Manli Chao

When I first became acquainted with the abstract painting of Manli Chao, in 2001, she was already five years a career artist and painting instructor with her student years well behind her. Manli was one of several emerging artists I selected to test the market for new artists to a commercial clientele in the San Francisco Bay Area. From five star hotel lobbies, to tech companies and commercial property developments, her paintings became part of any environment and generally resulted in purchase requests and sales.
In the early 2000’s her abstract painting consisted primarily of blocks of color covering the picture plane, intersecting, overlapping, relying heavily on a complex composition. Her compositions were skillful enough to challenge a viewer without confusing them. These many years later I happy to become re-acquainted with Manli and her painting. Her composition has become more refined, even more inviting. With composition reminiscent of a Johns “Target” painting, she brings you to the heart of the art. But that is where the comparison ends. With a combination of mediums seldom combined by painters she creates a complete universe with each painting. An intimate universe based on her observations of her place in the world at any given time and she communicates these experiences in a way we can relate if we just look. And as her work of years ago the pictures are still abstracts that challenge without confusing. But with her current approach to composition and mature painterly execution, it is a different challenge, a journey the viewer will be happy to take.
Manli Chao’s paintings are selling well internationally and she is getting more and more gallery requests to include her work in their international art fair exhibits.