Other works of Bernadette Kam Fu LEE alias LEE-PISAPIA, Kam Fu Bernadette can be viewed also at

www.bernadetteleepisapia.it

on Monet ( article written on 19/03/2018 ) ( original text misplaced, whoever happens to be in the possession of my diary ( with Monet's waterlilies on the cover ), kindly let me know . Thanks )

 https://www.bernadetteleepisapia.it/438986483

27 th May 2022

SEEING IN BETWEEN: A VIDEO DIARY 

Art Basel 2022 and Christie's

copyright 2022 Bernadette Kam Fu LEE alias LEE-PISAPIA, Kam Fu Bernadette

photo courtesy of PISAPIA, Antonio ( copyright Article on Art Basel in Italian) 

Article 1: 'MONET IN HONG KONG' by  LEE-PISAPIA, Kam Fu Bernadette

( photo of me at Christie's in front of Monet by PISAPIA, Antonio )

in Front of me is the Monet I dreamt of or the atmospheric realm resurrected from the Chinese Opera ‘ The Red Plum Story - relived ‘ 再世紅梅記？

Grateful and thankful that I could see Monet again, here in Hong Kong during the pandemic.
The Weeping Willow or saule pleureur in French -  as the original title indicates - perhaps suggests  the hidden layers of sufferings and joy behind the work, or works Monet did after he moved to Givenry in 1883

Perhaps it is the right moment to let you read of a diary I wrote on  Monet sometime ago-

THE SPIRITUAL BRUSHWORKS OF MONET -www.bernadetteleepisapia.it

in Chinese ( for I believe Monet would have liked it ) and also in English

Bernadette

( diary: 15/06/2022 )

Monet 的神筆

今天寫這日記的荷花筆是在羅馬的Monet展買的。

上面畫著Monet 的荷花。

無人能及Monet 寫荷的感情意境，是高級的深情表達。

不是以中國水墨而是以氣氛去描繪。這氣氛是用感性加色彩加詩意的表達。

即是超越了達文西的灰暗煙幕感。因為那是十九世紀，已經進入了光的感情昇華，不再是黑色灰暗，煙幕式戲劇式的表現。

那光的色彩加上沒有了黑色灰色和啡色的濃度和神秘，像是使人生的煙幕帶來了些少希望。

那是純色彩使人記起上帝給予的最大恩惠與諾言：彩虹的諾言。

不再洪水氾濫，不再重演諾厄的方舟。

那麼，人們便可在彩虹色彩的䕶慰下偶而呼吸。

呼吸著的都是神氣；呼出荷花的清，呼出水影的永恆，呼出畫家的心意，觀者的驚訝。

原來色彩，這彩虹色彩，可以用感性氣氛式的透氣般的舒發；透氣是因為如果您（觀者）小小心心的走到Monet 的原作前, 您會感到他（我們的Monet) 的氣息：那是中國書法筆調變成彩虹上天上主的呼吸。

畫家呼吸不經黑白色彩但經彩筆如此的揮毫，如此的天馬行空，如此的彩虹越空，只能出自與萬物為一，與上主氣息諾言為一的畫家之手。

所謂畫家的筆觸，其實是他完完全全無心的飛筆。

飛筆一有著淺紫色

飛筆二有著淺紫加淺粉紅

飛筆三有著淺粉紅加淺橙紅

飛筆四有著粉橙加粉藍

飛筆五有著粉綠色

由飛筆二至飛筆五都是以叠彩色去揮發，但每次叠彩時卻沒有真正的去「叠」，而是去「透」。

因為我們可以見到五層至多層的透色叠法：沒有一種硬崩崩的叠法因為那是神筆。

神筆即呼吸氣裏有著活的細胞，在呼吸著活的細胞時其筆觸跳動著的是輕、是氣、是走動式的波浪、是沒有一刻真正停滯在帆布上的彩虹。

每一次筆降畫布，每一細胞也是活著的。每一個顏色也不是死霸在其應處的位置，而只是輕輕而過；如蜻蜒點水，荷花開放的那一剎那間。

天，地，人，你，我，畫家筆觸，彩虹竟然會在沒有時空的阻隔互相溝通。

您見到那重叠，只知那不是重叠，而是時空彩虹的您我交流。

透著氣的筆觸，透著氣的油彩，竟然可以勝過原本可以透氣的表達方式：水彩。

竟然可以勝過來自東方的水墨意境：黑白水墨寫的荷塘。

原因何在？

為何東方的靈氣竟然可以被西方的感覺吸收，再而以東西方式去包涵，去體會，以來求得中西合一，全人類的包涵。

或者無其他太過公式化的理論或藝術歷史學家的宏論。

因為Monet 做到的最重要點是：

上主的靈魂與其彩虹諾言竟然在無心的西方筆觸下

輕而易舉的

如東方的無心

完完全全的

表達了出來

所以

他的叠彩透氣筆觸

是Monet 的神筆

亦是上主對我與您的

喁喁細語

看

色彩在告訴您和我

新的希望

新的呼吸

新的您和我

今後

也能感到永恆諾言的神蹟：

荷花的超越，您我已無心

俗氣已去

重重的油彩

已變成水彩的無形

剩下的是

赤顆的心靈

一種包涵的感受

氣氛

就在這彩虹下

完完全全的

成現了出來

我們在畫中

您們昔日觀Monet 的心境也同在

藝術到此境界

可以作到時空交替

您我共一

東與西共存

無分您我

只賴那美麗的彩虹諾言

上主的呼吸

及

Monet 的神筆。

The Spiritual Brushworks Of Monet

I wrote this diary with the Monet pen I bought at the Monet Show in Rome.

Difficult to find another artist who could paint water lilies like the way Monet did; he painted the feelings of the waterlilies, the atmospheric realm where the lotus flowers reside; almost like writing a love poem shown with the deepest and purest sentiment.

He did so without having relied on the technical aspects of oriental ink painting traditions; instead, he did it simply with the Monet kind of atmosphere : a combination of superb expressions of colour and poetic feelings.

It went beyond the atmospheric realm first discovered by Leonardo Da Vinci, that of the smoky sfumato effect, mysterious and alive.

The realm of Monet belongs to the nineteenth century, where the conquest of the expression of the quality of light and colours were in full force. The darkness and the obscure effects of the Da Vinci world disappeared: no more dramatic smoky effect. 

Without the then habitual darkness expressed with deadly blacks and muddy browns, which were once necessary elements to illustrate shadows and sometimes mysterious quality or desperate aspects of the unknown, this new way of expressiveness with pure hues and high intensity of colours turned atmospheric seemed to lift up our spirits of hope,  unveiling the dark side of the sipario of Life.

This purity of the colours reminds one simply of the greatest gift bestowed by God: His rainbow PROMISE.

No more flood, no more second scene of the Noah’s Ark.

And so, humanity can once again breathe ( even if sparingly ) under the protection of His Rainbow PROMISE.

All that is breathed is the breath of the Soul; the breath of the purity of the lotus, the eternity of the reflection seen upon the moving water, the heartfelt understanding of the painter, the surprised delight of the onlookers.

Never had we understood before Monet, the quality of Rainbow range of colours could be expressed through a deep felt atmosphere, coupled with a breath-in and out kind of totally alive expressiveness.

Breathing in and out through the paint can truly be experienced when you, the onlooker, go close enough to the original canvas of Monet: there, you feel the breath of the painter!

This is how the Chinese traditional spiritual brushwork all of a sudden turned into the eternal spiritual Rainbow Promise by the Pure Breath Of God.

The painter breathes not the oriental realms of blacks and whites , but the colourful realm of spiritual brushworks- so immensely beyond our previous rigid understanding of forms, so incredibly beyond our habitual grasp of the unlimited qualities offered by the Rainbow, so matter of factly fused with the Universal pulsation as desired by all the sages of the Far Eastern world, and finally, amazingly breathes the Rainbow breath of God... Ah, what expressions, what quality of expressiveness!

This quality of expressiveness is the quality of ‘flying brushworks’ , like his twin in the Oriental pictorial world, without intention.

First layer of flying brushworks is of pastel purple,

Second layer of flying brushworks is of pastel purple and pastel pink, 

Third layer is of pastel pink and pastel kind of orange,

Fourth layer is of pastel orange and pastel blue,

Fifth layer is pastel green or turquoise.

From the second layer of Flying brushworks to the fifth layer of Flying brushworks, all are expressed with ‘LAYERING’ of colours turned BREATH.

We see layers of breathing in and out kind of colours: there is not a trace of rigid coloured layering as the Monet layering is manifestation of Spiritual Layering.

Spiritual layering means one breathes in and out of the colours and space, with living cells.

When the painter breathes with living cells through the brushworks; his are traces that are light; just like breath, forever moving in and out like the waves of the sea, incessantly not fully landing upon the canvas, but translucent and living like the Rainbow.

Whenever a single brushwork lands upon the canvas, it is like the living cells of the painter’s breath is remade alive; there is no one colour that occupies permanently onto the desired positioning, only a hint of its passing. 

Like the brief moment when the dragonfly touches the pond, or the magical moment when the lotus first opens its petals.

Heaven, man, earth, you and me, the brushworks of the painter and the Rainbow Promise all of a sudden seem to dialogue among one another, without the hindrance of time and space.

When you see the layering , you know it is not simply Layering, but the Spiritual Rainbow Promise dialogue of 

past and present, together with the dialogue between you and me.

This breath-in-and-out brushworks, with breathing colours, amazingly and surprisingly go beyond the intrinsic quality of the other medium - watercolour, which is more aptly used for such subtle rendering of expressions.

Not only, this  Monet way also goes beyond the supreme quality of oriental portrayal of waterlilies in the expressions of traditional black and white images set in empty space .

Why?

How come the spiritual understanding of the Far Eastern world could be so fully absorbed by the Western eye , so much so that it managed to embrace, and thereby express the deep down feelings of the mutual understanding of a reality, in order to reach the dream of both worlds, until the point of the Dream of the whole Humanity: a Full embrace by all and of all?

Perhaps it is simply because there is no ridged formula behind, nor the eloquence of a too capable art historian.

It is because the most important point Monet managed to reach is:

The Soul Of God and His Rainbow Promise was being expressed through the non calculating brushworks, like the Spiritual Man in the Far East, effortlessly, breathing in and out naturally, incessantly as an all embracing atmosphere.

Therefore, the Layering yet Breathing kind of brushworks are the spiritual brushworks of Monet as well as the murmurings of God’s voice- which are within our reach should we listen with our eyes.

Lo and Behold,

The Rainbow Colours are telling you and me

Of a new Hope

Of a new way of breathing

Of a new you and me

From then on

We can feel the miracle made by the eternal Promise:

The go beyond Realm of the Lotus,

The unintentional and non calculating way of Living our Lives:

No more impurities 

The once heavy formed of oil paint turned into the formlessness of watercolours 

What remains then

Is the nudity of our hearts

A sense of full embrace.

The Rainbow is there, an all embracing atmosphere is created.

We are all in the Painting as breath, including the many onlookers that once had 

experienced the same paintings.

When ART reaches this realm of go beyond- time and space, you and I become one, East and West walking side by side, -it is only because

The Beautiful Rainbow Promise Of God, and His breath are breathed through the Spiritual brushworks of Monet.

Thank You Monet

Bernadette

 ARTICLE 2:

Art Basel in HK 2022 by PISAPIA Antonio 

Stretta tra l’acqua salata della baia di

HK e l’eau de parfume di Christie’s pur

in mostra non troverai un solo bicchiere

d’acqua a dissetarti.

Un piano intero del grande Convention

Center di Hong Kong è quest’anno 2022

dedicato alla

Fiera Art Basel di Hong Kong

estensione di quella di Basilea in Svizzera.

Ci sono molti modi per arrivare

al Convention: noi abbiamo scelto

di percorrere i circa due Km

di passeggiatadi lungomare a partire

dallo Star Ferry in Central.

E non siamo pentiti perché la passeggiata

è salutare e la vista è eccezionale.

Di fronte il lungomare

ed i grattacieli della penisola di Kowloon

che imitano in altezza e forme quelli

di Hong Kong mentre in lontananza

si intravedono le isole dell’arcipelago

con monti e rilievi nebbiosi e fantasiosi.

Questo per dire che quando siamo

arrivati al 2^ piano del Convention Center

i nostri occhi erano già pieni

di artistiche forme e dei forti colori

della città e dunque Art Basel

per la quale espongono circa 130 gallerie

d’arte d’Oriente ed Occidente

non aveva compito facile a conquistarci

pur con le sue centinaia opere d’arte

in originali o stravaganti fatture.

Dal nostro ingresso 1C incontriamo

per prima la galleria Kiange Melinde

che espone una scultura di Fabien Merelle

in bronzo molto interessante

e forse metafora della stessa Fiera:

un atleta a braccia tese e piegato

in avanti sostiene sulla schiena

un elefante 20 volte più grande.

Ed io ho pensato: questo atleta

mi rappresenta la Fiera d’Arte Basel

nel mentre l’elefante

la città di Hong Kong visto che’ difficile

è sostenere quell’elefante come difficile

reggere il confronto con l’artistica città 

di HK.

Il mio bastone da appoggio e passeggio 

mi ha per la prima volta accompagnato

ad una mostra d’arte e mi ha influenzato 

nel mio andare da un padiglione all’altro.

Esso fatto in flessibile bambù è stato

da me integrato con un pomo e una punta 

in moderno solido materiale ed ha trovato

sintonia con la Galleria ARTique perché espone

opere cinesi tradizionali intrecciate con

materiali moderni e funzionali.

Ad esempio: un quadro di stile Shan Shui 

ovvero paesaggi in inchiostro e nera calligrafia

si sposano con oggetti moderni e funzionali

come un tavolo o un piano di appoggio.

Dunque tradizione insieme a contemporaneo

est ovest etica ed estetica che si mescolano.

Proprio come il mio bastone da passeggio che

fatto in orientale bambù è integrato da materiali

moderni e funzionali d’ovest e mi è utile in

Montagna Mare e Città.

Tra tante opere esposte certo ognuno

troverà genere e tipologia adatta al

suo gusto o necessità io segnalo

una opera che mi ha messo allegria forse

perché amo il mare ed i pesci colorati

come quelli visti alla galleria Alisan Fine Arts

di HK che espone in buste trasparenti

pesci di plastica di colore rosso o giallo

come a Mong Kok nella famosa via dei pesci rossi…

Inoltre tappeti belli ed eleganti sono

esposti dalla azienda di tappeti Tai Ping di

Hong Kong che da quest’anno opera in

collaborazione con Art Basel:

due grandi tappeti di 3 X 6 circa sono

realizzati nei colori tipici della Hong

Kong degli anni 60. A dire strisce in

rosso bianco e blue che sono forma

e colori di tante borse a HK che

venivano usate per trasportare

merce ad uso personale ma anche

di lavoro essendo di un materiale 

plastificato molto forte e resistente. 

E ormai icona di HK.

Infine dopo un meritato bicchiere

d’acqua fresca e un espresso bevuti

fuori mostra abbiamo visitato un intero

terzo piano allestito dalla

Galleria d’arte Christie’s che ora

in collaborazione con

Art Basel presenta tra l’altro opere

di Picasso Monet Chagall ed altri

grandi del 900 come Il Pensatore di

Rodin in modo professionale anche

come percorso e gestione degli spazi.

In conclusione noi abbiamo visto

questo anno un’Art Basel stretta

tra l’acqua salata della baia di HK

con le sue bellezze artistiche e

l’acqua profumata della famosa

galleria d’asta Christie’s .

Ma allo stesso tempo la impossibilità

di bere anche solo un bicchiere d’acqua

in mostra a causa del Coronavirus.

 
Dunque arrivederci al prossimo anno

con l’augurio che possano migliorare

le condizioni di salute pubblica e

la organizzazione della stessa Fiera Art 

Basel di HK. Ad maiora et meliora.

Antonio Pisapia 27 May 2022 Hong Kong