Wang Tiande

1960, Shanghai, China

Introduction

Wang Tiande is an innovative avant-garde ink artist known for his creative use of incense sticks as a form of brush. Born in Shanghai in 1960, he studied at the College of Art in Shanghai in 1981, before pursuing further studies at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. After graduating in 1988 with a degree in traditional Chinese painting, he went on to obtain a Ph.D. in calligraphy in 2010 from the same academy. Well versed in traditional Chinese art and culture, Wang searches for further possibilities in the realm of ink art. His most ground-breaking creation, Chinese ink with burn marks on layered rice paper and the use of incense sticks in lieu of brushes to paint, transforms paintings of traditional landscapes and calligraphy while conveying the ephemeral quality of painting. He first gained international recognition when his work, Ink Banquet, produced in 1996, was exhibited as part of Inside Out: New Chinese Art, a travelling exhibition curated by Gao Minglu. This work was subsequently collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art. More recently, his work was included in the exhibition Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions at Asia Society Texas.

Alisan Fine Arts began representing Wang in 1999, and organised his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 2003, titled Wang Tiande: Ink for the 21st Century. Since then the gallery has held three further solo exhibitions for him in 2007, Wang Tiande: Landscape Transformations, in 2014, Mountainscapes: New Ink Art By Wang Tiande, and in 2018 AWAITING New Works by Wang Tiande. Wang has participated in two group exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as part of Brush and Ink: The Chinese Art of Writing in 2006, and the seminal exhibition Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China in 2014. In recent years, in addition to holding significant solo exhibitions at Suzhou Museum and Guangdong Museum of Art, Wang became one of the few living contemporary artists to have a solo exhibition at Palace Museum in Beijing in 2015.

His works are also in the collections of British Museum, London; Cernuschi Museum, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver; Chinese Painting Research Institute, Beijing; Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou; Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen; Hong Kong Museum of Art; JP Morgan Bank, Hong Kong.


BIOGRAPHY
1960    Born in Shanghai, China
1981    Graduated from Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, China
1988    Graduated from Chinese Painting Department, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art), Hangzhou, China
1988-2002    Associate Professor, Art Education Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Member of Chinese Artists Association, China
2003    Professor, Art Education Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Dean of School of Communication Design, Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
2010    Ph.D in Calligraphy, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2021    Listed in Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, Culture and Art Publisher, Beijing, China
2022    Collaborated with Wu Changshuo Memorial Hall in Shanghai, rejuvenating an old well of Qing Dynasty
2023    Lectured at Stanford University Learning and Knowledge Centre, as the Stanford Chinese Faculty & Family Club Seminar
2024    Judging panel of John Moores Painting Prize (China)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
  • Afterwards: Wang Tiande Art Exhibition, Xu Wei Art Museum, Shaoxing, China (31 July-31 Oct 2024)
2023
  • Hills, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
2021
  • Wang Tiande: Three Floors, WS Space, Shanghai, China
2018
2017         
  • Over Mountains and Across Valleys, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2015   
  • Wang Tiande Art Exhibition, The Palace Museum, Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness, Beijing, China
2014   
2012   
  • Gu Shan, Sanshang Art, Hangzhou, China
2011  
  • Boat, Galerie 99, Aschaffenburg, Germany
2010   
  • Shuang Shuang, University of Sidney, Sidney, Australia
2009   
  • Up/Down: Wang Tiande Art Project, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas University, Kansas, USA
2008   
  • Xerxes Fine Arts, London, UK 
2007   
2005  
  • Redolent of Incense, Yishu Space Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2004  
  • Galerie 99, Aschaffenburg, Germany
2003  
1996   
  • Fudan University Museum, Shanghai, China
1995  
  • The German Centre, Shanghai, China
1991 
  • Chinese Painting Institute, Shanghai, China

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024-2025

  • The Journey of Ink: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Paintings from the Musée Cernuschi, Bund One Art Museum, Shanghai, China (Until Jan 5, 2025)

2024 

  • Themes and Variations, Alisan Fine Arts-New York Gallery, New York, USA

  • Black And White And Everything In Between: A Monochrome Journey, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
  • Presene and Absence: Chinese Ink Expressional Painting as the Component of Ink Art, China Guardian, beijing, China

  • Contemporary Logic of a Pure and Remote View, Wuhan Art Museum (Qintai), Wuhan, China

  • The Evolutionary Trace of the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

2023-2024 

  • East and West 2023: Chinese Contemporary Art Academic Research Exhibition, China Art Museum Shanghai, Shanghai, China

2023 

2022-2023 

  • By the People: Creative Chinese Characters, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

2022   

2021          
 2020          
  • Ink Sky: Exhibition of Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, An Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Brushless, Alisan Fine Arts-Aberdeen, Hong Kong
  • Ｎew HaiPai Ink Art Exhibition, T-art, Shanghai, China
  • The File: The Formation of Cycle, 5th Anniversary of Chinese Contemporary Art Review, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
  • Art 021 Platform, online viewing room, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai, China
  • Ink Painting Ongoing 2000-2019, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

  • Shanghai Waves Historical Archives and Works of Shanghai Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China

2019          

  • Arts of China: New Acquisitions, Asian Galleries, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA

2018          
 2017         
2016  
 2015 
2014         
  • Within & Without, Museum of Stanford University, California, USA
2013 
2012   
  • Chinese Modern Art Exhibition, British Museum, London, UK
  • International Ink Exhibition, Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
2011   
  • Red Flag: Contemporary Chinese Art in Montreal Collection, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
  • Word: China Mainland Contemporary Art Exhibition, Huashan1914 Creative Park, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Fei Du, Xunyao Chinese Characters Art & Culture Museum, Chengdu, China
  • Papercut: Exhibition of Sino-German Contemporary Art, South Bund Art Space, Shanghai, China
  • Different Ink Art, Shangdong Contemporary Art Centre, Nanjing, China
2010   
2009   
  • Hong Kong International Arts & Antiques Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre, Hong Kong
  • Yi Pai: Contemporary Chinese Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Contemporary Ink Art: Evolution, Harvard University, Boston, USA
2008 
  • 2nd Modern Ink Biennial, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Ink Not Ink: Contemporary Chinese Art, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA; Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • Contemporary Ink Art: Evolution, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany
  • Yi Pai: Chinese Abstract Art 30 Years, La Caixa Forum, Barcelona, Spain
  • Transforming Marks of Ink, Staatiche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany
  • New Vision of China 2008, Modern and Contemporary Art Center of La Spezia, La Spezia, Italy
  • New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond, Curated by Alice King, Founder of Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
2007  
  • China Onward: The Estella Collection: Chinese Contemporary Art 1966-2006, Louisiana Museum, Louisiana, USA 
  • FUN, Taipei Calligraphy Biennial, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • China New Vision: Chinese Contemporary Art Collection, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2006   
  • International Exhibition of Art & Calligraphy, Seoul Art Centre, Seoul, Korea
  • Light on China Art Generation, Palazzo Capponi, Florence, Italy
  • Exhibition of Chinese Painting Documentaries, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China 
  • Revival: New Ink Art, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
  • China Trade, International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, Canada
  • DU, Expressions of Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting, Art Museum of Tianjin Academy of Art, Tianjin, China
  • 60’s Vision Documenta, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Brush and Ink: The Chinese Art of Writing, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2006   
  • Calligraphy Scene, Heng Lu Museum of Art, Hangzhou, China
  • International Exhibition of Art & Calligraphy, Seoul Art Centre, Seoul, Korea
  • Light on China Art Generation, Palazzo Capponi, Florence, Italy
  • Exhibition of Chinese Painting Documentaries, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China
  • Revival: New Ink Art, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
  • China Trade, International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, Canada
  • DU, Expressions of Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting, Art Museum of Tianjin Academy of Art, Tianjin, China
  • 60’s Vision Documenta, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Brush and Ink: The Chinese Art of Writing, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States
2005   
  • 2nd Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu Museum of Modern Art, Sichuan, China
  • Present for Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
  • Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting in China and Korea, Seoul Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
  • The Act of Writing and Non-writing: The Open Space for Chinese Calligraphy, International Exhibition of Art Rising, Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, Canada
2004  
  • Dream of Dragon, Contemporary Chinese Art, Dublin Contemporary Art Museum, Dublin, Ireland
  • Contemporary Art from Shanghai, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany
  • Exhibition by Six Artists, Galerie Karin Sachs, Munich, Germany
  • 4th International Biennial of Ink Painting, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • Nomination Exhibition, Art Museum of Hubei Academy of Art, Wuhan, China 
2003  
  • An Opening Era, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • White East: 20th Century Chinese Paintings, Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, France
  • Dots and Beyond, Malaysia National Art Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2002  
  • 3rd Biennial International Ink Painting, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
  • 0 Material, Central Academy of Art, Beijing, China
  • New Ink Paintings, Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan 
  • East + West: Contemporary Chinese Art, Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna, Austria
2001  
  • Ink Colour, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • 20 Years of Experimental Ink Paintings, Guandong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
  • 32nd Düsseldorf International Art Exhibition, Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Annual Nomination Exhibition, Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
  • Chinese Feeling, Siwei Commercial Centre, Changsha, China
  • Reshuffling, Shenzhen Sculpture Institute, Shenzhen, China
  • Exhibition of Abstract Ink, Xi’an International Exhibition Centre, Xi’an, China
2000   
  • Gallery Artists: Gu Wenda, Wang Tiande, Li Shan, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Neo-Ink Paintings in China 2000, Liu Haisu Museum of Art, Shanghai; Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China
  • 2nd International Biennial of Ink Painting, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
1998   
  • Shanghai Biennial, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
  • Inside Out: New Chinese Art, PS1, New York; Tacoma Art Museum, Washington; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, USA; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Monterrey, Mexico; Canberra National Art Museum, Australia; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
  • 1st International Biennial of Ink Painting, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
  • Looking Back on Chang’an: Invitational Exhibition of Modern Ink Painting Collection, Shanxi Art Museum, Xi’an, China
  • Tension and Expression, Ink Painting Exhibition, Art Gallery of Crown Plaza Hotel, Beijing, China 
1997   
  • Ink Painting Show, Grand Exhibition of Chinese Art, Shanghai Library, Shanghai, China
  • Sculpture '97, Nanshan Sculpture Institute, Shenzhen, China
  • Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Artists’ Works, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
  • Exhibition of Shanghai Artists’ Works, Gallery of St Petersburg Artists Association, St Petersburg, Russia
1996  
  • Shanghai Ink Painting, Art Museum of Arizona University, Tucson, USA
  • Homeland Revisited: Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Experimental Ink Works, Gallery on the Rim, San Francisco, USA
  • Contemporary Chinese Ink Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Painting from Shanghai Art Museum Collection, Hamburg Art Museum, Hamburg, Germany
1995   
  • Contemporary Chinese Art, Lineart International Art Fair, Ghent, Belgium
1994  
  • 8th National Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1993  
  • 1st National Chinese Painting Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • 1st National Chinese Landscape Painting Exhibition, Anhui Art Museum, Hefei, China
  • 4th Shanghai Young Artists Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
  • Shanghai Modern Art, Yokohama Art Gallery, Yokohama, Japan
  • Shanghai-Taipei Modern Chinese Ink Painting, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1992   
  • Sea Horizon of Paintings and Sculptures, Liu Haisu Museum of Art, Shanghai, China
1991  
  • Works by Four Artists, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1989  
  • 7th National Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
British Museum, London, UK
Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, USA
Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas University, Kansas, USA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Wahshington DC, USA
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Chinese Painting Research Institute, Beijing, China
Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing, China
Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Guangdong Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
JP Morgan Bank