contemporary ink paintings - marquette university
TRANSCRIPT
Marquette Universitye-Publications@Marquette
Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications Philosophy, Department of
1-1-2009
Contemporary Ink PaintingsCurtis L. CarterMarquette University, [email protected]
Published version. "Contemporary Ink Paintings" in Contemporary Ink Art Evolution. The Art StatePress, 2009: 21-23. © 2009 The Art State Press.
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Creating works of art with Ink and brush on paper is a tradition in Chinese art
that has received new life in the work of contemporary Chinese artists, including
those represented in the current exhibition. The importance of ink paintings was
revealed again in the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics held in the new
Beijing Olympic stadium. As a giant scroll unfolded before the spectators' eyes and
via television to viewers throughout the world, live dancers moved expressively
the art of the future. There are important differences. Unlike the situation in India, for
example, where British colonial influences were present and perhaps aimed to divert
attention from traditional Indian styles of art, Chinese art did not experience any
comparable western colonization efforts.
Hence the situation of art in China differs from that in India and other cultures
whose artistic traditions were interrupted by the influences of European Colonialism.
across the surface of the scroll leaving black ink markings as if from the brush of Apart from efforts of Jesuit artists trained in Europe, who introduced western art to
a painter. This metaphorical gesture of moving bodies executing brush strokes, China in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there was relatively little western
analogous to the body movements of a painter marking the paper surface on which influence in the history of Chinese art. Chinese artists in the twentieth century were
he creates beautifully articulates the importance of the body in creative expression. aware of, and in limited spheres influenced by certain developments in Western
This is not only true for the dance but also in the bodily actions the painter takes to modernism such as Impressionism and Fauvism as is suggested in the work of
wield the brush during the creation of a painting. The inclusion of this process in the Chinese artist, Zheng Shengtian.
Olympic spectacle can only heighten the importance of ink brush painting in the Perhaps the situation in Indian art today, which some believe is on the thresh
aesthetic culture of China. hold of rising importance in the global art world, will offer some encouragement to
Why the interest in Ink and brush paintings today? On one level, it is perhaps Chinese artists who desire to maintain important connections between traditional
useful as a defensive tactic in an effort to stave off, or at least slow, the rush of art and contemporary art. Despite the option of following western art styles in
contemporary Chinese artists to adopt western modern and post-modern approaches India during the colonial era, there were Indian artists and teachers (for example
to art. Ink and brush painting is one of the distinctive marks of Chinese culture, Abanindranath Tagore) who recognized in Indian art a "grand ancient and still vibrant
and there are many who cherish and wish to maintain this artistic tradition. On phenomenon" and set out to develop a type of painting based on Indian rather
the other hand, it can be seen as a way of remaining open to the future of Chinese than western models. The interest of contemporary Chinese arts in ink and brush
contemporary art that is integrally connected to the evolving history of Chinese art paintings suggests a similar desire to ground aspects of Chinese contemporary art in
and culture. one of its important forms of traditional art.
It is useful to compare for a brief moment the role of traditional Indian art in To put it another way, the main question for contemporary Chinese artists
the practices of the modern and contemporary artists of India with the situation today is, Quo Vadis? Or in what directions might their art be heading? One of these
of artists in China today. Artists in both cultures face the challenge of how to view directions is embedded in the current exhibition dedicated to examining recent
traditional art in the context of an increasingly global art world where the cultures experiments with ink brush paintings by leading contemporary Chinese artists. This
of east and west must address the tensions of the old and the new while forging new interest in Chinese ink painting marks a change in direction for recent Chinese
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Curtis L. Carter, Ph.D, formerly
founding director and chief curator of
the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette
University, Milwaukee, USA; currently
professor of aesthetics, Department
of Philosophy, Marquette University;
president of Carter Fine Arts Consulting
International Fine Arts Network; first
vice president International Association
for Aesthetics. Dr. Carter has authored
many essays on contemporary art and
aesthetics and has curated over 200
exhibitions of modern and contymporary
He is a frequent international lecturer
on contemporary arts and aesthetics
and has recently lectured in China at the
Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts,
Peiking University, China Academy of the
Social Sciences, and Beijing International
University.
art, as traditional Chinese ink painting was considered an elitist form of art by art suited to western tastes, raises serious questions for how to maintain an
influential proponents of Socialist Realism and grew out of favor in mid-twentienth authentic Chinese voice. The artists in this exhibition represent one effort to find
century. For example, there is little reference to ink and brush painting in the 2007 answers.
exhibition at the National Art Museum of Art in Beijing, "The Splendid Age ... " Also related to their connecting today's painting to tradition, is the question for
celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the founding of Beijing Painting Academy and whom, or for what purpose are the artists painting? Earlier generations of Chinese
the Shanghai Institute. The works included in this comprehensive overview, which artists would have included learned men, court aristocrats, or professional artisans.
selectively surveys Chinese art from the 1 950s to the present, mainly feature scenes These artists typically enjoyed the patronage of and were accountable to serve the
from the revolutionary period celebrating the lives of people in rural or industrial emperor. When court painting became more formalized through the establishment
settings in the manner of Socialist Realism. of the art academy, as in the Song Court dynasty, painters were held accountable as
Among contemporary Chinese ink and brush artists, Gao Xingjian was one of well to the rules of the academy. Later, painters working under the aegis of Social
the first to come to my attention. Although Gao is not represented in the current realism had a clear mandate to advance the aims of the state for the perceived
exhibition, his aesthetic suggests a common platform for understanding the paintings benefit of society.
in the current exhibition. Like the paintings of Gao, the paintings in the current Where do the artists of this exhibition stand with respect to such questions?
exhibition are rooted in an aesthetic tradition of Chinese ink and brush painting They seem to have taken a different path. Perhaps their closest historical precedent
which engages in free expression. Instead of relying on color, multiple strokes of would be the Chinese literati painters who chose ink and brush work as a means of
grays, blacks and whites are used in marking out striking patterns of tonality, line, free expression of inner feeling and ideas. Literati painting is referred to as whenren
and shape. All of these elements are given their unique identity by a certain energy hua meaning paintings done by "persons with great knowledge of literature, history
or vital force (qi) emerging from the persona of the artist. They display a modern edge and philosophy:' The question is then, is this painting done for self-amusement?
by incorporating a spirit of endless innovation gleaned in part from western painting
(Qin Feng). The ink surfaces in the paintings are enriched with subtle variations
of light, texture, and ink saturation and by applying the techniques of modern
photography (angle, depth of field and focus) alongside "diffuse point perspective"
based on Chinese painting theory. The paintings are mainly abstract, with occasional
elements of representation based on inner feelings or ideas rather than observations
of the external world. They can be filled with threatening patches of dark ink, with
corresponding patches of light (Gu Wenda), or by delicately sketched patches of lines
( Xu Bing). These elements serve as visual poems to engage the viewer in active
contemplative and imaginative participation in the completion of the creative act.
The artists in this exhibition share a common interest in maintaining a
connection between their work today and tradition. Yet none is content merely to
follow the repetitive techniques of past masters. Instead they seek to advance the
art of painting with their own innovations, taking into account both eastern and
western ideas and techniques for creating art. In some instances the work embodies
the spirit of Zen philosophy.
These artists share a common social history having experienced multiple
dramatic epochs of social change. Most lived during the period of cultural revolution
initiated as a plan of social reform under leadership of Mao Zedung. Some chose
periods of exile in Europe and America where they encountered radical changes in
modern and postmodern art and were introduced to the international art market.
For some, the dominant role of Socialist Realism in the mid-twentieth century art of
China significantly deferred the intervention of developing modern artistic practices
in the west. Still, the recent era of globalization beginning in the 19S0s has brought
opportunities and challenges including un imagined market opportunities and the
need to consider the future of Chinese art in the face of a century of change. Still,
the initial market success of Chinese artists, based in part on their ability to create
As a means of commodification of art for the market? Or for some larger intellectual
purpose? The result in every instance is an expression of beauty which continues
to occupy a central place in the aesthetic of Chinese culture. More than this, these
works act as symbols that stimulate the mind to creative reflection and provide
the means for increased appreciation for creativity in nature and in human life. In
such instances we can think of the individual works as means of advancing human
understanding by enabling the viewer to focus on connections and relations that
bring new insight into the creative order of the human mind and of art itself.
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1. Holland Cotter, Review of ':Art and
China's Revolution;' Asia Society, New
York, -January 11, 2009. Cotter suggests
the influence of Impressionist and
Fauvist art on contemporary artist
Zheng Shentian's landscape painting.
3. Holland cotter;'lndian Modernism
via an Eclectic and Elusive Artist:' New
York Times, August 20, 2008. Review of
"Rhythms of Indian: The art of Nandalal
Bose (1882-1966), Philadelphia Art
Museum. According to Cotter, In forging
a distinctly Indian art, Bose "copied
Buddhist fifth century murals in the
Buddhist caves a Ajanta," and also "paid
close attention to popular forms,urban
and rural, Hindu and Muslim," while
also keeping an eye on developments in
western art and Chinese and Japanese
ink and brush paintings
2.Curtis L. Carter, Gao Xingjian Ink
Paintings:1983-1993 , Exhibition
Catalogue, Milwaukee, Haggerty
Museum of Art, 2003. The exhibition is
based on a collection of Gao Xingjian'
s ink and brush paintings at the Morat
Institut fur Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft,
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
4.Gao Jianping, The Expressive Act in
Chinese Art: From Calligraphy to Painting
(Uppsala, 1996), pp. 30- 36.