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COLD INK
CONTEMPORARY TRANSFORMATIONS OF CHINESE INK PAINTING
CURATED BY TIFFANY WAI-YING BERES ()
10 APRIL - 14 MAY 2014
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About our curator
tiffany Wai-ying beres
Tiffany Beres is an independent art curator whose research focuses on modern and contemporary
Chinese ink art. Born in San Francisco, California to a bi-racial family, Tiffany grew up practicing ink
painting and calligraphy, stimulating her interest in Chinese art and art history. After graduating from
Brown University and apprenticing in the Asian antiquities field, she moved to China on a Fulbright
fellowship to explore ink art in its native milieu and to meet the artists revolutionizing the field. From
2007 to 2010, Tiffany served as international affairs officer and a Chinese ink painting specialist for
China Guardian, Chinas largest auction house, before returning to work directly with artists.
Having lived and operated in China for the past eight years, Tiffany has had extensive curatorial
and hands-on field research experience related to ink art and artists. To date, she has conducted
exhibitions in the USA, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mainland China and is a frequent
lecturer on the topic of Chinese art. Tiffanys writings on Chinese ink art have been published
in numerous artist catalogs as well as the Wall Street Journal Asia, Orientations, Asian Art
Newspaper, and ArtAsiaPacifc. In addition to working with celebrated ink art masters, Tiffany has
a particular passion for discovering and exposing young ink artists. She has visited every major art
school in Mainland China and Taiwan in order to scout for new talent and to track developments in
the ink art field.
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With a history spanning two millennia, ink painting is one of China's oldest and most respected art forms. Today, established and emerging artists of critical note
are using the same approach employed for centuries past in creating brush-and-ink painting on paper or silk. Nevertheless, events of the past half-centuryfrom the
Cultural Revolution to Chinas Open Door Policyhave fundamentally altered the course of this artistic medium.
With the new ink movement of the 1950s and '60s, artists began inventing new approaches, hybridizing Western ideas with the ink art tradition, and experimenting
with new possibilities in this orthodox visual idiom, creating works often termed modern ink painting. The influence of this modern art movement continues to pervade the
Chinese ink art scene, and the vast majority of contemporary ink artists carry on employing traditional techniques that draw upon classical Chinese themes and Western
art vocabularies, visually characterized by contemplative landscapes, figures, and still life motifs.
In the wake of the '85 New Wave Movement, however, some artists also launched new schools of experimental ink painting, referring to non-figurative artistic
gestures that sought to question the ink medium itself. It is the legacy of these avant-garde artists, those who pushed beyond both Eastern and Western art concepts
to emphasize unique, personal artistic expression, that is the subject of this exhibition.
Cold Ink refers to a society of young, emerging ink artists that I have come to know in Beijing. To them, Cold does not represent indifference or dispassion,
but rather a distancing or recoloring of what we typically consider to be Chinese ink paintingjust as we know cold from hot, there is a instinctual feeling of ink,
something that transcends any particular visual mark or definition.
These neo-traditionalist artists have all been trained in classical ink painting techniques; still, in his/her own way each of them has forged a new artistic vision that both
references the ink tradition and goes beyond the brush. With great expressive freedom and a wide variety of different media, they are exploring the possibility of
ink transformationa pursuit that is very rare among young artists working today, especially since there in no promise of commercial success at the end of this road.
These young artists are following in the footsteps of two established master artists who are also joining this artshare.com exhibition: Zhang Yu and Zheng
Chongbin. For more than two decades, these pioneers have made transforming this ancient Chinese art form the defining feature of their artistic vision.
Zhang Yu, best known for his Fingerprint series, has subverted the imitation of the traces of the brush in exchange for something more personal: the practice of mental
and physical energy that manifests itself in fingerprint dots on rice paper. Emphasizing the artistic process over imagery, Zheng Chongbin mines the conceptual source
and materiality of Chinese painting to evoke higher planes of understanding. The success of both Zhang Yu and Zheng Chongbin is that they have discovered distinc-
tive artistic languages that provoke the viewer into reconsideration of the conventions underlying Chinese ink painting, while also confronting the cultural implications
of those conventions.
Collectively, these nine artists are creating works that go beyond the scope of both Chinese ink painting and Western abstract expressionist painting. There
are conceptual, philosophical, and behavioral ideas that link all of these works to the age-old ink tradition, and yet the visual experience can be appreciated just as
easily by someone brought up in a Western background as someone from an Eastern one. Indeed, in our pluralistic international art world, the power of Cold Ink
is that it is a universal vision.
Introduction to cold ink
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Exhibition Snapshot
TWO INSPIRATIONAL MASTERS
ZHENG CHONGBIN
ZHANG YU
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Born in Shanghai, Zheng Chongbin is known for his radical reconceptualization of the forms and materials of Chinese painting. A
student and teacher of Chinese figure painting at the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, in the 1980s, Zheng later moved to the
US and received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1991. Today, splitting his time between the two countries, Zheng
reveals the influences of both artistic traditions in his work. Within the confines of a black and white palette, Zheng Chongbing
delivers a complex and rich handling of paint that combines the technique of collage, paper soaking, and ink and white acrylic
layering. His work in the ink medium embodies a concept in which matter both imposes on its own form and also produces a
metaphysical dimension. His works can be found in the public collections of The British Museum, London, England, the Asian Art
Museum, San Francisco, the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Daimler Art Collection, Germany
among others.
Zheng chongbin
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Biography
1961 Born in Shanghai, China
1984 B. F. A., Chinese Painting Department, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Fine arts), Hangzhou, China
1991 M. F. A., San Francisco Art Institute, USA
Currently lives and works in California, USA and Shanghai, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014 RH Contemporary, New York, USA
2013 Zheng Chongbin: Impulse, Matter, Form, Ink Studio, Beijing, China
2012 Negotiating between Light and Ink, Asian Art Center, Beijing, China
Ink Phenomenon: Objects of Perception, Flo Peters Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
Black Wall/White Space, Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong, China
University of Alberta Museum, Edmonton, Canada
2011 White Ink, Fresharp, Chinese Culture Foundation, San Francisco, USA
2010 Emergent, Valentine Willie Fine Arts, Singapore
1990 Humanism in The Art (Painting and Mixed Media Installations), Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, USA
1988 Chongbin Zheng, Paintings, Mixed Media Installation, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Beyond Black and White: Chinese Contemporary Abstract Ink, Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China
Ink Painting in the United States, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
Culture, Mind, Becoming, Palazzo Mora, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2012 Ink, The Art of China, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2010 Ink Code, Taipei 2010 Contemporary In Painting Biennial, Taipei, Taiwan
Shanghai, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
Calligraffiti-, Asian Pacific Art Museum, Pasadena, USA
2009 Ink /Today, 2009 Shanghai Contemporary Ink Painting, Shanghai Doulun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
International contemporary Ink Art show, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, South Korea
21st Century Contemporary Ink, China National Art Institute, Beijing, China
2008 The Third Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu, China
2003 From Chinese Ink to Abstraction, Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
1993 Hochschuel Fur Bildende Kunst, Hamburg, Saarbrucken, Germany
1988 China Young Artists Exhibition, National Art Museum, Beijing, China
Selected Collections
The British Museum, London, UK
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, USA
Daimler Art Collection, Germany
Zheng chongbin
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Two Translucent Triangles
127 x 97 cm (50 x 38 1/5 in)
Ink, Acrylic and Xuan Paper
2014
Price Upon Request
zheng chongbin
Zheng Chongbins works of ink-and acrylic-on-paper
marry the Chinese calligraphic tradition and Western abstraction.
Layering ink of various consistencies onto xuan paper, Zheng
creates a variety of dynamic forms that reconfigure the space and
composition of Chinese painting. My intention, says Zheng,
is to investigate the logic of the ink medium and its perceptual
characteristics, the alternation between transcendence and the
materiality of the work. In Two Translucent Triangles the
artist plays with painted geometries and textures; the edges and
undefined spaces interact and oppose each other evoking new
understandings of space.
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Linear Amplifcation
75 x 71 cm (29 1/2 x 28 in)
Ink, Acrylic and Xuan Paper
2013
Price Upon Request
zheng chongbin
Zheng Chongbins works of ink-and acrylic-on-paper
marry the Chinese calligraphic tradition and Western
abstraction. Layering ink of various consistencies onto
xuan paper, Zheng creates a variety of dynamic forms
that reconfigure the space and composition of Chinese
painting. My intention, says Zheng, is to investigate the
logic of the ink medium and its perceptual characteristics,
the alternation between transcendence and the materiality
of the work. Linear Amplifcation is a classic multi-lay-
ered work by the artist. The repetition and form, the gra-
dations of color, and textural surfaces, interplay to create
new meaning and form.
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Born in Tianjin, China, Zhang Yu is a pioneering figure in Chinas experimental ink painting movement that began in the 1980s.
Over the course of his career that has evolved from decade to decade, he has sought to bridge disparate aesthetic traditions across
time and culture by mining the potential of the ink medium in a nonfigurative style. Always true to his own art ideals, Zhang Yu has
maintained an independent identity in his pursuit of ink art innovation, an identity epitomized by his Fingerprint (1991, 2001-
2014) series. The artist has had numerous solo shows around the world and his works can be found in the public collections of the
Metropolitan Museum, New York, the Hong Kong Art Museum, Hong Kong, the Benetton Museum, Venice, the Royal Academy of
Fine Arts, Antwerp, the Red Mansion Foundation, London, the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, among others.
ZHANG YU
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Zhang Yu Biography
1959 Born in Tianjin, China
1988 Graduated from Tianjin Fine Arts Academy of Arts and Crafts
Current lives and works in Beijing
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2013 Cultivation Practice Exhibition of Zhang Yus Fingerprint Works 1991-2013, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea
2011 Cultivation Practice: Zhang Yus Fingerprint works 1991-2011, Today Art Museum, Beijing
2009 Fingerprints: Traces of Zhang Yus Cultivation Practice, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, China
2007 Fingerprints: Zhang Yu, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY, U.S.A.; London, United Kingdom (2006)
2001 Zhang Yu: Experimental Ink and Wash, Red Mansion Foundation, London, UK
1992 Chinese Artist Zhang Yu: Modern Ink and Wash Exhibition, Belyaevo Modern Art Museum, Moscow, Russia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 New Dimensions in Ink and Wash - 2013 Critics Nomination Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
The Original Way New Concepts in Chinese Contemporary Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China
55th Venice Biennale, Collateral Exhibition of Chinese Art, Venice, Italy
Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York, NY, U.S.A
2012 Context China/Beyond Spiritual Expression/Easel-work 10+10, Sanchuan Modern Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Ink: The Art of China, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2011 New Realm: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
The Great Celestial Abstraction: Chinese Art in the 21st Century, Macro Testaccio Contemporary Art Museum of Rome, Rome, Italy
Context China/Beyond Spiritual Expression/Easel-work 10+10, Beijing Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China
2010 The Great Celestial Abstraction: Chinese Art in the 21st Century, National Museum of China, Beijing, China
Beyond the Horizon Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, Santiago, Chile
2009 Ink and Not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Invitational Exhibition, Warsaw Palace Museum, Poland; Museum of Hungarian Agriculture -
Magyar Mezogazdasgi Mzeum, Budapest, Hungary; Romanian National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania
2008 Ink and Not Ink: Chinese Contemporary Ink and Wash Exhibition, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Kimmel
Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.;
6th Shenzhen International Biennale of Ink and Wash, Shenzhen Museum, Shenzhen, China
2007 China Onward: The Estella Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebk, Denmark
3rd Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
The Supplemental History: Works from the Collection of GDMOA, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2006 Revival of Ink and Wash: 2006 Shanghai New Ink and Wash Exhibition, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
International Modern Ink Painting Exhibition, Manhattan Asian Cultural Center, New York, NY, Chinese Ink and Wash Documentary Exhibition 1976-
2006, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
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2005 Metaphysics 2005: Black and White, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2004 Dream of the Dragons Nation Contemporary Art from China, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
2002 17th Asian International Art Exhibition, Daejeon (Taejon) Art Museum, Daejeon, Korea
Ost + West Ausstellung fr die Zeitgenssische Kunst aus China, Knstlerhaus in Wien, Vienna, Austria
2001 32nd Dsseldorf Modern Art Exhibition, Dsseldorf Exhibition Centre, Dsseldorf, Germany
20 Years of Experiment in Chinese Ink and Wash, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
2000 Breaking Through; Exhibition of New Chinese Art. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey, Mexico; National Art Gallery, Canberra, Australia,
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China
1999 14th Asian International Art Exhibition, Fukuoka Modern Art Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan
1998 Inside Out: New Chinese Art Exhibition, P.S.1 Gallery, New York, NY; Modern Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.;
Monterey Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 13th Australia, Hong Kong Arts Development Council/
Art Space Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China
2nd Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
13th Asian International Art Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1997 Grand Exhibition of Chinese Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Stars of the Century: Chinese Art Biennale, Ontario Art Museum, Toronto, Canada
1994 Zero: Art Exhibition, Flanders Exhibition Center, Ghent, Belgium
1990 27th Asian Modern Art Exhibition, Tokyo-to Art Museum, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Selected Collections
Metropolitian Museum, New York, U.S.A
Hongkong Art Museum, Hong Kong, China
Benetton Museum, Venice, Italy
Belyaevo Modern Art Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
University of Louvain Museum, Louvain, Belgium
The Estella Collection Foundation, New York, U.S.A
Olenska Foundation Art Museum, Geneva, Switzerland
Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium
Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
University City Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China
Chengdu Modern Art Museum, Chengdu, China
Zhang Yu
Zhang Yu has called his Fingerprint Series the termination of ink painting
because, the resulting works cannot be classified in the formal sense of ink
painting. For him, the expression of Fingerprints is comprehensive: it evokes
Eastern ideals and philosophies and yet defies the definition of traditional Chi-
nese ink art; it is abstract and minimalistic and, even so, extends beyond Western
abstract expressionism or action painting since the works are about control and
behavior. Lastly, and most important of all, Zhang Yus Fingerprints are
personalevery dot can be regarded as the embodiment of the artists so-
cial identity and a trace of life. Sealed Fingerprints 2012.12.12 is a par-
ticularly significant work, as only a handful of these installations have been
created. Using nailpolish, the artist imprints his fingerprint onto a wooden
box with glass plane. The artist uses red because traditionally Chinese peo-
ple who are illiterate or do not have a name use red fingerprints to authen-
ticate documents. The result is that that as the light shines through the glass
frame, new, ink-colored fingerprints emerge as shadowsintangible natural
marks that also, quite profoundly, capture the artists identity.
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Sealed Fingerprints 2012.12.12
82 x 60 cm (32 1/3 x 23 2/3 in)
Wood, glass, nail polish
2012
USD 26,000
zhang yu
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Zhang Yu has called his Fingerprint Series the termination of ink painting because, although
this series uses the ink and paper medium, the resulting works cannot be classified in the formal
sense of ink painting. For him, the expression of Fingerprints is comprehensive: it evokes Eastern
ideals and philosophies and yet defies the definition of traditional Chinese ink art, it is abstract and
minimalistic and, even so, extends beyond Western abstract expressionism or action painting since
the works are about control, behavior, and self-cultivation. Lastly, and most important of all, Zhang
Yus Fingerprints are personal every dot can be regarded as the embodiment of the artists social
identity and a trace of life. Fingerprints 2009.5-7 is made with black ink to refer to the ink painting
tradition. This composition, which has an overall pure and controlled effect, is the product of many
days of repetitive labor.
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Fingerprints 2009.5-7
47 x 74 cm (18 1/2 x 29 1/7 in)
Ink on Paper
2009
USD 24,000
zhang yu
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SEVEN EMERGING ARTISTS
FANG ZHIYONG / HUANG QI / JIN JINGUA
KONG YAN / LI SA / YU JIDONG/ YU YANG
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Born in Zhengzhou, Fang Zhiyong is currently completing his masters degree at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. Although he has progressively moved away
from his training in classical Chinese landscape painting, Fang Zhiyong continues to find inspiration from his surrounding environment, and particularly the grandeur of
nature. Today, Fang is interested in using ink as the theoretical starting point for artistic creation, while working with and integrating different materials into his approach.
He seeks to take patterns and forms found in nature, and translate them into personal expressions unbound by artistic media or convention.
Biography
1980 Born in Zhengzhou, China
Currently studying Masters at Central Academy of Fine Arts at College of Material and Performance of Chinese Painting Studio
Solo Exhibition
2013 After Chopins Linear Conjectures, Shenzhen, China; Jinan 10th China Art Festival, Jinan, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Midnight: The Third Paintings Invitational Exhibition, China
2012 Warmth: The Second Oil Paintings Invitational Exhibition, Beijing, China
2012 Muhua: Revolution of the 100th Anniversary of Fine Arts Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan
2011 1911: Revolution of the 100th Anniversary of Fine Arts Exhibition, Beijing, China
2011 Chongqing Art Biennale, Chongqing, China
2009 Spring and Autumn, Wuhan, China
Walk Through: Contemporary Young Artists Public Art Presentation Exhibition, Wuhan, China
2008 Birch: Tianjin Youth Art Exhibition, Tianjin, China
fang zhiyong
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The series Linear Conjectures After Chopin is a product of extemporaneous artistic creation. In the winter of
2012, Fang Zhiyong took photos of leafless vines and branches from his surrounding landscape unsure of what
he would eventually create with this source material. Several months later when the artist was painting at night
and listening to Chopins Nocturnes, he had a serendipitous breakthrough: the rhythm of the music inspired Fan
to pull patterns from the natural lines of the branches. Roused by the frustration, hope, and abstract states found
in the music, he was able to capture the flow of energy, space and time in each strokethe resulting performance
is akin to action painting or spontaneous cursive calligraphy. Here the artist used white chalk on Chinese xuan
painting paper, which the artist dyed black with ink to achieve maximum contrast.
After Chopins Linear Conjectures No. 1-4
120 x 120 x 4 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 x 1 1/2 in)
Mixed Media on Inked Paper
2013
USD 9,000
fang zhiyong
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After Chopins Linear Conjectures No. 9
120 x 120 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in)
Mixed Media on Paper, on Wooden Panel
2013
USD 2,500
fang zhiyong
The series Linear Conjectures After Chopin is a
product of extemporaneous artistic creation. In the
winter of 2012, Fang Zhiyong took photos of vines
and branches from his surrounding cold and empty
landscape unsure of what he would eventually create
with this source material. Several months later when the
artist was painting at night and listening to Chopins
Nocturnes, he had a serendipitous breakthrough: the
rhythm of the music inspired Fang to pull patterns from
the natural lines of the leafless branches. Roused by
the frustration, hope, and abstract states found in the
music, he was able to capture the flow of energy, space
and time in each strokethe resulting performance is
akin to action painting or spontaneous cursive calligra-
phy. Here the artist uses dry black ink and colored chalk
on traditional Chinese xuan painting paper.
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Born in Tianjin, after graduating from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts with bachelors degree in oil painting, Huang Qi completed her masters degree
in Germany at the Essen College of Liberal Arts. It was her experience abroad that motivated Huang Qi to begin critically examining the cultural roots of
the art she was making and the energy and feeling within. Although she had never formally studied Chinese ink painting, it was at that time that Huang
Qi began experimenting with different materials including ink on paper, eager to find the aesthetic and perceptual basis for her own visual taste and
customs. Similar to notable expatriate artists Chu Teh-Chun (b. 1920-2014) and Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013), Huang Qi discovered that abstraction was key
to expressing the energy and spirit withinthe qi of ink. Today, Huang Qi works in a variety of artistic media creating textural and evocative abstractions,
which source their perceptual vocabulary from ink painting. Huang Qis works can be found in the collections of the Womens Museum, Bonn, Germany,
the Essen College of Liberal Arts, Germany, the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, and the Times Museum, Guangzhou.
Biography
1983 Born in Tianjin, China
2005 Graduated from Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts with Bachelors degree.
2010 Graduated from Essen College of Liberal Arts, Germany with Master's degree.
2011 Secretary of Comprehensive Material Painting and Art Conservation Committee of China Artists Association
Group Exhibitions
2012 New Horizons: Contemporary Art Haiyang Group Exhibitions, Shandong, China
Integrate New Extension - Returning from Overseas Artists Painting Exhibition China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China
Rather Habitat: Exhibition of Contemporary Artists 798 Ning Space, Beijing, China
2011 Looking Back on China Comprehensive Arts Exhibition for 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 NAMOC, Beijing, China;
Guangzhou, China; Prince Kungs Mansion, Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan
2010 Backtracking and Offset Nitro Heart - Overseas Chinese Artists Exhibition, Times Gallery, Beijing, China
2008 Women Museum Exhibition and Collections Bonn, Germany
Collections
Bonn, Germany Women Museum
College of Liberal Arts of Essen, Germany
Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, China
Times Museum, China
huang qi
Although Roaming is a direct intellectual engagement
with abstract expressionism; this artwork should not be
viewed merely as evidence of the influence of Western art
upon Huang Qis oeuvre. Huang is drawing upon parallels
between some aspects of Chinese painting theory and
Western nonobjective art. Here Huang utilizes the palette of
Chinese landscape paintingearthen browns, forest greens,
sun-lit yellows, snow whites and, of course, ink black, the
darkest color in the spectrum, which absorbs the most energy
and alludes back to calligraphic tradition.
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Huang Qi
Roaming
200 x 200 cm (78 4/5 x 78 4/5 in)
Oil on Canvas
2011
USD 11,000
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Although Roaming is a direct intellectual engagement
with abstract expressionism; this artwork should not be
viewed merely as evidence of the influence of West-
ern art upon Huang Qis oeuvre. Huang is drawing
upon parallels between some aspects of Chinese paint-
ing theory and Western nonobjective art. For Huang,
each layer of oil paint is an expression and experience
of the qi, the spirit of Chinese painting. Taking note
of compositional ink painting strategies, she creates
emotionally and energetically intense moments in color
and form, while also allow the viewer to find calmness
and tranquility in large swaths of colora balance
between the two poles of minimalism and plenitude.
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Huang Qi
Roaming
200 x 200 cm (78 4/5 x 78 4/5 in)
Oil on Canvas
2011
USD 11,000
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Born in Changchun, Jilin Province, Jin Jinghua is currently finishing her masters degree in the Material and Expression Studio in the Department of Chinese
Painting. With an extensive background in Chinese ink painting, as an undergraduate Jin focused on figure paintingthe least abstract of all ink disciplines. It
was during her four years of study, however, that she began to question the ink mediums expressive origins, how one creates a sense of familiarity or mystery,
how one eliminates representation while still maintaining emotion, physicality, and soul. According to the artist: Most contemporary ink painters will likely
mention that ink production is somehow connected to Zen. Zen, this word, is not easy to understandyet there is no need to have to explain it. I just want to
say that water and ink are substances that cannot be controlledthey are unpredictablewhich is how new ideas can germinate. Jin Jinghua has discovered
her voice in experimental ink, maintaining the evocative properties of figure painting without figuration.
Biography
1986 Born in Changchun, Jilin,China.
2010 Graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts with a Bachelors degree
2014 To graduate from Central Academy of Fine Arts with a Masters degree
Group Exhibitions
2013 After Arthur C Danto, Where Will We Go?, Yuan Art Museum,Beijing, China
The 10th Arts Festival of China--Special Exhibition of Comprehensive Material Paintings, JiNan Art Museum, JiNan, China
The 1st Art Show of Cold Ink Art, Parkview Green Gallery ,Beijing, China
2012 Out of Objects Images Abstraction, Raphael Art Center,Beijing,China
2011 The Fourth National Youth Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China , Beijing, China
Looking Back on China Comprehensive Arts Exhibition for 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 NAMOC, Beijing, China;
Guangzhou,China; Prince Kungs Mansion, Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan
Chongqing Art Biennale
2009 Drawing in 60 Years of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Collections
Prince Kungs Mansion
jin jinghua
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Veins
130 x 384 cm (51 1/5 x 151 1/5 in)
Xuan Paper, Ink, Mounted on Wood Panels
2013
USD 7,000
jin jinghua
Jin Jinhuas recent Veins Series is a fundamental reconception of ink expression. Using a minimalistic ink
vocabulary, Jin eliminates the brush, and utilizes the tearing and layering of xuan paper, as well as the perceptual
contrast between black and white, to present an expressively bold visual experience. Veins can be regarded as the Jin
Jinhuas breakthrough series, as she believes that these forms are able to transcend the representational limitations
of traditional ink painting, while also altering the boundaries of the traditional picture plane. Here the artist creates
with a raw and universal painting language aimed at appealing to a more primitive visual sensibility. These series of
six works highlight the full potential of her vision.
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Veins No.2
174 x 141 cm (68 1/2 x 55 1/2 in)
Xuan Paper, Ink, Mounted on Wood Panels
2013
USD 2,000
jin jinghua
Jin Jinhuas recent Veins Series is a fundamental reconception of
ink expression. Using a minimalistic ink vocabulary, Jin eliminates
the brush, and utilizes the tearing and layering of xuan paper, as
well as the perceptual contrast between black and white, to present
an expressively bold visual experience. Veins can be regarded as
the artists, breakthrough series, as she believes that these forms are
able to break through the representational limitations of tradition-
al ink painting, while also altering the boundaries of the traditional
picture plane. Here the artist creates with a raw and universal painting
language aimed at appealing to a more primitive visual sensibility.
Veins No. 2, has be created with several layers of dyed xuan paper,
so that is also achieves a highly tactile and physical quality.
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Born in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, Kong Yan received both her undergraduate and masters degrees from the Beijing Central Academys Depart-
ment of Chinese Painting. Frustrated with traditional ink painting training that requires copying of classical forms, and transmission by reproduction, Kong
has sought to distance herself from such customs by experimenting with the organic qualities of the ink medium. In recent years, Kong Yan has become
interested in the morphological changes that can be observed when ink bleeds on paper. Eliminating her own artist hand, she has discovered techniques
to create ambiguous ink forms that inspire multiple interpretations.
Biography
1986 Born in Harbin, Hei Longjiang, China
2009 Graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts with a Bachelors degree
2012 Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts with a Masters degree

Group Exhibitions
2013 After Arthur C Danto, where will we go?, Yuan Art Museum
The 10th Arts Festival of China--Special Exhibition of Comprehensive Material Paintings, JiNan Art Museum, JiNan, China
The 1st Art Show of Cold Ink Art, Parkview Green Gallery ,Beijing, China
2012 New Stars 2012-- Excellent Works of Five Academies of Fine Arts, Chengdu, China
People's Liberation Army-Building Eighty-five Anniversary Exhibition, NAMOC, Beijing, China
Looking Back on China Comprehensive Arts Exhibition for 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 NAMOC,
Bejing, China;
Guangzhou,China; Prince Kungs Mansion, Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan
Chongqing Art Biennale, Chongqing, China
Aimu Fashion Beauty--the First Contempotary Chinese Portrait Painting Invitational Exhibition, Aimu Gallery, Beijing, China
Who is in--Group Exhibition of New Artists Bridge Gallery, Beijig, China
Ni--Works of Three Artists Chuncui Art Space, Beijing, China
kong yan
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Vessel
135 x 210 cm (53 x 82 2/3 in)
Ink on Paper
2012
USD 3,000
Kong yan
The work Vessel consists of a set of three ink on paper images, each with certain bilateral symmetry. For
a Western audience, the artists forms resemble the inkblots of the Rorschach test, which uses ambiguous
designs to access an individuals psychological personality; in China, however, such perceptual analysis of
images is not a familiar concept. Here, the title of the work provides a clue as to the artists subjective
interpretation of her own work: for Kong, the ink forms have a certain resemblance to rounded ceramic pots
or a womans genitals. Either way, Kong Yan believes that these forms intuitively allude to the idea of bearer,
a primal visual sensation that connects with the most primitive of fertility icons dating back to the origins of
humanity. Timeless and bold, Kong Yans brave abstracted ink language provides a means to explore issues
of her own sexuality.
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Originally from Henan Province, in his youth, Li Sa was trained in traditional ink painting techniques; however, after studying at the Beijing Central Academys Material and
Expression Studio in the Department of Chinese Painting, he began to realize that the ink painting language alone was no longer adequate to reflect his contemporary living
experience. Working as a part time professor and artist in Beijing, Li Sas geometric abstract painting draws together elements from his training in Chinese painting and his daily
life. Today, the artist creates in a number of media, such as acrylic, gold and silver foil, and ink on raw canvas to produce his desired effect. Li Sas works can be found in the
public collections of the Macau Art Museum, the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, the Chongqing Art Museum, the Henan Provincial Museum, the Shenzhen Guan Shanyue Art
Museum, the Shanxi Provincial Museum, the Chengdu Museum of Modern Art, the Hilton Hotel, Beijing, and the Park Hyatt, Ningbo in China.
Biography
1975 Born in Zhengzhou, China
2005 M.F.A. Material Experimentation and Expression of Chinese Painting, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2013 Reserved Blank, EC Gallery, Hong Kong
2009 Scholar and Blank, Creation Gallery, Beijing, China
Literati and Unpainted Space, One Moon Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2008 Discord, Space Beijing, Beijing, China
2007 Li Sa Art, Chongqing Art Museum, China
Works by Li Sa, Baotou Art Museum, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 The 6th Chengdu Biennale, Century City New International Convention & Exposition Center, Chengdu, China
2010 The 4th Beijing International Art Biennale, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Forerunning, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
2009 Philosophical Contemplation From the East Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Freudenstadt, Germany
A Selected Collection of Chinese Ink Paintings from Fine Arts Literature Magazine, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Water and Ink, Chinese Contemporary New Artists Exhibition, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, Hong Kong; Oriental Meditations, Chinese Contemporary
Art Exhibition, Germany
Ink Season, Nantong Central Art Museum, Nantong, China
2008 Beyond the Surface: Call for Chinese Abstract Paintings, Macao Museum of Art, Macao, China
Future Sky Chinese Young Contemporary Artist Works Selection Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2006 The United Exhibition of maimao, Paris and Florence; China-Germany Contemporary Exhibition, Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Public Collections
Zhejiang Museum, China; Chongqing Museum, China; Macao Museum of Art, Macao; Guan Shanyue Art Museum, China
li sa
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2013-1-5 / 2013-1-6 / 2013-1-7
Mixed Media
90 x 90 cm (35 2/5 x 35 2/5 in) each - Set of 3
2013
USD 15,000
li sa Part of his Grey Series, a name derived from the interaction of ink as it dissolves in water, in this three panel
series Li Sa symbolically expresses his inner life and the chaos he sees in the world by depicting traditional schol-
ars rocks as well as tangled bicycle seats in the shape of withered lotus buds. To him these biomorphic seats
represent mans struggle with fate and the interaction of man with nature. Alluding to classical ink paining com-
position with his minimalistic use of space, here the artist applies acrylic and silver foil to enhance the texture on
his raw canvas. This raw uninhibited quality can also be seen in the artists preparatory pencil marks which, just
like inerasable ink marks, are left visible as vestiges to the artists creation process.
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Born in Zibo, Shandong Province, Yu Jidong, a modern-day literati artist, is interested in the fundamental qualities of ink painting. Minimalistic and almost scientific in his
approach, he explores the patterns, gradations, and nuances of the ink medium, as well as its most basic brush mark, the line, in an attempt to capture the most essential
properties of ink expression. Similar to the art of Zhang Yu, whom he considers his mentor, Yu Jidongs calculated approach and visual deconstruction of ink painting enters
into the realm of performance.
Biography
1976 Born in Zibo, Shandong Province, China
2003 Graduated from Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
Solo Exhibition
2004 Fountain-Jidong Ink and Wash Exhibition, 80 Site ,Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Outside Method, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan
New Ink: Chapter 1, Hadrien de Montferrand Gallery, Beijing, China
Invitational Exhibition of Artrees Chinese Contemporary Ink, Tree Museum, Beijing, China
2012 Taste, Esse Space, Beijing, China
Beijing Model, China Millennium Monument, Beijing, China
Heart in Heart, Caizhibang International Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Beyond: Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Ink Artists, Siwei Space, Beijing, China
Peace and Quiet, Yan Chao Collection, Beijing, China
2012 Baimasi Invitational Exhibition of Buddhist Art, Baimasi Shiyuan Art Museum, Luoyang, China
2011 Protection of Intellectual Property and China Contemporary Painting Exhibition, World Art Museum, Beijing, China
Broken Circles: Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ink, Shangshang Museum, Beijing, China
Deconstruction and Style: Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, Manet Art Space, Beijing, China
2009 Scent of Ink Group Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Ink, Dialogue Space, Beijing, China
2006 Mai Mao, Naples; Paris, France
2005 Lichang Cup: Nationwide Annual Exhibition of Chinese Paintings by Young Artists, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2004 The 14th of Japan, Afro-Asian, Latin-American Artist Association Exhibition, Gallery of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2003 Today Art Museum First Youth Art Exhibition, Today Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2002 Anthropology of Metropolis Ink and Wash Exhibition, Gallery of the Capital Normal University Beijing, Beijing, China
yu jidong
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These Years, Silently Passing
97 x 90 cm (38 1/5 x 35 2/5 in)
Mineral Pigment on Paper
2014
USD 10,000
yu jidong
In These Years, Silently Passing, Yu Jidong creates marks with-
out a brush here lines, the primary expression of any painted
language, or the artists touch, are created by pouring a
steady stream of colored pigment down Chinese painting
paper, Xuan paper. Requiring extreme patience, time, and
self-discipline to control the flow of liquid, the serendipitous
organic lines that emerge are as much a function of the artists
hand as the materials he is using: In my work, the expression
of line has already transcended the traditional aesthetic sense
as a stroke belonging to writing or imagery. Here in his first
large-scale work of this color, the artist has created used own
concoction of indigo blue and aged ink, which separates into
new and distinct hues as the pigments touch the paper.
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Flow Mark No. 110113
48 x 180 cm (18 4/5 x 70 4/5 in)
Colour Pigment on Paper
2013
USD 10,000
yu jidong
In Flow Mark No. 110113, Yu Jidong, creates marks without a brushhere lines, the primary expression of any painted
language, or the artists touch, are created by pouring a steady stream of colored pigment down Chinese painting paper,
xuan paper. Requiring extreme patience, time, and self-discipline to control the flow of liquid, the serendipitous organic lines that
emerge are as much a function of the artists hand as the materials he is using: In my work, the expression of line has already
transcended the traditional aesthetic sense as a stroke belonging to writing or imagery. In this work, the artist has selected indigo
blue because it is a traditional mineral color that has been used in Chinese art for over three thousand years, and also a pigment
that separates into different hues when mixed with water.
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yu yang
Born in Inner Mongolia, Yu Yang received his bachelors degree from the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Art, Shenyang, and his masters degree from the Beijing Central
Academys Department of Chinese Painting. Trained in classical Chinese painting, Yu Yangs solution to understanding and revitalizing this millennia-old art form has been
to remove its representational qualities and break it down into its component parts: water, paper, and ink. Yu Yangs experimental ink artworks, which are both pictorial
and three-dimensional, achieve new understanding of space, color, geometry, and form. To date, Yu Yang has participated in numerous exhibitions around China, as well
as Japan, and South Korea.
Biography
1979 Born in Wulanhaote, Inner Mongolia, China
2001 Graduated from Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, China with a Bachelors degree
2013 Graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China with a Masters of Fine Arts
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Dynamic Structure: Invitational Exhibition for Young Artists of the 80s Generation, Parkview Green Gallery, Beijing, China
2013 Art Beijing, Agricultural Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
2012 Out of Objects Images Abstraction Raphael Art Center, Beijing, China
2011 Looking Back on China Comprehensive Arts Exhibition for 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, NAMOC, Beijing, China; Guangzhou,
China; Prince Kungs Mansion, Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan
The Second Session of Chongqing Youth Art Biennial, Chongqing, China
2010 Walk Through: Artists Group Exhibition Shanghai; Wuhan, China
Public Collections
Prince Kungs Mansion
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Black & White Object No.3.1
96 x 96 cm (37 3/4 x 37 3/4 in)
Ink on Paper
2013
USD 2,500
yu yang
This monochromatic ink artwork, part of the artists Black and
White Object Series, is a formulaic deconstruction of Chinese ink
painting. Examining and evaluating the essential qualities of ink
painting, the artist instinctually composes his pieces much like a
traditional calligrapher assembles words from radicals, or a painter
compose shapes from lines. Here, the artist takes standardized wood-
en bars, and wraps them with xuan paper, dyed with systematically
measured amounts of ink and water. Wooden rod by wooden rod,
not brush stroke by brush stroke, each assemblage achieves a sort of
natural order that redefines the patterns of ink painting.
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100ml Black & 1L Water
96 x 580 cm (37 3/4 x 228 1/3 in)
Ink on Paper
2013
USD 8,000
yu yang One of the artists most significant works to date, 100ml Black & 1L Water, is a formulaic deconstruction of Chinese ink
painting. Examining and evaluating the essential qualities of ink painting, the artist instinctually composes his pieces much
like a traditional calligrapher assembles words from radicals, or a painter compose shapes from lines. Here, the artist takes
standardized wooden bars, and wraps them with xuan paper, dyed with systematically measured amounts of ink and water.
Wooden rod by wooden rod, not brush stroke by brush stroke, each assemblage achieves a sort of natural order that
redefines the patterns of ink painting. Conceived of to fit into a corner, this large three-dimensional artwork is also interesting
because it questions the conventions of traditional flat painting formats.
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About Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres
Tiffany Beres is an independent art curator whose research focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese ink art. Born in San Francisco, California to a
bi-racial family, Tiffany grew up practicing ink painting and calligraphy, stimulating her interest in Chinese art and art history. After graduating from Brown
University and apprenticing in the Asian antiquities field, she moved to China on a Fulbright fellowship to explore ink art in its native milieu and to meet the
artists revolutionizing the field. From 2007 to 2010, Tiffany served as international affairs officer and a Chinese ink painting specialist for China Guardian,
Chinas largest auction house, before returning to work directly with artists.
Having lived and operated in China for the past eight years, Tiffany has had extensive curatorial and hands-on field research experience related
to ink art and artists. To date, she has conducted exhibitions in the USA, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mainland China and is a frequent
lecturer on the topic of Chinese art. Tiffanys writings on Chinese ink art have been published in numerous artist catalogs as well as the Wall Street Journal
Asia, Orientations, Asian Art Newspaper, and ArtAsiaPacifc. In addition to working with celebrated ink art masters, Tiffany has a particular passion
for discovering and exposing young ink artists. She has visited every major art school in Mainland China and Taiwan in order to scout for new talent and
to track developments in the ink art field.
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