Wang Tiande 王天德 (b. 1960)

Born in Shanghai in 1960, Wang Tiande graduated from the Chinese Painting Department of the China Academy of Fine Arts (formerly Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts) in 1988. Upon entering the Academy, he, alongside fellow schoolmates, was inundated with the 85’ New Wave Art Movement, which left an enduring mark on his subsequent creations full of explorations and experimentations. As early as the 1990s, Wang’s Circle series (《園系列》) has already generated much buzz. In 1996, he steered away from painting to create installations such as Ink Banquet （《水墨菜單》）and Sealed（《水墨靈柩》）, the critical social statements behind these works created a sensation. Since then, he has continued to explore new ideas through works such as Chinese Clothes（《中國服飾》）and other ink installations, probing the contemporisation of Chinese ink.

In 2002, while smoking a cigarette in his Paris studio, the sight of cigarette ash scorching a hole in the paper inspired Wang to use cigarettes and later incense as a substitute for brushes. This approach led to his acclaimed Digital series（《數碼》系列）, later renamed Hou Shan (《後山》系列) in 2014. He started off with calligraphy and added in landscape in 2005. Wang would paint a layer with ink, then stack another layer of xuan paper on top, one which has been burned to form silhouettes of trees, mountains and snow, a relief-like effect as shadows form when light is shone on the art. The visual gaps allow more room for imagination, breaking free from the aesthetics of traditional landscape paintings. In his opinion, the layer underneath appears obscured from view, showing only parts of itself through the burns of the top layer, such partialness resembles the transient nature of modern living. Hence, this constructed space, while inheriting the essence of traditional Chinese culture, has quietly embedded in itself, a contemporary context.

At a time when his artistic career was flourishing, Wang returned to his alma mater to study under world renowned contemporary artist Wang Dongling and completed his PhD in Calligraphy in 2014. As his study on Chinese ink deepens, it seems only natural for him to pay homage to the rich cultural assets of his roots. Fascinated with ancient calligraphy, painting, stelae and seal carving, Wang reckons that these historic artefacts exude the spirit of the times and embody timeless cultural and historical values. In 2013, He started merging his creations with original manuscripts or rubbings of stelae and seals from his personal collection, an attempt to reconnect modern art practices with ancient heritage. Wang believes that in order to retain the core spirit of Chinese ink, it is necessary to return to its oriental origins. Through the juxtaposition of works from different times and contexts, he hopes to bridge a widening cultural gap by creating a dialogue with the past. Drawing on the wisdom of his predecessors, Wang has found his place living and creating in the contemporary.

Education

2014 | PhD in Calligraphy, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
1988 | Bachelor of Fine Arts (Chinese Painting), Zhejiang Fine Arts Academy, Hangzhou, China

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019 | Wang Tiande: Winter of Longing, Ink Studio, Beijing, China
2018 | Awaiting, Alisan Fine Art, Hong Kong 2017 | Over Mountains and Across Valleys, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangdong, China
2015 | The Palace, The Palace Museum, Beijing, China 2014 | Mountainscapes: New Ink Art by Wang Tiande, Alisan Fine Art, Hong Kong / Hou Shan: Wang Tiande Solo Exhibition, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China / Kai Men: Wang Tiande Exhibition, Today Museum, Beijing, China
2012 | Gu Shan, Sanshang Art, Hangzhou, China / Gu Shan, Nou Gallery, Taipei
2011 | 3,720, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA / Boat, Gallery 99, Aschaffenburg, Germany
2010 | 3,720, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China / Shuang Shuang, University of Sidney, Sidney, Australia
2009 | Up/Down: Wang Tiande Art Project, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA
2008 | Wang Tiande: One Meter Seventy-Three, Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai, China
2007 | Made by Tiande II, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA / Shan (Mountain) & Shui (Water), Alisan Fine Art, Hong Kong / Wang Tiande Solo Show, Han Art, Montreal, Canada
2005 | Redolent of Incense, Yishu Space, Vancouver, Canada
2004 | Made by Tiande, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA / Solo Exhibition, Galerie 99, Germany
2003 | Wang Tiande: Ink for the 21st Century, Alison Fine Art, Hong Kong
1995 | Solo Exhibition, German Center, Shanghai, China
1991 | Solo Exhibition, Chinese Painting Institute, Shanghai, China

Selected Group Exhibitions

2019 | Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition: Arts of Asia Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA / Inquiry on Water, Suning Art Museum, Shanghai, China / Ink at Current: 10^th International Ink Art Biennial of Shenzhen, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China / Spirit of Ink Art: New Creation from Traditional Thoughts and Wisdom, Jining Art Museum, Jining, China / Writing Non-Writing: Hangzhou International Modern Calligraphy Festival, CAA Art Museum, Hangzhou, China / In Ink: Current Trends of Ink Art, NanHai Art, San Francisco, USA / Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong / 1^st Taipei Dangdai, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan 2018 | Art 021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair 2018, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China / Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamakazi and Jerry Yang, The Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA
2017 | Art 021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China / Crisscrossing East and West: The Remarking of Ink Art in Contemporary East Asia, Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, Ningxia, China
2016 | Huafu Art Space, Art Stage Singapore 2016, Singapore / Alisan Fine Arts, Art Basel, Hong Kong
2015 | Michael Goedhuis, Art 15 London, London, UK / Huafu Art Space, Art Beijing, Agricultural Exhibition Center of China, Beijing, China / Gajah Gallery, Art Stage Singapore 2015, Singapore / Huafu Art Space, Art Stage Singapore 2015, Singapore / Alisan Fine Art, INK Asia 2015, Hong Kong
2014 | Contemporary Ink: Li Huayi, Wang Tiande, Zhan Chongbin, Lu Chuntao, Nan Hai Art, San Francisco, USA / Variation: Contemporary Chinese Ink Art Series, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China /
2011 | Red Flag: Contemporary Chinese Art in Montreal Collection, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
2010 | Create Something Out of Nothing, Hong Kong Central Library, Hong Kong / New Ink, Mingyuan Art Center, Shanghai, China / Memories of the Past: Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting, Transylvania University, Kentucky, USA
2009 | Ink Not Ink: Contemporary Chinese Art, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA / Paper! Paper!, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA
2008 | Net: Re-imagining Space, Time and Culture, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China / Chinese Minimal Art 30 Years, La Caixa Forum, Barcelona, Spain / The Transforming Marks of Ink, The Staatiche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany / New Ink Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
2007 | FUN: Taipei Calligraphy Biennial, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2006 | Brush and Ink: The Chinese Art of Writing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA / 2006 World Calligraphy Festival, Seoul, South Korea / Light on China Art Generation, Palazzo Caponi, Florence, Italy / Exhibition of Chinese Painting Documentaries, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China / Revival: New Ink Art, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China / China Trade, Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, Canada / DU, Expressions of Contemporary Chinese Water and Ink Painting, Art Museum of Tianjin Art College, Tianjin, China / 60’s Vision Documenta, Today Gallery, Beijing, China
2005 | Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu International Exhibition Centre, Chengdu, China / The Present for Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong / Contemporary Chinese Water and Ink Painting in China and Korea, Seoul Municipal Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea / Art Rising, Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, Canada / Word, Not Word: Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Chinese Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Hangzhou, China
2004 | Contemporary Chinese Art, Dublin Contemporary Art Museum, Dublin, Ireland / Contemporary Art from Shanghai, Museum Villa Stuck, Germany / Nomination Exhibition, Wuhan, China / Six Artists Exhibition, Galerie Karin Sachs, Munich, Germany
2003 | An Opening Era, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China / The White East: 20^th Century Chinese Paintings, Paris, France / Dots and Beyond, National Art Museum, Malaysia
2002 | New Ink Paintings, Teachers College, Taiwan / Variations of Ink, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA / Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China / 0 Material, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China / East + West: Contemporary Chinese Art, Austria
2001 | Ink Color, China National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China / Reshuffling, Sculpture Institute, Shenzhen, China / 20 Years of Experimental Ink Paintings, Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China / Annual Nomination Exhibition, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
2000 | Neo-Ink Paintings in China 2000, Shanghai, China / The 2^nd International Biennale of Ink Paintings, Guan Shanyue Museum, Shenzhen, China
1998-99 | Inside Out: New Chinese Art, PS 1, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco / Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA / Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Monterey, Mexico / Tacoma Art Museum and Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA
1998 | Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China / Reflections on Chinese Fine Arts over the Past Two Decades, Beijing, China / The 1^st International Biennial of Ink Painting, Shenzhen, China
1997 | Exhibition of Shanghai Artists, St. Petersburg, Russia 1996 | Shanghai Ink Painting Exhibition, the Art Museum of Arizona University, Arizona, USA
1995 | Contemporary Chinese Art, Lineart International Art Fair, Gent, Belgium
1994 | The 8^th National Painting Exhibition, China
1993 | Shanghai Modern Art, Yokohama Art Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
1992 | Sea Horizon Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures, Shanghai, China
1991 | Four Chinese Artists’ Paintings Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1989 | The 7^th National Painting Exhibition, China