- Description
Description
As part of his landmark solo exhibition WANG DONGLING: INK. SPACE. TIME. at The Heong Gallery, artist Wang Dongling is offering an exclusive calligraphy workshop. With paper, brushes, and inks specially selected by the artist, the workshop will be a unique opportunity to learn from a master of classical and contemporary calligraphy, using materials used by professionals. The cost of the workshop includes all materials, an artist-designed goody-bag, and cafeteria lunch in the Dining Hall (1PM).
No prior experience with Chinese calligraphy is required.
About the exhibition
For his new, site-specific exhibition at The Heong Gallery, pre-eminent contemporary calligrapher, Wang Dongling, draws upon the writings of legendary Daoist master, Laozi, and Cambridge theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Prof. Stephen Hawking. Rendered in his characteristic ‘luanshu’ or ‘chaos script’, texts detach from meaning and dissolve into mark and trace on a monumental scale.
‘The classically trained calligrapher Wang Dongling exemplifies those artists who have used their command of traditional techniques to create large-scale abstractions that emphasise the dynamic gestural qualities of calligraphy…’
Maxwell K. Hearn, Chairman, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY) in Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China (2013)
Wang Dongling (b. 1945, Rudong, Jiangsu Province, China) is Director of the Modern Calligraphy Research Centre at the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou. Wang studied fine art at a teacher training college in Nanjing before the institute was closed due to the Cultural Revolution in 1966. While writing posters for the local cultural and education office, Wang discovered his passion for calligraphy, studied with master calligrapher Li Sanzhi, and enrolled in the Zhejiang Academy of Art. Since the 1980s, Wang Dongling has been at the vanguard of reimagining the ancient artform of Chinese Calligraphy for contemporary times. His work is in several public collections including The British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).
Ink. Space. Time. is curated by Holly Roussell. Roussell is a curator, museologist, and art historian specialising in photography and contemporary art from Asia. Roussell has organized more than 20 group and solo exhibitions around the world. She is a regular expert for international portfolio reviews and juries and has contributed as author to a number of exhibition catalogues and magazines on photography.
The Heong Gallery is a public gallery for Modern and Contemporary Art opened at Downing College in the University of Cambridge in 2016. Named after alumnus and benefactor Dr Alwyn Heong, and inaugurated by alumnus Sir Alan Bowness, the Gallery was designed by Caruso St John Architects, winners of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2016. The Gallery won a RIBA East Award in 2017. It is free to visit and a fixture on the cultural map of Cambridge and the East.
The Heong Gallery would like to thank Chambers Fine Art for their help in bringing Ink. Space. Time. to Cambridge.
Access Information
The Grace Howard Room is fully accessible by wheelchair and mobility vehicles. There is a lift to accessible toilets and soft and firm seating. A hearing loop is available in the Porters’ Lodge. If a hearing loop is required in the Grace Howard Room, please inform us in advance.
