Yan Gallery

Cheng Tin Hok was born in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province in 1951 and has been passionate about painting from an early age.  When he moved to Hong Kong he learned sketching and oil painting from Mr. Chen Xueshu.  Later he also learned bird and flower painting from Yang Shanshen, master of the Lingnan School.  In 2000 he graduated with distinction from the Graduate School of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, specializing in figure painting, where he was taught by Wu Shanming.  Influences of both these masters can be found in his works.

In this recent collection, Cheng takes Hong Kong as his inspiration, working in ink with minimal colour, he paints directly onsite, which gives his works a liveliness and immediacy which is instantly apparent.  Masterfully using his brush he varies the tone of ink, sometimes dry and rough, as if hacking at the mountains with an axe, sometimes dense and smooth, conveying the thick jungle that covers parts of Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is Cheng’s home and he knows every part of it well.  Thus he takes us on a journey from Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon Peninsula and further afield to the New Territories.  His style is distinctive; traditional and yet at the same time contemporary, showing us a Hong Kong that is immediately recognizable and also personal.  His paintings are harmonious and calming, under his brushwork this bustling metropolis becomes a wonderland – mild, soothing and poetic.

Cheng has dedicated his whole life to the arts and is not only accomplished in painting, but also in calligraphy and seal carving.  His works have been displayed at numerous exhibitions in Hong Kong and China.  He has taught passionately about art at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and has a dedicated following of students and art lovers alike.