design, a national design journal in China!

With his unique creative perspective, Mr. Keyang Wu has infused contemporary vitality into traditional Oriental aesthetics, demonstrating a cross - temporal and cross - spatial cultural resonance!

  On January 11, 2025, the Art and Design magazine held a seminar on the sinicization of Buddhist art.The seminar was centered around the relevant important discussions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, actively guiding the adaptation of Buddhist art to socialist society. During the event, 7 keynote speeches and 4 group discussions were completed, and more than 20 experts and scholars shared their insights on the sinicization of Buddhist art. The content ranged from the murals in the Mogao Caves, the statues in the Yungang Grottoes to the research on the relics of Tibetan Buddhism, involving the relationship between Buddhist art and national governance, its own development, and various fields such as temple furniture, deeply exploring the process of the sinicization of Buddhist art.

The Exploration of "Oriental Power" in Contemporary Chinese Buddhist Oil Painting Art, is not only an inheritance and innovation of traditional Buddhist aesthetics but also a profound practice of cross-cultural dialogue in the context of globalization.The three stages of the "Sculptural Casting" school and the theoretical construction of Hyper-Imagism reveal two paths for integrating Oriental philosophy with Western techniques:

First, the "Sculptural Casting" school has completed the sublimation from technical realism to spiritual transcendence through the evolution of "figurative - deconstruction - formlessness". This process is not only a visual interpretation of Buddhist "emptiness" and Taoist "forgetting the image", but also provides a methodological inspiration of "skill advancing to Tao" for artistic creation.

Second, through "image reconstruction" and "surreal transcendence", Hyper-imagism transforms Buddhist philosophical thoughts into cross - cultural aesthetic language, proving that local culture can fully participate in global artistic narratives in a subjective posture, rather than passively attaching to Western paradigms.

The value of contemporary art must ultimately return to responding to the ultimate concern of humanity. The exploration of "Oriental power" in Buddhist oil painting is precisely using art as a vessel to build a bridge between the technical (form - based) and the metaphysical (Tao - based), ultimately pointing to spiritual resonance and life awakening that transcend cultural boundaries - this may be the most essential "power" of art. 

Now, the inclusion of his works in Art and Design, a national design journal of China, marks another significant achievement in Mr. Keyang Wu's artistic journey.What's more exciting is that from July to August 2025, Mr. Wu Keyang will hold his third international solo exhibition at the Palazzo Bellini in Florence for a month!

With his brush as a medium, Mr. Keyang Wu integrates the "Oriental Power" into the world of oil painting art. This not only revives traditional aesthetics in the contemporary era but also provides a Chinese paradigm for dialogue between Eastern and Western art through the innovative practices of the "Sculptural Casting" school and Hyper-Imagism.Using a distinct Oriental artistic language, he is breaking down cultural barriers, allowing the world to perceive the profound heritage and inclusive power of Chinese art through colors and philosophical thoughts. He has become a shining "art emissary" in contemporary cultural exchanges between the East and the West!

We sincerely invite all art enthusiasts to attend this artistic feast, experience the wonderful spark generated by the collision of Eastern and Western art, and witness the unique charm of Oriental aesthetics on the international stage!

Appreciation of works