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Chaolun Baatar, an artist of the Mongols
Chaolun Baatar is an artist from the Inner Mongolian western grasslands of Urad who has spent most of his adult life living as a minority in Beijing, China. Living among the majority of Han Chinese, his purpose in life is to keep Mongolian culture alive through his personal artistic vision.
Baatar's has devoted himself to bringing the spirit of the Mongols he knows to world around him which, until recently was limited to Mainland China , Inner Mongolia, Mongolia, and art dealers in Hong Kong and Taiwan . In 1995, Mr.Baatar was granted permanent US resident status as an "Artist of Extraordinary Ability" and he will have the opportunity to bring his art to North American.
Trained in European traditional oil painting methods in the Minority College, Central Fine Arts Academy Oil painting Department of Beijing, China. Baatar received a solid foundation in the use of color, chiaroscuro, and other techniques of European masters. His early works hearken to an old-world sensibility - oils paintings of pasture , country roads, fall foliage, portrait of elderly Chinese, ethnic minorities, young woman. At a certain point, his works took a determinedly Mongolian view of the world. His most interesting works, in this author's mind, are semiabstract images suggesting Mongolian interpretations of life -elongated white camels surrounding a yurt; red-clothed female figures hidden, except for the eyes, among yardage of clothing with the vast Mongolian grasslands stretching in the distance behind; the skeleton of a yurt being prepared for its felt cloth covering; images of Genghis Khan riding straight-ahead at the viewer on horseback. Idealized images of Genghis Khan-sometimes eerily evoked through the rendering of a face delineated among blended color and blurred background-suggest the power and magnitude of the Genghis Khan's, reign, and the pride of the Mongols. Baatar regales visitors with historical feats of Genghis Khan, a current theme throughout much of his work. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum in Inner Mongolia is decorated by a fresco/mural painted by Baatar entitled The God's Favored One. Baatar makes his personal social statements. Though perturbed by the Han treatment of his minority, he maintains an evenhanded, positive mental attitude. Baatar, with his delightfully fetching personality, maintains be water working away at the stone . He has slowly worked his way to the west, via his art, to be a vocal proponent for the life and culture of Mongolia.
Baatar has, and continues to, experiment with many styles. He is ever-evolving, always trying a new method to catch his Mongolian vision in his 2 - D medium. Once a style is gone, it is not repeated ( except for specifically commissioned works). His present style seeks find acceptance from a more international audience: a Mongolian cowboy, rendered in pink and purple hues, riding on horseback with hat down, could easily be the " Marlboro Man" painted by a Taos artist. A youthful blond in western clothing superimposed over a traditional Mongolian woman buried in color bursts, nearly becomes lost in the abstract brushwork and one might ask where the Mongolian soul has flown. The answer lies in the process of years of work and the "globalization" of the artist himself. Baatar, as with all good artist, continually seeks a new sense of sophistication. Now that he has been physically removed from his culture, he faces new experiences that push him to bring this new world into his work. Old methods are no longer suitable, so, for now U.S. Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s provides much of the impetus for his current work.
Baatar's stated goal is to keep the greatness of the Mongolian
past alive for today and future generations.
Chaolun Baatar
1953 born in Inner Mongolia
Education
1975-1978 Bachelor's Degree, Arts Dept. Central University of the Nationalities, Beijing
1978-1982 Master's Degree in Fine Arts, Oil Painting Dept. Central University of the Nationalities, Beijing
1990-1992 Advanced training in Modern Oil Painting and Fine Arts, Oil Painting Dept. Central Fine Arts Academy
of Beijing, Beijing.
Solo Exhibitions
1984 Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia
1988 Chinese Fine Arts Museum, Beijing
1991 The Exhibition Hall of the Union of the Mongolian Artists, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
1992 Gallery 13, Hong Kong
1993 Gallery 13, Hong Kong
1994 "7th Annual Genghis Khan Ceremony", Rutgers University
1995 Art-1 Gallery, New York
1996 Embassy of Australia, Beijing
1996 Embassy of Mongolia, Beijing
1997 Headquarters of the Republic National Bank, New York
Group Exhibition
Including in museums and art galleries in Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, Kong Hong, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Mexico City, New York , Los Angeles and San Francisco and more...
Major Institutional Collections
Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, Ordos, Inner Mongolia
The Chinese Artists Association, Beijing, China
11th Asian Olympic Games, Beijing, China
The Foreign Affairs Dept. Amsterdam, Holland
The Urban Council, Osaka, Japan
The Asahi Shinbon, Tokyo, Japan
The Japanese Writers Association, Tokyo, Japan
The University of Barcelona, Spain
The Mongolian Museum of Art, Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia
WHO, the United Nations, New York
SBC International INC., Texas, US
The IBM Headquarters, New York
The Medical School of the New York University, New York
The Mongol-American Cultural Association, New Jersey, US
Mr. Baatar's works will be exhibited in Soho, New York in Dec. 1998.
Mongolian Girl 1997 Oil on Canvas 91x73cm
Toward the Last Grassland 1987 Oil on Canvas
145x122cm
Grassland of Urad 1987 Oil on Canvas 100x80cm
Toono---Window of the Heaven 1986 Oil on Canvas 120x120cm
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Last update:January 03, 1998