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Nudes laid bare by calligraphy
By Xu Wenwen |
May 16, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A nude woman lies on her front on a beach, her skin and hair shimmering in the sunshine, her arms cradling her face, creating a Y-shape with her body. Above, cursive calligraphy extends in vertical lines, following her body contours, as if part of the photograph.
It is a picture by great American photographer Edward Henry Weston (1886-1958), yet with calligraphy from "Heart Sutra," a classical Mahayana Buddhist sutra, added by experimental calligraphist Wang Dongling.
Almost 50 photographs, mostly of nude women, taken by different photographers are the canvas for much of Wang's calligraphy in a new exhibition.
"The nude body is considered the most beautiful things in western art, while calligraphy is considered most beautiful in Chinese art, and I, who love both, make a dialogue between them," says the 67-year-old.
These works are currently on display in Wang's solo exhibition "Supreme Black and White" at Sanshang Contemporary Art Space.
Wang, director of the calligraphy institution of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, is also the curator of a regular exhibition "Calligraphy or Not Calligraphy" which merges painting, installations and multimedia art with calligraphy.
And for his solo exhibition, Wang showcases two types of calligraphy - characters added to photographs and calligraphy written on walls.
The exhibition also features two videos, one a documentary about Wang, the other detailing how he creates his work.
Adding calligraphy to photographs, Wang seeks to make a connection with the original work. On one picture of a woman flanked by wooden models, Wang writes thick and dense characters on the models but leaves the woman blank, creating a contrast and new meaning.
And in a series of five photographs of nude women, Wang chooses different styles of calligraphy for different photographs. For example, neat and orderly seal characters - zhuan ti - are applied to a picture of a woman embracing herself; regular script, kai ti, for a woman standing with her arms wide open; and a cursive style, cao ti, for a photograph of a women bending over backwards.
Though Chinese ink for calligraphy is always black, Wang employs Chinese dyes for his work, to echo, highlight or create a contrast to the photographs.
Wang says he is always first inspired by a photograph, then creates calligraphy to go with it.
"I choose photos which express beautiful body curves - body language is pure and inspiring," he says. "I do not overlap characters on photos, but make the two merge together."
Some of the "photo-calligraphy works" also feature photographs by Wang, including self-portraits and 40 shots of withered lotus in Hangzhou's West Lake.
But calligraphy forms the core of Wang's work. "Through calligraphy I find that I can get answers to the mysteries and confusion surrounding life and the universe," he says.
Wang's calligraphy on the walls of the gallery includes "Supreme Black and White," written at the start of the exhibition space.
"Black and white are two extremes, yet create supreme art. By the same token, calligraphy and the body, two extreme froms of beauty in oriental and occidental cultures, also create supreme art," he says.
Date: Through May 23, 9am-5pm
Address: Sanshang Contemporary Art Space, 52-1 Yan?an Rd S
Tel: 0571- 8782-5633
It is a picture by great American photographer Edward Henry Weston (1886-1958), yet with calligraphy from "Heart Sutra," a classical Mahayana Buddhist sutra, added by experimental calligraphist Wang Dongling.
Almost 50 photographs, mostly of nude women, taken by different photographers are the canvas for much of Wang's calligraphy in a new exhibition.
"The nude body is considered the most beautiful things in western art, while calligraphy is considered most beautiful in Chinese art, and I, who love both, make a dialogue between them," says the 67-year-old.
These works are currently on display in Wang's solo exhibition "Supreme Black and White" at Sanshang Contemporary Art Space.
Wang, director of the calligraphy institution of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, is also the curator of a regular exhibition "Calligraphy or Not Calligraphy" which merges painting, installations and multimedia art with calligraphy.
And for his solo exhibition, Wang showcases two types of calligraphy - characters added to photographs and calligraphy written on walls.
The exhibition also features two videos, one a documentary about Wang, the other detailing how he creates his work.
Adding calligraphy to photographs, Wang seeks to make a connection with the original work. On one picture of a woman flanked by wooden models, Wang writes thick and dense characters on the models but leaves the woman blank, creating a contrast and new meaning.
And in a series of five photographs of nude women, Wang chooses different styles of calligraphy for different photographs. For example, neat and orderly seal characters - zhuan ti - are applied to a picture of a woman embracing herself; regular script, kai ti, for a woman standing with her arms wide open; and a cursive style, cao ti, for a photograph of a women bending over backwards.
Though Chinese ink for calligraphy is always black, Wang employs Chinese dyes for his work, to echo, highlight or create a contrast to the photographs.
Wang says he is always first inspired by a photograph, then creates calligraphy to go with it.
"I choose photos which express beautiful body curves - body language is pure and inspiring," he says. "I do not overlap characters on photos, but make the two merge together."
Some of the "photo-calligraphy works" also feature photographs by Wang, including self-portraits and 40 shots of withered lotus in Hangzhou's West Lake.
But calligraphy forms the core of Wang's work. "Through calligraphy I find that I can get answers to the mysteries and confusion surrounding life and the universe," he says.
Wang's calligraphy on the walls of the gallery includes "Supreme Black and White," written at the start of the exhibition space.
"Black and white are two extremes, yet create supreme art. By the same token, calligraphy and the body, two extreme froms of beauty in oriental and occidental cultures, also create supreme art," he says.
Date: Through May 23, 9am-5pm
Address: Sanshang Contemporary Art Space, 52-1 Yan?an Rd S
Tel: 0571- 8782-5633
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