April 23–August 1, 2021
INK CITY, a group exhibition at Tai Kwun Contemporary, presents works by artists who have an inclination towards ink art and articulate a social voice on the notion of living together in a contemporary urban environment. However broadly or narrowly defined, ink art draws upon the practices and concepts of traditional ink painting and, in a contemporary context, reflects on the development of new techniques and forms of personal expression that incorporate an ink aesthetic.
Through a selection of paintings, calligraphy, artists books, installations, and video works spanning over 50 years, the exhibited works collectively showcase a dynamic interpretation of ink art as well as the social narratives of an age marked by intense transformation. Rooted in Hong Kong and extending across the Chinese world, the works confront the city’s political transitions, from the twilight of the colonial era through to today’s social challenges; other works address universal themes of gender, identity, desire, and fantasy, which unite the hugely divergent experiences of the new Chinese diaspora. Above all, the exhibition celebrates the vision of artists from different generations and of diverse backgrounds who are united by a passionate exploration of the transformative power of art to shape ideas and drive social awareness.
INK CITY adopts its English title from the exhibited video work by the late artist Chen Shaoxiong. While Ink City is a video of a day-long journey composed of hundreds of ink wash observations that collectively convey a frenetic and fleeting transformation of the urban experience in China, the eponymous exhibition opts for its fragmentary approach in juxtaposing diverse artistic styles of ink art and visions which together form a shared narrative and sensibility. What unites the artists are the ways in which they are inspired by immediate encounters with contemporary life. This they engage with keen observations and eloquent commentaries, from the earnest to the whimsical, that are highly pertinent to the everyday.
Seeking references beyond the material and spiritual associations of ink art such as brushwork, the spiritual essence of a subject, or literati history, INK CITY opts to focus on selected artists who tackle contemporary social issues more overtly through ink art. Indeed, while some very established contemporary artists choose to reference the continuity of the traditional ink medium, others have decidedly moved away from the confines of a visual tradition—transforming ink art into an artistic language that engages with wider developments in the 20th and 21st centuries. In acknowledging a contemporary legacy forged by the pioneers of the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong including Lui Shou-kwan, Wucius Wong, and Irene Chou, who developed new techniques from traditional ink art and championed personal expression rooted in its rich historic tradition, INK CITY continues to expand on contemporary life and personal relationships at the intersection of ink art and society today.
Hong Kong provides an ideal focal point through which to view the conceptual breadth of contemporary ink art in this exhibition. Comprised of hundreds of disparate islands and with its liminal position between a continental landmass and an archipelagic sea, Hong Kong serves as a node that is at once swept by a confluence of influence and one that seeks to master such tides. Its history, too, has been marked by more than a century of transitional moments, with its share of efflorescence and tumult. This multifaceted heritage makes for distinctive perspectives and practices with respect to the millennial tradition of ink art in China and to more recent developments.
In the same way that a city is a cosmopolitan gathering space of peoples that transcends diverse backgrounds and identities, INK CITY imagines a cohort of ink art, with different modes of expression, firmly grounded in current social, political, and aesthetic concerns. By calling attention to this medium’s potential to engage with salient issues, INK CITY underlines the dynamism and breadth of what ink art can be.
