Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West

Transcultural Dialogues:
The Journey of East Asian Art to the West
Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is delighted to present the upcoming group exhibition Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West which explores the artistic evolution of East Asian traditions as they spread to the Western art milieu, focusing on the exchange and interaction of visual language and conceptual frameworks between traditional ink art and modern American art. Primarily focused on Chinese art, the show spans from the early 17th century through the 20th century and into contemporary times, highlighting the early modernity and abstract quality of traditional ink masters alongside the reinterpretation of literati painting by diasporic Chinese artists who engaged with American Abstract Expressionism and explored notions of abstraction.

On view from July 11th to Oct 19th, 2024, Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West will present two rotations and include works by more than 15 artists. The first rotation opens on July 11th with a reception on July 18th from 5 pm to 8 pm, and the second rotation starts on August 13th. Concurrently, a complementary exhibition, Asian-American Abstraction: Historic to Contemporary, will be presented at Hollis Taggart (521 West 26th Street) in Chelsea.
Classical and Modern masters such as Bada Shanren (1626 - 1705), Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Qi Baishi (1864-1957), and C.C. Wang (1907-2003) lead into work by contemporary artists, both Asian American and Western, demonstrating how historical developments have shaped their evolving artistic language and perceptions of Asian art. Through their diverse and innovative creations, these artists bridge the gap between tradition and the present, offering reflections on identity, cultural exchange, and the ongoing dialogue between East and West.

This exhibition draws inspiration from a 1997 touring exhibition, Asian Tradition / Modern Expressions: Asian American Artists and Abstraction, 1945-1970, organized by the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University and curated by Jeffrey Wechsler. It showcased the achievements of Asian American artists in the context of the increasing significance of abstract art in mid-20th-century America. It highlighted how Asian American artists creatively fused Eastern and Western art using traditional East Asian techniques and philosophies. Drawing from the rich artistic traditions of China, Japan, and Korea, these artists discovered ideas and techniques that prefigured Western abstract models and applied them during the era of abstract expressionism. Indeed, as a group, they represented a true merging of early Asian and modern Western concepts of art and abstraction, and a knowledgeable blending of Asian and Western aesthetics.
THE ABSTRACT NATURE AND MODERNITY OF CLASSICAL EAST ASIAN ART

We first trace the abstract qualities and modernity in classical East Asian art, focusing on works rooted in the literati painting tradition, which is a distinctive form of Chinese art developed through the intellectual pursuits of scholars over the centuries. In 4th Century China, Zong Bing (375-443) and Wang Wei (414-453) laid the foundation for literati painting, emphasizing that landscape painting should express artists’ inner feelings rather than merely depict nature realistically. Xie He (5th century) established the “Six Principles,” further defining the core values of literati painting. Northern Song scholar Su Shi (1037-1101), through his appreciation of Wang Wei’s (692-761) works, stressed the integration of poetry and painting, gradually merging literati painting with poetry to create a unique art form. Yuan dynasty artist Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) proposed that calligraphy and painting share the same origin, incorporating calligraphic techniques into painting and enhancing its abstract expressiveness. Ming dynasty artist Dong Qichang (1555-1636) absorbed Zen concepts and proposed the “Southern and Northern Schools” theory, further influencing East Asian art history.
With increasing cultural exchange, Western art gradually entered China from the mid-to-late Ming dynasty. Although Dong Qichang and his literati art contemporaries were not very interested in realistic painting, Western artists like Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) and Jean Denis Attiret (1702-1768) had a profound impact on Qing dynasty court painting. Later, the decline of national power in the late Qing period led many scholars to question traditional aesthetic standards and turn towards Western realism. However, as time progressed, realism gradually waned in the West. In the wave of abstractionism, the interplay of yin and yang or emptiness and solidity in Chinese painting provided new inspiration for later artists. This exhibition begins with the works of the renowned late Ming monk-painter Bada Shanren (1626-1705), who elevated the xieyi (writing ideas or conceptions, freehand) style to new heights.
Bada Shanren 八大山人(1626-1705)

Harmony of Mandarin Ducks and Blooming Lotus

Ink on Paper, hanging scroll

65 1/4 x 29 1/4 in; 165.7 x 74.3 cm

Artist inscription:

As the moon sets, the horse ornaments jingle on its way,

Inside, the embroidered flowers are connected, creating a spring-like atmosphere.

A coiled dragon adorns the jade platform mirror,

Only waiting for the one who paints the eyebrows.

A poem of Shaobo (Wang Changling, 698-755).

Bada Shanren (1626-1705) is recognized as one of the foremost expressionist painters in the history of Chinese art. Born into the imperial family of the Ming dynasty, he faced significant upheaval following the dynasty’s collapse, which compelled him to adopt a monastic life. His existence was marked by profound ideological conflicts, encompassing the societal transformations during the late Ming period, introspections and uncertainties related to monastic existence, his engagement with the Zen doctrines of the Caodong and Linji schools, and his persistent deliberations on the prospect of returning to secular life. These intellectual and spiritual struggles are deeply embedded in his oeuvre, offering a plethora of enigmas for scholars and serving as a wellspring of inspiration for subsequent artistic endeavors.

This particular piece depicts a pair of mandarin ducks nestled on a rock, showing Bada Shanren’s signature upward-looking white eyes, gazing at the lotus leaves and flowers extending from behind the rock in the upper left. In the upper right corner of the painting, there is an inscription of a poem by Tang dynasty poet Wang Changling (698-755), cleverly echoing the profound meaning implied by the mandarin ducks in the painting, seemingly reflecting some of Bada Shanren’s own melancholy thoughts at the time.
Scholar’s Rock, Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911),

White Taihu Limestone, Wood Stand

Many art techniques in traditional East Asian art prefigured modern abstract modes of art, such as the rapid gestural markings and pouring, flowing and spattering of pigment associated with Abstract Expressionism. But beyond purely technical and material considerations, there is another aspect of traditional East Asian which may be seen as a significant precursor of an intellectual concept carrying enormous importance to Western modern aesthetics. East Asian art was undoubtedly bolstered by a great deal of philosophical pondering into the creative sources of art, emphasizing that the purpose and content of art reach far beyond the merely visual. Nevertheless, Westerners are generally much more familiar with another purveyor of a related theory, and offer him the credit for having the radical thought of art with a non-visual basis, and even separate from the physical intervention of the artist. In 1914, Marcel Duchamp started to create “readymades”, manufactured objects that he chose and sometimes slightly modified. Duchamp maintained that an ordinary object could be “elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.” He could title and sign such items and declare them to be art. In doing so, Duchamp stated that he was moving past purely “retinal art”, intended only to please the eye, to create work that was “in the service of the mind.” Among the objects Duchamp selected for this aesthetic transformation were a coat rack, a snow shovel, a bicycle wheel mounted on a stool (an “assisted readymade”) and, most notoriously, a porcelain urinal (titled Fountain and signed “R. Mutt”), offered to an exhibition in 1917. This latter episode firmly established Duchamp as a leader of the art movement known as Dada, which questioned assumptions about what art was and how it should be made. In modern Western art, the open-ended style ultimately allowed all manner of novel artistic expressions to develop, including assemblage, found objects, and conceptual art.
As groundbreaking and modern as Duchamp’s efforts may seem, a traditional Chinese artistic practice offers a serious precedent for the essential idea behind the readymade: that an object untouched from its original state can be selected by an individual and presented as art. This is the scholar’s rock, examples of which have been recorded back to at least the seventh century. Given that nature is the fundamental source of East Asian art, it is not surprising that individuals involved with aesthetic pursuits might enjoy the intriguing shapes and surfaces of stones and rocks one might come across. However, scholar’s rocks were specifically regarded as art objects, with standards of aesthetic evaluation. Indeed, by the tenth century, there were collection catalogues recording the most significant groupings of scholar’s rocks assembled by knowledgeable individuals – connoisseurs of rocks, as it were. Otherwise untouched, the scholar’s rocks were placed on specially carved mounts – like Western sculptures placed on pedestals – designed to accentuate each rock’s admirable characteristics. By the Tang dynasty (618–907), four principal aesthetic criteria -- thinness (shou 瘦), openness (tou 透), perforations (lou 漏), and wrinkling (zhou 皱) – had been identified for judging scholars' rocks. Like Duchamp’s objects, these rocks have been awarded the status of art, and not in a perhaps tongue-in-cheek manner, as Dada was wont to indulge in. But while Duchamp’s readymades and Chinese scholar’s rocks are both found objects, Duchamp chose products of manufacturing processes, items that were decidedly artificial; utterly different is the scholar’s rock, which is completely natural. Its appreciation reflects the profound centrality of nature to the Eastern concept of artistic production. Here the Eastern eye and mind are simply yielding before the expressive power of nature and its ability to create forms far beyond human skill or imagination.
The introduction for the scholar’s rock in this exhibition describes how the Western concept of the “found object” as art was prefigured in traditional East Asian practice. There is a related branch of Chinese visual production that derives from this approach: the creation of flat panels formed by slicing open rocks to reveal patterns that mimic – to an astounding degree of “realism” – images of trees, mountains, and mists. With surfaces that are polished flat to reveal complex but softly irregular black and gray suffusions of natural pigmentation, such objects almost reproduce the light, flowing touch of Chinese ink paintings. But there is a cultural twist. These natural images, unlike scholar’s rocks, are generally not considered to be objects of fine art. Instead, they are appreciated as merely pleasant decorative objects. The Western mind wonders: Why so? Perhaps it is because, unlike scholar’s rocks, which are admired in a raw, natural state, the panels have been sullied by the intervention of human activity, through cutting and polishing. In a sense, they are manufactured (like Duchamp’s choices for his readymades), and consequently transmit less of the essence of nature. Furthermore, the landscape simulacra on the panels are, of course, humanly imposed optical (Duchamp would say “retinal”) imitations of trees and mountains. And as noted previously, the imitation of nature (even by nature itself, apparently) is not the purpose of Chinese art. It is quite paradoxical, and perhaps reflective of the subtleties of East Asian aesthetic philosophies.
Marble Landscape Wall Panel
Period: Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Hardwood with veined marble and brass fitting
15 x 19 1/4 in 38.1 x 48.9 cm
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EAST-WEST ART EXCHANGE

The exhibition transitions to the early 20th century and showcases the multiple facets of East-West art exchange, illustrating how Chinese artists sought artistic breakthroughs in the West while Western artists explored the value of traditional Asian art.

Modern period diaspora artists like Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), C.C. Wang (1907-2003), and Wang Fangyu (1913-1997) made significant contributions to introduce Chinese painting and calligraphy during this period. Upon their arrival to the new continent, they integrated Western influences into their works, creating unique styles. Simultaneously, the ink paintings of the renowned Chinese artist Qi Baishi (1864-1957) will also be featured. Notably, Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), a pivotal figure in American modernism, studied Chinese ink art under Qi Baishi in the 1930s. This significant mentor-mentee relationship underscores the profound impact of East-West artistic exchange on the evolution of later Asian American art.
Qi Baishi 齐白石 (1864-1957), Standing Tall, Calling Far, Ink on paper, hanging scroll, 70 1/2 x 19 in; 179.1 x 48.3 cm.

Qi Baishi (1864-1957) is one of the most iconic figures in modern Chinese art history. He significantly broadened the themes of traditional Chinese literati painting, incorporating subjects that had previously been overlooked and often employing puns and double meanings. This not only made his work more accessible but also brought Chinese painting and calligraphy closer to everyday life. The sculptor Isamu Noguchi studied painting under Qi Baishi in Beijing; this helped to spread Qi’s techniques and influence to the United States.

The piece is a grand painting featuring a pine tree and an eagle, which Qi Baishi gifted to General Wang Zuanxu (1886-1960) of Sichuan province. The strong, vigorous tree trunk and the meticulously depicted pine needles reflect Qi Baishi’s mastery of brushwork. The detailed portrayal of the eagle, especially its posture and sharp talons, exemplifies Qi Baishi’s lifelong, keen observation of nature, all while exuding a distinct Eastern expressionist style.
Wang Fangyu 王方宇(1913-1997), Eagle, 1996, Ink on paper, hanging scroll, 52 x 31 3/4 in; 132.1 x 80.6 cm

Wang Fangyu’s calligraphy was based on traditional expertise but also “modernized.” Based on his perception of the “five principles of nature” (unity, change, balance, force, and motion) and inspired by his scholarship and collection of works by the seventeenth-century painter Bada Shanren, Wang Fangyu unleashed creative inner energy in his calligraphy.

The use of ideographic elements of the Chinese character is remarkable in his calligraphy; in this “Eagle,” the form resembles an eagle standing tall, with its feathers cascading down. This resemblance can be compared to Qi Baishi’s eagle, displayed next to this piece. By infusing the energy of the eagle into the flow of his calligraphy, Wang highlights the pictorial characteristic inherent in Chinese characters.

His work exemplifies the ideology of “calligraphy and painting share the same origin” (书画同源). Among the brushstrokes, there are turnarounds and pauses; he broke through barriers between painting and calligraphy by executing calligraphy with the methods of painting. This is not a deliberate altering of the character’s form in order to write something resembling an eagle, but rather an expression of a feeling and an expression of the inner literati spirit.
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Zhang Daqian 张大千 (1899-1983), Moonlit Lotus After the Rain, Ink and Color on Paper, hanging scroll, 54 7/8 x 26 in; 139.4 x 66 cm

Artist inscription:

Red railings glisten with rain under the rising yellow moon,

Light gauze garments, delicate as a feather, are newly worn.

Admired are the jade pendants and the rosy makeup’s grace,

Yet, they pale before the river goddess emerging from her bath.

Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) achieved remarkable success in his lotus-themed artworks. His lotus paintings seamlessly blend techniques from both ancient and contemporary artists, reflecting his deep observation of nature and rich artistic expression. Whenever Zhang Daqian resided in Japan, he often visited gardens before dawn to admire the sunrise and the dewy lotus blossoms.

Zhang Daqian’s lotus paintings vary in scale, from grand, imposing pieces to delicate handscrolls, showcasing his profound affection for lotus flowers and his exceptional skill. His work is known for its majestic presence and intricate emotions, skillfully utilizing varying ink tones and fluid brushwork to depict the diverse forms and vitality of lotus flowers. These paintings are not mere representations of natural scenes but also embody the artist’s philosophical reflections and emotions, giving them profound artistic depth and unique charm.
C. C. Wang 王季迁, Lotus Elegance of the Double Ninth Festival, 1966, Ink on paper, hanging scroll, 37 x 70 1/2 in; 94 x 179.1 cm

C. C. Wang (Chi-ch’ien Wang, 1907-2003) was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, connoisseur, collector, and dealer whose international career spanned more than 50 years. His connoisseurship laid the groundwork for studying Chinese painting in the West. Wang's paintings and calligraphy works chart the maturation of a traditional literati artist whose personal style was by his 1949 emigration to America, a half-century living and working in New York, and his direct exposure to significant twentieth-century art movements, from Abstract Expressionism, and Minimalism, to Graffiti and Street Art.

Renowned for his iconic textured landscape paintings, this monumental lotus painting is a rare gem within his oeuvre. Created in the 1960s, the work features bold gestural brushworks and layers of grand-scale water washes of lotus leaves. It showcases the dynamic momentum of the artist’s Xieyi technique—a traditional Chinese painting style that emphasizes freehand brushwork and expressive strokes—capturing the spirit of the natural creation. This piece fully demonstrates his remarkable versatility and mastery across various ink painting genres.

Notably, during this period, Wang was also studying at the Art Students League of New York, where he deeply explored Western art and abstraction. He developed his understanding of Western art while simultaneously adhering to the traditional practices of brushwork.
THE GLOBALIZATION OF CONTEMPORARY ART

In the contemporary section, we continue exploring the globalization of the past century, focusing on how Eastern and Western artists perceive, reinterpret, and develop Asian traditions. This part features contemporary artworks by immigrant artists like Hisao Hanafusa (born 1937), Fung Ming Chip (born 1951), Wang Mansheng (born 1962), Hayoon Jay Lee (born 1962), Shen Chen (born 1955), and Cui Fei (born 1970), who work with diverse mediums such as ink, acrylic, installations, and oil paintings. Additionally, we highlight American artists from diverse backgrounds, such as Arnold Chang (Zhang Hong, born 1954), Brandon Sadler (born 1986), Sal Sirugo (1920 - 2013), and Michael Cherney (born 1969), who have integrated their deep affection for Asian tradition into their artistic expression. These two groups of works provide insights into the status quo of contemporary Asian art within a global context—one from the East and another from the West—demonstrating the evolving trajectory of artistic expression across cultures.
Hanafusa’s “process paintings,” which represent a profound evolution from the artist’s earlier minimalist period, embody a mystical visual language rooted in his ecosophic worldview – a philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium. Concepts such as time, materiality, and process are foregrounded through the use of custom-made silver or golden aluminum paint, Hanafusa’s preferred material. Central to Hanafusa’s philosophy is the notion of uchuiden, the shared, latent memories of the cosmos that interconnect all human beings. This concept serves as the spiritual foundation of his Cosmic Inherent Memory (Uchuiden Kioku) series. Hanafusa articulates this concept with the following statement: “I didn’t do the work; Nature did it,” highlighting his collaborative approach with nature. At the methodological level, Hanafusa borrows nature’s power to express his unique understanding of materiality. In this series, water- and oil-based aluminum paints were brushed on the canvas and left to stratify under gravity. The paints flow and converge, drying with traces of bubbles and wrinkles on the canvas. This process-oriented method underscores the boundless possibilities in time and space, bridging the visible and invisible, the material and the spiritual, and reflecting his belief in the interconnectedness of all existence through the interplay of time and materiality.
Brandon Sadler, Time, 2022, Enamel on Cotton-paper

48 1/2 x 44 in; 123.2 x 111.8 cm

This is a powerful piece from the artist Brandon Sadler’s calligraphy practice initiated in 2010, as he continued to develop his calligraphic transformation of the English alphabet and experiments with representing an entire English word in a single character. Applying the principles of Chinese calligraphy, the artist uses stroke-shape, stroke-order, and flow to arrange the four letters of an English word “time” to fit within a square format – the design parameter for characters in the Chinese writing system – and thus creates the Single Word Character. The cursive and bold strokes push the boundaries of the square frame, as he questions and explores racial perceptions and the confines they may create. In the artist’s words, his work is “an expression of Blackness not indebted to the parameters of the American lens; it carries prayers and ancestral underpinnings, while it searches for transcendence in a modern world.”
Brandon Sadler,

Into the Sun, 2022. Ink on Xuan paper

28 1/2 x 56 1/2 in, 72.4 x 143.5 cm

The lotus flower is a classical motif in East Asian ink painting as well as a ritualistic symbol of purity, rebirth and the Buddha in the Buddhist tradition. Reinterpreting the iconography of lotus in the timeless vertical composition of East Asian art, this work showcases the artist’s exploration of the traditional medium of ink on xuan paper and brims with an unparalleled lively energy through the dynamic across the blossoming lotus flower and the swinging leaves.
“My project takes inspiration from the intricate and complex pathways carved by beetles on tree trunks.” - Cui Fei, 2024

Cui Fei is a Chinese American artist based in New York. This work represents the artist’s exploration of the asemic writing (written lines and symbols that look like writing, but have no meaning) found in nature. She created this sculpture using lead, woodworking techniques and found materials. While collecting plant materials in nature, she discovered that some of the markings left by beetles on the tree trunks closely resembled Chinese calligraphy. She then laid a sheet of metal onto the wood and delicately hammered to imprint the contours and textures of the tree trunk.

The artist traces "writing" back to its origins in nature, emphasizing the importance of nature to human civilization. The transformation of the natural wood material into a lifeless gray piece of lead also symbolizes the immense loss caused by our excessive exploitation of nature. This work serves as a poignant reminder of the urgent need for change for a sustainable future, awakening awareness through visual impact.
Cui Fei
Vermicular Calligraphy III, 2022-2024.
Lead, wood
19 x 9 x 2 3/4 in, 48.3 x 22.9 x 7 cm
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Transcultural Dialogues: The Journey of East Asian Art to the West

Transcultural Dialogues:

THE ABSTRACT NATURE AND MODERNITY OF CLASSICAL EAST ASIAN ART

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EAST-WEST ART EXCHANGE

THE GLOBALIZATION OF CONTEMPORARY ART

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