The Artistic Universe of Irene Chou

Irene Chou (Zhou Luyun, 1924-2011), a renowned painter, started to learn ink painting at the age of twenty-six. She learnt from Chao Shaoan and Lui Shou-kwan and had built a firm foundation in traditional ink painting. Chou created her own style after numerous explorations and established herself as one of the pioneers in the history of modern ink painting. This essay is a thorough account of Chou’s art of different stages. In the 1950s, Chou had been a diligent follower of her teacher’s works. In the 1960s, Chou sketched the nature, learnt from Lui Shou-Kwan (who was advocating “New Ink Painting Movement” at that point of time), studied calligraphy and practiced qigong. By the early 1970s, Chou created her signature “Line Works.” Chou’s “Dark Paintings” series in the mid-70s came out after the decease of her teacher and husband. In the 1980s, influenced by the Neo-Confucian thinker Lu Jiuyuan (Southern Song Dynasty), Chou created her own visual language with signs and symbols. After her recovery from a stroke attack in 1991, she moved to Australia, and continued her quest for innovation for another two decades. Calling herself “an ordinary woman”, Chou’s paintings are internationally recognized and her life is indeed everything but ordinary.