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10/12/2006

Ink-Painting Biennal

He Xiangning Museum of Art, Shenzhen

Ink, Life, Taste To Sugar Add Some Salt

Curated by Martina Koppel-Yang

“Ink, Life, Taste - To Sugar Add Some Salt" alludes to the notion of taste as one key facet of life, culture and artistic creation. Taste in the general sense signifies preference and in the Western context conventionally is associated with the appreciation of beauty. Taste here refers to the taste of the Chinese literati.

These being usually high officials of the Chinese empire seldom were professional artists but rather amateurs and connoisseurs and thus unified several aspects of taste in one person: They practiced calligraphy and painting, collected ancient paintings and antiquities, had obtained official degrees and represented in many cases an official authority.

In terms of Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital they incorporated the embodied state of cultural capital - the inherited and acquired disposition to understand and consume cultural objects - , further the objectified state of cultural capital - they owned collections of antique objects, such as paintings, calligraphies or precious stones-, and the institutionalised state of cultural capital - they had passed the imperial examinations, held academic degrees and titles and could therefore give a valid aesthetic judgement.

They actually represented a kind of institution setting standards for culture and for taste. Cultural capital and the accumulated cultural knowledge expressed in the literato taste confered power and social status. For the literati, taste consequently was closely linked to politics, society, social status and expressed a specific mind-set. In literati painting and calligraphy taste and aesthetics are a statement of this kind of attitude. Particular styles or topoi are used as metaphors for engaged political statements. Through painting and calligraphy they further expressed their personality, their social status and their spiritual endeavours. Social and political engagement are thus intrinsically linked to the spiritual aspects of ink painting.

In contemporary Chinese society where, in the name of economic growth, consumption and pluralism, everything is permissible, engaged statements become increasingly rare. In the exhibition “Ink, Life Taste", the notion of taste becomes a lead-in for contemporary artists who are not necessarily familiar with the technique and the tradition of ink painting to the this domain from the angle of the above-mentioned aspects. Spirituality, social and political engagement are timeless concepts; they were important values expressed in traditional Chinese literati painting, and are still compelling concepts today.

The exhibition concept is further developed from a position considering ink painting a spiritual discipline rather than a technique. It therefore comprises works executed in a variety of media, such as ink painting, photography and multi media art. This suggests the permeation of the spirit and the taste of ink painting into other media.

For the literati taste was also a common means to recognize associates and to make friends. A common topos here is that of the literati gathering. Calligraphic style (handwriting) here was an important way to judge one’s taste and moral qualities. Therefore communication and gathering are next to taste and important aspect of the exhibition.

One major idea of the exhibition is to invite artists from different cultural backgrounds - the exhibition includes thirty-five artists of Chinese and non-Chinese origin - who are very active in the international art scene to participate and to create works related to ink painting in situ. They will present their understanding of the notion of taste by using contemporary concepts and methods and explore new possibilities of communication, creation and display in the domain of ink. The aspect of the appreciation of the art works related to “reading" is a key element in the in the display of the works, the exhibition space therefore is understood as a room for wandering and strolling.

Works in the show will also include several 20th century Chinese paintings, like for example paintings by Huang Shaoqiang and Wu Hufan. Gathering here connotes meeting with history. I therefore include a 1965 painting of the first successful Chinese atom bomb explosion by painter Wu Hufan and a series of 1920s/1930s paintings by Huang Shaoqiang. Both artists focus on the aspect of society and everyday life.

At the meantime both of these artists were a kind of outsiders.: Wu Hufan’s “Atom bomb explosion" here is emblematic: speaking of his traditional education, and showing simultaneously his patriotic attitude and his attempt to make friends with the regime. Huang Shaoqiang was a Cantonese painter of the early 20th century. He lived during times of civil war and turmoil and literally starved in the 1930s, as he could not make a living from his art and art school. He has never really been accepted by his contemporaries, even though highly appreciated by some of the most important Chinese painters of the early 20th century. His paintings reflect the live of the poor, of beggars, of those forgot by society.

Gathering means further communication. One important way of communicating in traditional Chinese painting are the inscriptions on the paintings (tiba), which is also visible in the works by Wu Hufan and Huang Shaoqiang - both are writing poems and comments on their works. I want to revitalize the practice of inscribing paintings by inviting Chinese and international artists, calligraphers, art critics, curators, writers, poets, and philosophers to write inscriptions on works or the concept of the exhibitions. These inscriptions will be exhibited next to the works. Further, a group of four or five artists will use one space of the museum for a project in situ: these artists will spend about one week together in the space, communicating and working, only using ink and paper to express themselves.

“Ink, Life, Taste" invites the following artists: Wu Hufan, Huang Shaoqiang, Adel Abdessemed, Peter Aerschmann, Samta Benyahia, S. Badral, Ruth Barabash, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Chen Shaoxiong, Sh.Chimeddorj, Chen Tong, Ming Fay, Feng Qianyu, Antonio Gallego, Guo Fengyi, Peter Guth, Katrin Jakobsen, Jiang Zhi, Leung Kuei-ting, H.H. Lim, Qiu Zhijie, santomatteo, Shen Yuan, Miroslav Tichy, Barthelemy Toguo, Wu Shanzhuan, Yan Pei-ming, Xu Tan, Yangjiang Group (Zheng Guogu, Sun Qinglin, Chen Zaiyan, Yang Jiechang, Yang Yi, Yang Yong.

Colophons/ inscriptions:
Zhang Zhiyang, Yan Shanchun, Dong Xiaoming, Wang Huangsheng, Mrs. Alice King, Lothar Ledderose, Xiao Kaiyu, Yang Yi, John Clark, Xu Tan, Chen B, Shang Tao, Pi Daojian, Lu Yi, Fan Jingzhong, Chen Tong, Yang Jiechang, Adel Abdessemed, Manray Hsu, Frank Andre' Jamme, Waling Boers, Johnson Chang, Li Weiming, Qiu Zhijie, Lu Jie, Bert Theis, Sylvain Levy, Huang Haiming, Li Xiaoru.

Opening: 11. Decembre 2006

Venue: He Xiangning Museum of Art
Shenzhen

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