Strange Wonders. Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China @ SOAS Gallery

Strange Wonders. Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China, held at the Brunei Gallery on the SOAS campus, presents a fascinating and deeply moving collection of groundbreaking ink paintings from the second half of the twentieth century up until the present day. A great variety of artworks showcase the plurality of artistic voices within the medium of ink, bringing older more established generations into conversation with more recent artistic production. Strange Wonders offers an exciting opportunity to view works from well-known and esteemed Chinese artists which are rarely shown in the UK.  A deliberate inclusion of female artists in a male dominated world highlights the remarkable work of those who deserve greater recognition. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Katie Hill, Director of the Office of Contemporary Chinese Art (OCCA), and Senior Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Yao Jui-Chung, Good Times: Youth Forever Spring, 2017. India handmade paper, gold leaf, ink pen, 76.3 × 194.5 cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Strange Wonders shows the flourishing medium of ink through a fluid conversation between landscape, calligraphy and abstraction. It revindicates ink painting as a medium of great creative and expressive potential, a medium steeped in tradition with a fascinating history of repression and rebirth. The name Strange Wonders comes from a 14th century poem by Ni Zan, a well-known figure amongst the artists in the exhibition. This poetic starting point not only relates to the visual and aesthetic quality of the artworks, but it also gives historical depth to these contemporary pieces. An interesting tension arises from these works which reject artistic convention but are inextricably connected to cultural tradition through the use of ink.

Wang Tiande, Digital Mountain - No. 09-MH81, 2009. Ink on paper with burn marks, 181 × 61.5 cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

 The exhibition takes place across three floors, with artworks on display along the staircase offering a seamless transition between spaces. The ground and first floor bring forward different artists from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and those across the Chinese diaspora. The works offer a sweeping and substantial survey of contemporary Chinese ink painting.

 The bottom floor presents the first solo retrospective of the artist Jizi in the UK. Jizi’s works are brought together by his son Dr. Wang Chunchen, passionately devoted to furthering artistic recognition of his father’s fascinating oeuvre. The meticulous curation reflects the personal and emotional nature of this collection. Printed quotes such as ‘My mission is not yet complete’, reveal the driving force behind Chunchen’s efforts to preserve and bring forth his father’s legacy.[1]

Jizi, Star Secret, 2013. Ink on paper, 183.5 x 146cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

The artworks’ recent dates of production and avant-garde nature reveal implicit political histories about China. Ink painting had been under great pressure since the early twentieth century to conform to political requirements. This intensified during the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong. The push against Confucianism and literati painting was particularly damaging for ink painting. Art for art’s sake ceased to exist, and instead it was reduced to political propaganda. Jizi stands as a clear example of this, as throughout this time he earned a living by creating portraits of Mao. However, Mao’s death brought increasing creative freedom and an explosion of cultural production. Artists began to experiment, changing the rules of landscape and calligraphy, integrating conceptualism, challenging traditional perspectives and creative processes. This transgressive explorative spirit is captured throughout the exhibition.

Gu Wenda, Wonderland, 1986. Ink on paper, 68 × 99 cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Upon entering the exhibition, the viewer is met by two experimental calligraphy works, Gu Wenda’s Wonderland, 1986, and Xu Bing’s Dreams, 2019, which resonate well with the title of the show, Strange Wonders. Wenda was part of the 85’ Movement, an avant-garde group of artists that emerged at the end of the Cultural Revolution, embracing modernist ideas and fostering a new era of intellectual and artistic dialogue. He was a pioneer of conceptualism and subverted the ancient tradition of landscape painting by pasting the word ‘wonderland’ onto the landscape. He questioned cultural associations tied to words and the relationship between language and meaning. Meanwhile, Xu Bing’s work reshapes the Roman Alphabet by creating words which resemble Chinese characters. The viewer then participates in a deciphering activity to unveil the written text, in this case, a poem by Langston Hughes. Bing plays with the cognitive reception of language, exploring ideas of communication between different cultures. Two works by another pioneer of conceptual art, Li Yuan-Chia, are displayed in a vitrine across the room. His works appear to be calligraphy exercises but are actually abstract compositions of line, colour and form.

Qiu Deshu, Fissuring - Wispy Sunlight Shines In, 2010. Ink and acrylic on paper and canvas, 74 × 179 cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Following this, the viewer finds further groundbreaking and unconventional works that make use of different approaches. Artists such as Qiu Deshu and Wang Tiande intervene directly upon the support of the work. The former rips paper to create a layered effect of dissipating clouds in the sky, while the latter uses incense sticks to burn forms into a first layer of rice paper revealing a second one beneath. These techniques create depth and add new dimensions to the medium of ink. Yao Jui-Chung, on the other hand, claims to subvert Chinese landscape tradition though the use of different mediums such as ink pen, sparkles and gold leaf. Golden streams of water cascade through the rocky mountains and extend into the sky, blending heaven and earth.

Lo Ch’Ing, A Tale of Two Bridges – Wooden Bridge, 2008. Ink and colour on paper, 213 × 62.5 cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Two works by Lo Ch’Ing present his playful, humorous approach to experimentation. His landscapes challenge the viewer’s expectations creating intriguing compositions and flattened perspectives. The humorous nature of the artist translates into titles that do not correspond with the work. A Tale of Two Bridges – Wooden Bridge, 2008, presents an aerial perspective of a river with a singular bridge that has the viewer aimlessly searching for the second one. River blends into sky, connecting with Yao Jui-Chung’s landscapes, while windswept blossom trees reveal an enigmatic wind blowing in all directions.  

Yang Yanping, Summer Morning, 1995. Ink and colour on paper, 68 × 46 cm. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Abstraction and landscape come together in the works of Yang Yanping, who uses organic, oneiric forms in her Summer Morning, 1995, creating mystical compositions. Alongside her work, Wucius Wong’s Expression in Calligraphy #37, 1999, also brings abstraction into the composition by blending traditional elements of landscape and calligraphy. Sinuous abstracted Chinese characters are painted over the ink-stained paper with watery greens, blues, and deep red earth tones signifying the natural world. A fine inscription at the bottom of the composition reads ‘The natural world moves in its own way. A gentleman strives for self-improvement,’ connecting with literati traditions and resonating with Daoist ideas.[2]

 Further evolvement towards abstraction is found in the works of Guo Le, where sweeping ink stains covering the paper. However, some connections to the natural world still remain through organic leaf forms. Pure abstraction can be seen in the work of Lu Qing, whose meditative practice creates repetitive compositions, completely breaking with the pictorial life-like style of the Cultural Revolution.

Jizi, Spirit Flowing in the Vast Universe, 1994-2009. Ink on rice paper. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

As the viewer descends to the bottom floor, large rice paper sheets anticipate the impressive oeuvre of Jizi. The central space features 22 meters of the 40-meter scroll painting Spirit Flowing in the Vast Universe, enveloping the viewer in a totally immersive experience. A narrower continuous space surrounds the main display offering a succession of large individual works. This repetition of similar-sized paintings transmits the focused, obsessive nature that dominated Jizi’s practice since the 1980s. Before this period, we have no reference of his works as he destroyed them following a critical review. Jizi came from a difficult background and struggled economically for most of his life. He was denied access to art school, and his practice was thus incredibly unique and personal, deeply informed by intellectual studies around modern art and Daoism.

[Detail] Jizi, Spirit Flowing in the Vast Universe, 1994-2009. Ink on rice paper. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Spirit Flowing in the Vast Universe is a 40-meter-long scroll painting begun in 1994 and finished in 2009. It presents a breathtaking image, an extraordinary cosmic landscape which constantly moves and expands as the viewer follows it along. It seems to bring together all the forces of nature as they each meld into one another; crashing waves which develop into soaring winds, imposing mountains rising above dramatic clouds, stalactite formations creating cavernous structures. The continuous flow of nature and the interconnectedness of all forms resonate with the Daoist principles so central to the artist’s practice. The curatorial decision to present the initial section of the scroll creates an intriguing desire to discover the remaining 18 meters, further compelling the viewer’s connection to this cosmic scene.

[Detail] Jizi, Spirit Flowing in the Vast Universe, 1994-2009. Ink on rice paper. Photo Courtesy: Katie Hill.

Momo - Silent Ink, a performance piece by Xie Rong, in collaboration with renowned musicians Wang Beibei and Dr Cheng Yu, brought further life into Jizi’s work. Drawing from the artist’s personal background, she communicated with Jizi’s work, giving voice to generational trauma through traditional song and contemporary soundscapes.

 Overall, the exhibition presents a powerful body of work setting Jizi’s oeuvre amongst further examples of transgressive contemporary ink painting. It presents itself as a celebration of contemporary ink painting through beautiful depictions of the natural world, and intriguing calligraphy exercises. The works displayed exist as a reaction to past repression, fighting convention through a variety of unique and bold approaches, yet recognising the rich history of their medium.

Strange Wonders is on at SOAS Gallery until the 14th of December 2024.

Footnotes:

[1] Wall text for Strange Wonders. Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China, exhibition at Brunei Gallery (SOAS), London, 10th Oct - 14th Dec 2024.

[2] Katie Hill and Beatrice Hill-Cai, Amid the Mountain Streams (OCCA Press, 2024), 108.

Bibliography:

Cunchen, Wang. My Father, Jizi: “My Mission is Not Yet Complete.” OCCA Press, 2024.

Hill, Katie and Hill-Cai, Beatrice. Amid the Mountain Streams. OCCA Press, 2024.

Lucía Alonso-Lasheras

Reviews Editor, MADE IN BED