PAST THE TASTE OF INK

Amy Li Gallery is pleased to invite you to join the opening of our group exhibition - "The taste of ink " , which takes place at 3pm on the 2rd of November. The exhibition is curated by art critic Liu Libin who is also a Ph.D of CAFA. Seven contemporary Chinese artists such as Chen Qi, Liu Liyun, Liu Zhixing, Luo Wei, Tan Ping, Wang Huangsheng and Wu Mengshi will participate in this exhibition.

Based on the philosophical ideas that 'man is an integral part of nature' and 'compatible with matter', some critics regard the relationship between the artist himself and the paper (or the work) as the patent of traditional Chinese painting. Somehow, this concept gave curator rise to the following reflections. And that led to the original intention of 'The Taste of Ink'.

Artists who truly inherited the essence of traditional Chinese painting could be oil painters, printmakers or even installation artists, not necessarily traditional Chinese painters. The position of artists accompanies the migration of ink and brush, thus forming the assimilation between substance and self. Moving Visions Series by artist Wang Huangsheng appropriately reconstructs the relation between self and paper. The 'strong' transposition from body to paper can hardly be concealed: purified lines reveal the moment of 'writing' vividly on the paper. Tan Ping's 'One Cup' pursues a stage that's more pure and direct, it seeks some kind of uncertainty under 'the state of control'. Perhaps it's the arbitrary and disorderly nature of ink that gives us a sweet aftertaste. “Bodhi is fundamentally without any tree, the bright mirror is also not a stand,” immaculately reveal the transparency and spotless exposure of Luo and Liu's works. In Luo Wei's 'Transparent' series, she creates an interiorized empty world with all the minor details abandoned but leaving all the images in the scene. Comparatively, the delicate horse drawn by Liu Zhixing induces a tender emotion gently centered on common people. Those acrylic paintings express a universal feeling that is so pure, and pleasantly touching.

The meaning of 'ink painting' is traditionally bounded as patent of traditional Chinese painting. As a result, many artists are bound in this small circle and are often overtaken by traditional stereotypes. In contrast, take a look at Chen Qi's woodblock prints 'Water' under this circumstance, we'd sense the persistence and speculation of the artist that are profoundly hidden in his works. Chen Qi declares independence of his woodblock prints from questioning the 'nature of materiel' while digging into the 'nature of mind'. In her work 'All About', Liu Liyun mineralizes traditional Chinese ink painting into simple lines, and gives new deification to it via her installation works. On the other hand, mechanical devices 'spawn' and 'worms' created by Wu Mengshi, cleverly creates another type of sight of ink painting.

How do we establish the language of traditional Chinese art in the modern world? The 'sense of texture' permeates into artist's lifestyle and the essence of 'materiel'. Yet by rethinking of 'materiel', it all comes back to the deep understanding of 'materiel' by the creators. In this process, the subjectivity of artist is lifted up, then traditional Chinese culture gets translated speculatively. As a result, their works could exist subjectively in a style of 'tactile', instead of being limited in any single format. The selected art works from this exhibition are all explorations of those artists from the past couple of years, and what we see is the outstanding 'quality' when they are presented together. As the scent of ink painting lingers around, and so this exhibition is entitled 'The Taste of Ink'.