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Artworks
Wang Fangyu Chinese American, 1913-1997
Ink (Mou) 墨, 1990ink on paper 水墨纸本18 1/2 x 12 1/2 in
47 x 31.8 cmThe title of this work invites multiple readings. At its most literal, the artist presents the written word mo 墨 (ink). On a technical level, the painting is realized through...The title of this work invites multiple readings. At its most literal, the artist presents the written word mo 墨 (ink). On a technical level, the painting is realized through heavy, saturated strokes, the brush and paper alike steeped in ink. And visually, the central image is nothing more—and nothing less—than “Ink” itself.
Ink, together with brush, inkstone, and paper, is one of the four treasured instruments of the Shufa artist and painter. Here, the single character is rendered in a cursive (caoshu) style distinctive to the artist. Having absorbed and synthesized the major traditions of Shufa, Wang Fangyu came to feel that strict adherence to convention constrained his creativity. His response was not to abandon tradition, but to push its freest form—cursive script—toward new expressive horizons.
The series embodies both fidelity and rebellion: fidelity in grounding the calligraphy within a unified structure rooted in archaic scripts, and rebellion in the way the strokes spill beyond their frames, channeling the unruly momentum of nature. Each mark carries weight and gravity, yet is animated with tendon and bone, echoing the classical dictum that brushwork gives visible form to the living body. The result is a paradoxical expression—one that amplifies subjectivity even as it gestures toward its own dissolution.
这件作品的题名蕴含多重解读空间。在最直观的层面上,艺术家呈现的是一个“墨”字的书写。从技法角度看,作品以浓重饱满的笔触完成,笔与纸皆被墨色浸透。而在视觉层面,画面中心所展现的,正是“墨”本身这一意象。
墨,与笔、砚、纸并称文房四宝,是书画家最珍视的工具。此处,这单独一字以艺术家个人独特的草书风格写就。王方宇在融匯各種書體後,逐渐感到传统规范束缚了他的创造力。他的应对并非背弃传统,而是将其最自由的形式———草书——推向新的表现境界。
因此,这一系列作品既体现传承,亦彰显反叛:传承在于将书法根植于源自古代字体的统一结构中;反叛则在于笔划溢出方块框架,承载自然野性的能量。每一笔既具沉厚重量,又贯注筋骨活力,呼应“书具筋骨,如人之体”的传统理念。最终形成一种矛盾的表达:既放大主体性,又指向其消解。
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