Fluid Strength: The Art of Ink: Asia Week New York

The ability of water to yield, nurture, and overcome has profoundly shaped the core worldview of Chinese culture, art, and philosophy. From classical calligraphy and landscape painting to contemporary artistic innovations, ink art embodies this enduring perspective, transcending time and geography to resonate across cultures. This exhibition brings together works from different eras, spanning traditional paintings and calligraphy to modern and contemporary expressions, inviting viewers to experience the depth of ink art and its intricate relationship between philosophy and artistic practice.

In calligraphy, the works of Wang Wenzhi and Wang Ti similarly embody the strength and fluidity of water. Wang Wenzhi’s Xiaokai (small regular script) is elegant and seamless, executed with an unbroken continuity that exudes an effortless grace. In contrast, Wang Ti’s Zhuanshu (Seal Script) is stately and balanced, with the content and form reinforcing each other harmoniously. Both works capture the dynamic rhythm of ink flow, evoking the movement of water as it glides and ripples with natural ease.

In his latest piece, Su-Thoreau captures the tranquil majesty of the Poyang Lake, where language and landscape intertwine in a poetic dialogue. Unlike earlier works in the series, which feature a single bilingual text, this composition presents two complete texts—Su Shi’s classical Chinese poetry and Thoreau’s English prose—woven together in a seamless interplay of tradition and interpretation. Each viewer can fully engage with at least one text, while bilingual readers experience the subtle echoes and resonances between them.

Cherney’s calligraphy does more than inscribe meaning; it breathes across the darkened water’s surface, where strokes merge, overlap, and converse. The vertical scrolls recall the gravitas of ancient steles, their presence imbued with the weight of history. A photograph bridges the two scrolls, dissolving the boundary between them. Instead of choosing an image of birds soaring over a boat—a natural metaphor for passage—Cherney depicts them at rest, as if the journey has already been written into the fabric of the scene, while distant silhouettes linger like whispers of movement.

At the intersection of text, image, and calligraphy, Cherney expands the concept of bilingualism beyond linguistics, demonstrating its harmony within artistic expression. By weaving poetry in two languages into a unified calligraphic form, he bridges Eastern and Western traditions, preserving the rhythm of poetry while reinterpreting it within a modern cultural context.

Brandon Salder, the latest artist represented by the gallery, integrates influences from graffiti, illustration, and East Asian artistic traditions—particularly ink calligraphy and woodblock prints—into his creative practice. His work embodies the energy of cross-cultural exchange, weaving a visual narrative of human connection through a deeply personal artistic language.

Part of the Transform series, this striking body of calligraphic works extends the artist’s ongoing exploration of calligraphy, a practice he initiated in 2010. In these works, the word “Transform” emerges as a singular calligraphic form, continuously reshaped through the principles of Chinese brushwork. By applying traditional techniques—stroke shape, stroke order, and fluidity—to the English alphabet, the artist constructs a visual language that transcends cultural boundaries. Each character conforms to the spatial discipline of Chinese script, where forms are balanced within a square framework, challenging conventional perceptions of both language and artistic structure.

A defining aspect of these works is the contrast in brushstroke technique. One composition emphasizes bold, forceful strokes, where ink saturates the paper with deep blacks, asserting its presence with weight and density. The other, in contrast, incorporates dynamic, sweeping gestures with expressive variations in ink flow, revealing more subtle shifts in texture and movement. This juxtaposition highlights the artist’s deliberate exploration of materiality, where the brush itself becomes an extension of motion, rhythm, and transformation.