W E E K E N D 8 LIFEPULSE MARCH 10 - 11, 2007 CHINA DAILY Sum and substance of ink art ei Ligang is ever y inch ter, but afterwards Chinese artist the bohemian. I noticed that it From his im- looked like a tra- uses his lessons in maculately clippered ditional Chinese sideburns, to his bottle,” he says. how the abstract Wcrisp black shirt and suede jacket, It’s a subtle the artist oozes culture. nudge towards his can be structured So it comes as something of a sur- debt to traditional prise to discover that his Master’s is Chinese culture. to breathe new life in mathematics, not art. “I learnt callig- Ed The last 20-odd years have seen raphy as a child into calligraphy, 43-year-old Wei go from nerdy math and I’ve been Nash student, to teacher, to one of China’s practising charac- fi nds out best known artists, with work in ters for the last 20 London’s British Museum, San Fran- years, but it wasn’t cisco’s Asian Art Museum and the until I moved from Boston Art Gallery. Shanxi to Beijing So what connects the dry world in 1995 that I be- of big numbers with the earthy gan to create the excitement of his wide, active ink new characters,” paintings? he says. “Studying math was very important “I wanted to to me because it taught me about sym- create an abstract bols, and how things can be abstract art for the Chinese yet structured,” Wei tells me. people ü some- We’re standing in front of a vast thing which was series of melded rice paper sheets both modern yet across which is slashed one of the rooted in our past key works of his current exhibition ü if you want to “Zhi Kan” at the National Art Museum do this you must of China. use traditional ma- Dandelions fl ying over Terracotta terials.” Warriors has between 60 and 70 of Despite the pres- Wei’s trademark new characters, ence of acrylic in many works, all his hoods and temples. balcony of my studio to look down on equally distributed across a paintings are built around materials Other paintings like Dragon and it. It was then I noticed the shadows huge swath of paper. that have been in use for more than Phoenix Flying pay tribute to the from the slats in the window falling It has much in common with 1,000 years ü Chinese ink sketched unique qualities of the ancient mate- across the paper. traditional calligraphy, yet the over rice paper. rials used in their creation. “The dark lines gave it some struc- characters are impenetrable, Together with his dedication to “You can see the brush I used,” Wei ture so I painted them on with ink.” some of them similar to hanzi, traditional forms, Wei has a sort tells me, indicating the fat waves, The product is both totally Chinese others completely fresh, and of gentle disdain for the gang of stroked on to the paper with a half- and completely new. all executed with wild conceptual artists who steal the loaded brush. “The big one.” In 2005, Wei won a fellowship slashes of the ink brush. Dashanzi limelight with plastics, But despite the affection for an- from the Rockefeller Foundation and The characters are based video, manipulated photographs and cient forms, there’s no fear of recent traveled to New York. The experience around the magic square other modern methods. events. Other works are based on underlined the difference between his ü the same device that “Some of these conceptual works… everything from the 1999 bombing own work and that of the Americans underpinned traditional they can show the contemporary of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade who surrounded him. calligraphy. The painting situation in China very quickly, but… to the Iraq War. “I would walk around Chelsea, is like a diagram, a pat- that is not my favored thing,” he says Celestial Dog (the title was invented where there are lots of galleries. I felt tern with no single focus; carefully. “Political pop art is just for for the exhibition), a fi ve-and-a-half if my paintings were hanging on the Wei Ligang is yet despite its diffuse Western interest, it is not Chinese art meter scrub of golden acrylic marks walls they would be very different. holding his nature Wei identified in itself.” bisected by a framework of black “Some Chinese artists, when they solo show “Zhi a special interest in the There are certainly many paint- lines, was initially an image of the get to go abroad they lose their Chi- Kan” at the Na- circular form in the bottom ings which dwell on the roots of remains of a US truck hit by a road- neseness. They become just artists Chinese traditional calligraphy tional Art Mu- right, which he later blew Chinese culture ü several copies side bomb in Iraq. with yellow faces. takes on a modern look in Wei seum of China up into a full scale painting, of stele inscriptions from Wutai “I wanted to recreate the textures “I want my work to have a long Ligang’s works like Chanting Sutra until Monday. Cloud Bottle. Mountains and diagrammatical I saw, but I wasn’t satisfi ed with it,” life, a place in the history of Chinese in Lama Temple (top) and Celestial Wen Zheng “I painted this as a charac- fl oor plans of traditional neighbor- Wei tells me. “So I went up to the culture.” Tree (above). LISTINGS the story of a young monk’s journey With his extraordinary technique Richard Wagner. Tel: 021-6217-2426 from childhood to kungfu master. and innovative choreography, he Renowned French violinist BEIJING Overcoming many temptations, he mesmerized and shocked the ballet Renaud Capuson and Chinese EXHIBITION fi nally reaches his sacred goal of world of the early 1900s and was soprano Yang Jie will also per- STAGE enlightenment through hard work. regarded as the “god of modern form at the concert. One and a half Aliens: A joint Exquisite kungfu performances, dance”. Time: 8 pm, March 10 exhibition is being organized by Slap and rock: Chinese folk rock breathtaking acrobatics and delicate Based on The Diaries of Vaslav Nijin- Place: Symphony Hall, Rene Zach and Luo Mingjun. Zach band Slap is unique in its attempts costumes, together with a good stage sky, Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Guangzhou Xinghai Concert began his artistic career in 1973, to integrate rock with traditional setting. Dance Company will use dance to Hall, Ersha Island working on sculptures, installation Chinese culture. Many rock fans Time: 7:30 pm, daily explore the inner world of the genius Tel: 020-8735-3869, 020-8735- and drawings. are unaware of the great infl uence Place: Red Theater, 44 Xingfu Dajie, when he was on the outer edge of 2222-886, 020-8735-2986 Luo has lived in Switzerland since of traditional reason. 1987. Her exposure to Western Chinese musi- Time: 7: Children’s concert: Several cal elements 30pm, March songs from the child-themed on China’s 10 musical drama The Boy and contemporary Place: Haid- Tales from Tianjin: Jade Roaring The Tree will be performed. music scene. ian Theater, Dragon (Wang Tian Hou), a Tianjin- Traditional Chinese instru- Chinese Haidian inspired drama, is being staged by the ments along with piano will rockers are District Tianjin People’s Art Theater group. be used for the theme song increasingly Tel: 6405- The drama focuses on the tragic fate of and background music, to give trying to add a 4842 Zhao Rugui, the former boss of a jade expression to the children’s Chinese fl avor antique store in Tianjin, and highlights imagination. to their songs. CONCERT what happened in the city during the Time: 8 pm, March 11 And the mem- War of Resistance against Japanese Place: Symphony Hall, bers of Slap In praise of Aggression (1937-45). Guangzhou Xinghai Concert are leading the the piano: Time: 7:30pm, March 10-11 Hall, Ersha Island way. Spanish Place: Capital Theater, Wangfujing Tel: 020-8735-3869, 020-8735- Time: 3:30 pm, pianist David Dajie 2222-886, 020-8735-2986 March 11 Gomez will Tel: 5166-4511 East and West: Two exhibitions Place: Star present a solo EXHIBITIONS of selected Chinese “meticulous Live, 79 Hep- concert in detail’’ paintings and Li Jisen’s oil ingli Xijie Beijing. god paintings, 10 works by Emperor Israeli art: A special exhibition works are highlights of the Beijing Tel: 6425-5166 Born in 1974, Qianlong, and others by domestic of sculptures by Israel-born artist Wan Fung Art Gallery this month. US art over 300 years: An exhibition featuring the development of American Gomez gave and foreign court painters depicting Zadok Ben-David is currently run- Time: 12 am-6 pm, Monday; 10 am- An English art over the past three centuries is running at the National Art Museum of his fi rst traditional festivities of the emper- ning at the Guangdong Museum 6 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, March Twist: British China. concert at the ors and the imperial family. of Art. 3-18 TNT theater More than 130 works will be on display, spanning the late 17th century to the age of 14, and Time: 8:30am-5pm, until April 15 Zadok’s works, many of which have Place: 136 Nanchizi Dajie, will stage early 21th century. Divided into six parts, the works are arranged chrono- continued Place: Palace of Prolonging Happi- been displayed at major exhibitions Dongcheng District their version logically.