In my opinion, painters can be divided into two categories: those who studied formally, academics, who pursue precise forming and are adept at aerial perspective, forming of structure and visual third dimension and those of “liberal painters” who like to play a wild card—using their brush for a sprinkle of freedom and infusing their art with their true temperament, instead of portraying a subject.

　　We have always been overawed by the precise forming and superb skills of the first type and bowed in worship to their gleam of rationalism.

　　The second type of painters have always surprised us with their unique sensations and perspective and the techniques of expression they use, making us unable to categorize them into a specific group or school of painting. For these artists, it is hard to come out with a conclusion by applying the more common judging standard. Wu Ke undoubtedly falls into the second category.

　　The first time I saw Wu Ke’s paintings, I was so captivated that I almost ignored the content and was instead attracted by the vivid colors, harmonious hues and the nuances of her painting. They are so cheerful, pleasing, and relaxing, offering a truly joyous experience of art appreciation to us. Suddenly, a fashionable lady and her attractive figure came into our sight, taking us by surprise, making us realize that there aren’t just abstract color blocks and spots in the painting, but also human figure and fine dress hiding in it. It turns out that each color block and spot is an element of the beautiful face, eyes and hair.

　　An insightful painter will usher us into her long-plotted “trick”. It will become a marvelous sensation and enjoyment: nothing imposed on you, no instruction, no illustration or mystery “idea.” All is a random expression from the painter’s inner passion, bringing us into a peaceful and comfortable world.

　　Wu Ke adores art masters such as Van Gogh, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Moore, Bacon, de Kooning and others, judging from which we can see that she attaches greater importance to intuition than sense. She cherishes the natural beauty of art. The themes of her artworks are always ordinary people and objects of urban life, as well as diverse life scenes and depictions of dreamlands. Casting realism aside, she adopts a subjective, liberal and plain style to express her opinion about the space of survival left for people nowadays and a catharsis of emotions.

　　Wu Ke still keeps innocence as a child, for there are childlike simplicity and playfulness, delight of painting, illusion of colors and subtil images shown in her artworks. Wu Ke is having fun playing this “game”, and passes the fun on to us. Thanks indeed.

　　As to the function of painting, there have always been many sayings, among which I tend to go along with “game.” Painting should not carry the burden of depicting a story or illustrating an idea, but rather act as a blissful pleasure for your eyes and as a balm for your body and soul. That must be the reason why Wu Ke’s paintings are popular among so many people. Wu Ke is smart and fully aware of what she wants. I believe she will have more fun playing her “game” in the future, and passing it on to more people.

　　January 10, 2012

作者：WangKun