Chen Ruobing

Born into a family of scholars and artists in 1970, Chen Ruobing grew up during China’s Cultural Revolution with an interest in Chinese ink wash paintings, calligraphy, philosophy and poetry. From 1988 to 1991, Chen was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. Driven by his interest in western philosophy and art theory, Chen moved to Germany in 1992 to study at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with Gotthard Graubner. Now he lives and works in Düsseldorf. 

Chen’s works periodically exhibits at galleries and museums in Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, China, South Korea and Japan, and his works are presented at art fairs in Germany, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Japan, the United States, England and Australia.

"The quiet abstract paintings by Chen Ruo Bing…provide a contemplative respite. Working on medium-size canvases, he creates simple compositions: grids of gray boxes centered on monolithic forms and, in one case, a square delineated by four purple brush strokes on a yellow field. The main interest lies in the rich colors stained into the canvas, which glow with Rothko-esque incandescence. The work is a fine blend of formalism, hedonism and transcendentalism." (The New York Times critic Ken Johnson)