“The signature of a painting is always individual, even in China”
This year we celebrate the 45 years of Europe-China diplomatic relations (1975-2020). This is the opportunity to talk about a young Swedish and Zimbabwean artist, Carl Anders Sven Hultin aka C.A.S.H, who left an BIG impression in China with a painting celebrating the common future of this country with our culture.
This globetrotter, citizen of the World, communicates traditions through paintings as dynamic as they are spellbinding. This skillful portrait painter lives in Brussels and we met him at the ending of the exhibition “INZIA” in Brussels on 10th September.
LHCH: Looking at your paintings we are struck by the rich palette of bright colors! That feels good.
CASH: Yes, I like to chase away the current grayness, to communicate positive energy. I have different series of paintings, here they are those painted “with a knife”. I work a lot with very organic backgrounds, metallic paint, to highlight my figurative portraits. It is also a thematic staging like a kind of wallpaper that contextualizes the portrait.
LHCH: An example?
CASH: My portrayal of Bob Marley on an African thematic background because he created a song for the independence of my country, Zimbabwe. Another painting: David Bowie also stands out against an African background because he married the most beautiful woman in the world, Iman, who was a model from Somalia.
LHCH: You have been honored with a prize for an artwork celebrating relations between Europe and China.
CASH: Yes, 1st prize in a 2015 competition organized by the Mission of China to Europe, “The China Unlimited Creative Contest”, in the Fine Arts section. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong came to present the award in Brussels. I was lucky enough to see in person the only woman to be a member of the Chinese Communist Party office! A BIG moment. Then, it was my turn to go to China and meet the high authorities of big cities known as Shanghai and Beijing, where moreover I visited the fabulous Art district 798. I received rudiments of calligraphy there and earned to paint inside a glass !
LHCH: What do you think is the reason for the success of your work for this competition?
CASH: I quickly discovered that Europe and China have one thing in common. Their colometry code: red and blue. The European flag is blue; the flag of China is red: both with yellow stars. I have placed two babies in the foreground of these two flags, universal babies, except that the European is a little more blond, and the Chinese, more black hair. They both play with the letters of the alphabet to write a common future together.
LHCH: Was that the first time in China?
CASH: No, I had been 6 times already! Especially for an internship in architecture, after my diploma, in 2005. I wrote on papers in English to make myself understood and a translator came once a week! Then a Swedish company, so from my home country, sent me to China as well. And then the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 …
LHCH: What experiences!
CASH: And it’s not over! In 2013, I exhibited at the Venice Biennale where I met the very controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. I am also a model and therefore became an influencer for brands for which I create content. I have a friend at this modeling agency who is red-haired and is 5 feet tall. He became a TV presenter in China, in Wuhan! I was on a set doing a live performance: my pictorial interpretation of Chinese characters. Very funny! On a street in Wuhan, I also made a painting and attracted hundreds of Chinese passers-by, intrigued by my atypical look. But actually, contemporary art may change the mentalities in China, since artists have to individually sign their masterpieces.
LHCH: A true lover of China!
CASH: Yes, I’ve been to 54 countries when I was 32, but China is where I’ve been the most. Here in Brussels, I often attend the CHINA CULTURAL CENTER for calligraphy exhibitions or tea ceremonies.
LHCH: Ah, you are interested in tea world ?
CASH: I’m half Zimbabwean, a former English colony, and so I was born on a tea plantation between Africa and… China, so… (laughs) And I’m even connected to indian tea, since my mother’s grandfather was Indian !
LHCH: Swedish, Zimbabwean, Indian: an Afro-Eurasian lucky man !
