De Deng is not just an artist. He is a monk. He studies Budha, philosophy of all religions, aesthetics, Chinese Caligraphy, modern art, traditional Chinese painting, and “action art”. Before he became a monk he spent a year and a half helping clean the polluted environment in the Dian Lake, of Yunnan Province. He has tried to educate people about taking care of the earth. I was happy to visit his art exhibition at the 219 Gallery. His current art is abstract style and was displayed on October 18 to 22 at the 219 Gallery on Baoshan Beilu, in the He House Hotel (Heshe Jiudian).

 

 

 

There are too many paintings to show here, but photos of the event are below:

Deng Chuan Qi shown below attended the exhibition of his former student. When Deng was younger, he was a Guiyang art teacher. He inspired a lot of students to become artists, including De Deng. Many of the Guiyang artists of today were students of Deng in middle school. They met their old teacher at the exhibition.  Also shown is Diana, our interpreter, one of students on the island who studies calligraphy, and a cat, who really seemed to appreciate the event.

After the event I was invited to the artist’s home and studio. He has two students living in his compound, which is on an island. Ironically, the island has no water around it right now because recent construction has resulted in the river being drained. De Deng is an environmentalist and his island retreat is no longer an island.