Wang Dongling

1945, Jiangsu, China

Introduction

Wang Dongling is a leading artist and calligrapher renowned for large-scale abstract works that he calls “calligraphic paintings.” Wang's calligraphy instructor Lin Sanzhi (1898-1989) encouraged him to extend beyond the limits of tradition to find a method of individual expression. Over time, Dongling acquired the confidence to experiment with ways in which the calligraphic stroke might be liberated from the conveyance of meaning, using the line as a form of expression, parallel to the use of line he admired in Picasso, Klee, Miro, and Matisse. The act of his painting became a physical performance in which Wang translates the text of ancient Chinese poems with gestural interpretations of traditional characters. With bold and forceful brushstrokes, Wang often saturates the paper all the way to the edges, reversing the usual ratio of background space to figure on the paper, thereby creating a heightened sense of tension for the viewer. 

Wang's works are represented in the collections of museums around the world including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Art Museum of China, the Palace Museum (Taipei), and the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum; Harvard University Art Museums; the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; and Yale University Art Gallery.  Recently, he did performances at the Culture Palace, Beijing (2016), Brooklyn Museum, New York (2015), Hong Kong Museum of Art (2014), and his works were included in the Metropolitan Museum's exhibition Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China (2014), and going to give the performance Flying Flowers and Scattered Snow: A Performance of Calligraphy by Wang Dongling, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, USA (Sept 27, 2024, 3-4PM).

 


BIOGRAPHY
1945     Born in Rudong, Jiangsu Province, China
1961-66     Studied at the Department of Fine Arts, Nanjing Teachers’ College under Shen Zhishan and Wei Tianci
1968     Studied under Professor Lin Shanzhi
1979     Enrolled as a member of the graduate program of calligraphy, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts
1981     Taught and received a Master of Fine Arts Degree at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China
Won first prize in the National Collegiate Calligraphy Exhibition
1986     The Art of Calligraphy published by the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts Press, revised 1988
1987     China-Japan Calligrapher Association meeting and demonstration, China
1988     Produced a fine arts education film, “The Art of Calligraphy" by Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts
1989     Visiting professor in Chinese Calligraphy at the Continuing Education and Extension of the East Asian Studies and Art Department, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois/ Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, Larson Gallery, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, University of Kansas, Art School of Santa Cruz, California, York University, USA    
1990     Citizen of the State of Minnesota, endowed by the Governor of Minnesota
1991     Wrote the title for Sacred Mountains in Chinese Art Exhibition
1992     During four years of lecturing in the United States, he gave lectures and held exhibitions in more than twenty universities
1993     Invited by the National Education Committee of China to return to Beijing and work in the Research Department of the Chinese Calligraphers Association
Board Member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association
Professor of Yangzhou University 
Chief Calligraphy Instructor of the Central Y.V. College member of Xiling Seal Engraving Society
Visiting professor of the University of Minnesota
1994     Organized the 1994 Modern Calligraphy Exploration Show
2007     Created the longest calligraphy work (length over 50m) in the history of Chinese calligraphy at National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2015     Chief editor of 10 books of "Series of Calligraphy", China Renmin University Press, Beijing, China
2021     Listed in Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, Culture and Art Publisher, Beijing, China
2023     Published "Luan Shu: The Ever-Evolving Chinese Calligraphy", Zhejiang People's Fine Arts Publishing House, Hangzhou, China
Present     Director, Modern Calligraphy Study Centre, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China


SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS  

2024

  • Pilgrim to Tianjin: Wang Dongling's Calligraphy Works, Tianjin Art Museum, Tianjin, China

  • Flying Flowers and Scattered Snow: A Performance of Calligraphy by Wang Dongling, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, USA (Sept 27, 2024, 3-4PM)

2023

  • Wang Dongling: Ink.Space.Time, The Heong Gallery, Downing College Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

2021

  • From Inception: Wang Dongling 60 Years of Calligraphy, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

2019

  • Wang Dongling: Ink in Motion, Asia Society, New York, USA

  • In Between the Bamboo, Hyatt Regency Suzhou, Suzhou, China

2017

  • Wang Dongling: The Bamboo Path, OCAT, Shenzhen, China

2016

  • Echo of Civilization: Crossing Dunhuang, Taimiao Art Museum, Culture Palace, Beijing, China
  • Public performance of chaos-script (luanshu) calligraphy, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
  • Public performance of chaos-script (luanshu) calligraphy, Library, and Archives Canada, Vancouver, Canada
  • Public performance of calligraphy, Guiyang Confucius Academy, Guiyang, China
  • Wang Dongling: Contemporary Calligraphy, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
  • Public performance of chaos-script (luanshu) calligraphy, British Museum, London, UK
  • Public performance of chaos-script (luanshu) calligraphy, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

2015

  • Wang Dongling: New Work, Chamber Fine Arts, New York, USA
  • Wang Dongling: The Heart Sutra in Chaos Script Performance, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
  • Public calligraphy performance, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  • Drinking by the Lake: Clear Sky followed by Rain by Su Shi, public calligraphy performance, Apple Store West Lake, Hangzhou, China
  • Writing Non-Writing: Calligraphic Works by Wang Dongling, Sanshang Contemporary Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
  • Wang Dongling·The Heart Sutra, Wenzhou Contemporary Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
2014                
  • The Moon over the River on a Spring Night, The Art of Calligraphy by Wang Dongling, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
  • Public performance of monumental cursive-script calligraphy, Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skärhamn, Sweden      
  • Public performance of monumental cursive-script calligraphy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
  • Beside the Ancient Road, Jinwan Faculty of Humanities of Tianjin Water Park, Tianjin, China      
  • Small Calligraphic Works by Wuzhai, Jingcai Gallery, Hangzhou, China
2013               
  • Calligraphy performance “Dancing Writing”, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • Wang Dongling: The Origins of Abstraction, Ink Studio, Beijing, China      
  • Wang Dongling: Brushing the Ties, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
2012                
  • Decanter Ink: Hangzhou Cross-year Exhibition, Wang Dongling solo, Sanshang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
  • Work by Wang Dongling, Qiu Zhenzhong and Xu Bing, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
2011                
  • Wang Dongling: The Daoism of Calligraphy, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
2007                
  • Share the Peripateticism: Calligraphy Exhibition by Wang Dongling, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2006                
  • Calligraphy Performance: Linhe Xu, Lanting International Calligraphy Festival, Shaoxing, China
2005                
  • INK, Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, USA
2003                   
  • Exhibition of Wang Dongling’s Calligraphy, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • Yilanzhai Art Museum, Nanjing, China
2002                   
  • The Paintings of Wang Dongling’s Calligraphy, Goedhus Contemporary, New York, USA
2001                
  • It Is Not Calligraphy, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts Gallery, New York, USA
2001                     
  • Solo Exhibition of the Festival of Lanting Calligraphy, Shaoxing Museum, Shaoxing, China
  • It is Not Calligraphy, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts Gallery, New York, USA      
  • Writing With Ease, Jincai Gallery, Hangzhou, China      
1999                   
  • Exhibition of Wang Dongling’s Calligraphy, Shenzhen Art Gallery, Shenzhen, China
1998                    
  • Muthesius Hochschule, Polytechnic School of Art, Kiel, Germany
  • Calligraphy by Wang Dongling, D.P. Fong Gallery, San Jose, USA      
1997                   
  • Nagoya Zie Mien Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
1994   
  • National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China    
1993   
  • Solo exhibition, sponsored by the Tokyo International Press, Japan
1992
  • Calligraphy by Wang Dongling, Minnesota State Exhibition Center, Minneapolis, USA      
  • Calligraphy by Wang Dongling, D.P. Fong Gallery, San Jose, USA
1991  
  • Porter College, University of California, Santa Cruz; North Dakota Museum of Chinese Art, San Diego University, USA    
1990   
  • Montreal University, Canada
  • D. P. Fong Gallery, San Jose, California, USA    
  • University of Minnesota, St Paul, USA      
1989  
  • Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA      
  • Macalester Gallery, St Paul, USA      
  • University of Kansas, Kansas, USA
  • University of Minnesota, St Paul, USA      
  • Art School of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, USA
1987  
  • National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
  • China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024      

2023-2024      

  • Embark．Hang: Central Art Museum Opening Exhibition, Central Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

2023

  • Chengdu Biennial: Time Gravity, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu, China

  • New Calligraphy for the Times: 20th Anniversary of Modern Calligraphy Research Centre of China Academy of Art, Yuan Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

  • Thinking with the Senses: Inaugural, Dacheng Art Museum, Changzhou, China

  • Kuming Art Biennale: Writing and Boundary, Yunnan Art Museum, Kuming, China

2022-23

  • From Dawn to Dusk: Life in the Forbidden City, Gallery 2, Hong Kong Palace Museum, Hong Kong

2022

  • Painting with Ink - Confront the Scenery: 7th Contemporary Ink Art Research Exhibition, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China

  • 2nd Exhibition of Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, An Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Innovation of Ink: Transformation and Reinvention of Oriental Aesthetics – Featured Exhibition of Wang Dongling & Xu Lei, Sands Gallery, Macau

2021

2020

  • Ink Sky: Exhibition of Chinese Ink Art Year Book 2020, An Art Museum, Beijing, China

2019

  • The Latent Paradigm: Research on the Status and Ecology of Chinese Contemporary Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
  • Writing Non-writing: Hangzhou International Modern Calligraphy Exhibition, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2018                
  • Beyond Ink: 20th China Shanghai International Arts Festival Program, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China

  • Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, The Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, US

  • The Voice of the Brush Part 1, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2017                

  • Boundless: On Going Chinese Ink Art, Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China

  • The Unusual West Lake: The First Art Scene of West Lake Photo Exhibition, CAA Art Museums, Hangzhou, China

2016                

  • Boundless: On Going Chinese Ink Art, Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China

  • Open Books: International Artists Explore the Chinese Folding Book, Library and Archives Canada, Vancouver, Canada

  • Between Heaven and Heart, Imperial Ancestral Temple Art Museum, Beijing, China

  • Shan Shui  A Manifesta

    , Gong Wang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

          

  • Shan Shui Within, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China

  • Light Writers 2016, Light Gallery, Hangzhou, China

2015                
2014                

  • Kochi-Murizis Biennial: Collateral Project "Janela-Migrating Forms and Migrating Gods", Mill Hall Compound, Kochi, India

  • Orchid Pavilion Calligraphy Biennial, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

  • Guanshan Gathering: Works by Zheng Shengtian and Wang Dongling, Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA

  • Ink and the Body, Ink Studio, Beijing, China

  • China's Changing Landscape: Contemporary Chinese Ink, Nordiska Akvarellmuseet (Nordic Watercolour Museum), Goteborg, Sweden

2013                
  • Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

  • Beyond Black and White: Chinese Abstract Ink, Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China

  • Guanshan Gathering: Works by Zheng Shengtian and Wang Dongling, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China

2012           

  • Images and Words: Since Magritte Era, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

  • Inner and Outer Transformation: A View on Chinese Contemporary Art, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey

  • Textual Logic: Works by Wang Dongling, Qiu Zhenzhong and Xu Bing, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

2010                
  • Wiesbaden International Modern Calligraphy Exhibition, Baden, Hamburg, Germany
  • Hollow Stroke Style: Dimension of Chinese Character, Chengdu Biennial Special Invitation Exhibition, Chengdu, China
  • Lanting Pavilion Review: China Calligraphy Exhibition, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
  • Beauty of Chinese Character: China Calligraphy Exhibition, Paris, France
  • Trace and Qualitative Leap: Beijing Film Academy’s 60th Anniversary Exhibition, Beijing Film Academy 4 ° Space Gallery, Beijing, China
  • Hangzhou International Modern Calligraphy Art Exhibition, Hangzhou, China
  • Breaking out, Zhejiang Contemporary Art Exhibition, Hangzhou, China
  • Beauty of Chinese Characters: Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Paris, France
2009                
  • Asian Ink Masters, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, USA
  • Calligraphy and non-Calligraphy: 2010 Hangzhou International Modern Calligraphy Exhibition, Hangzhou, China
  • In the Hand of Paper, Art Academy of Roma, Rome, Italy
  • 1st Linzhou Ink Brush Biennale (International), Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
  • The Orchid Pavilion: The Art of Writing in China, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
  • Black and White Image: Wang Dongling & Joao Carlos Almeida, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal
2008                
  • Seoul Calligraphy Art Biennial, Seoul, Korea
  • Water & Wood Wonderland, BFA International New Media Art Triennial, Beijing, China
  • 6th International Brush Painting Biennial: Ink · City Exhibition, Shenzhen, China
  • Eighteen Teaching Plans - Experimental Art Teaching Plan Exhibition, Hangzhou, China
  • Classic Calligraphy - Silent Night Calligraphy Activity, Hangzhou, China
2007                

  • In the Hand of Paper, Art Academy of Rome, Rome, Italy

  • Reboot, 3rd Chengdu Biennial, Chengdu, China

  • Opening Fun: International Modern Calligraphy Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Made in China: Contemporary Art Exhibition, Louisiana Art Museum, Louisiana, Denmark

2006                
  • Brush and Ink: The Chinese Art of Writing, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
  • Yellow Box, Qingpu China Space Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China
2005                   
  • 1st International Cao Shu Exhibition, West Lake Art Museum, Hangzhou, China
  • The Act of Writing and of Non-writing: The Open Space for Chinese Calligraphy, China Fine Arts Academy, Hangzhou, China
2004                    

  • Maze: 2nd National Media Art Exhibition, Hangzhou, China

  • 8th National Calligraphy and Seal Exhibition, Xi'an, China

2003                
  • World Exposition, Nagoya, Japan

  • Calligraphy Exhibition, Sydney, Australia

  • International Modern Ink Color Exhibition, Xi'an, China

  • Hello, Chinese Calligraphy: Modern Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Finland

  • 1st Exhibition of the Works of Chinese Leading Calligraphers, Tokyo, Japan

2002                    
  • Brushes with Surprise: The Art of Calligraphy in Modern China (Gordon S Barrass), British Museum, London, UK
  • Avant-garde Calligraphy, Arvada Center, Arvada, USA
  • The Spirit of Asian Brush-Ink, Seoul, Korea
  • Exhibition of Well Known Calligraphers from China and Japan, Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan
  • Music Without Sound: Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy, Goedhuis Contemporary, London, UK
  • China Without Borders, Sotheby's New York, USA
  • Exchange Exhibition of Calligraphy between Mainland China and Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
  • A Collection of Contemporary Chinese Artists, Shanghai, China
  • Exhibition of International Ink Painting and Abstract Art, Xi An, China
2001                    
  • The Rhythmic Line: Contemporary Calligraphy, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

  • Borderless China: Exhibition of Chinese Paintings, New York, USA

  • Spirit of Ink & Brush, Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Seoul, Korea

2000                     
  • Invitation Art Exhibition of the Gate of Century. Chengdu, China
  • Exhibition of the Well Known Calligraphers from China and Japan, Xi An, China
  • Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Hong Kong
  • Grand Exhibition of Chinese Calligraphy in the 20th Century, Tokyo, Japan
  • China 46-Contemporary Chinese Artists, Shanghai-Melbourne
  • 99 World Calligraphy Art Biennale Exhibition of Cholla Buk-Do, South Korea
1999                 

  •  Exhibition of The Works of 46 Contemporary Chinese Artists, Shanghai, China; Melbourne, Australia

  • Grand Exhibition of Chinese Calligraphy in the 20th Century, Tokyo, Japan

1998                        
  • China: Five Thousand Years, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
  • Bilbao: Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Columbia University, New York, USA; Malmo Konsthall Gallery, Malmo, Sweden; Sorbonne University, Paris, France
1997                
  • ’97 World Calligraphy Art Biennale Exhibition of Cholla Buk-Do, Korea
  • Exhibition of 21st Century Calligraphy, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1994          

  • Modern Calligraphy Exploration Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

1993          

  • Chinese Seal Exhibition, Yale University, New Haven, USA

1992                
  • The Exhibition of Wang Dongling and His Students, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
  • Chinese Seal Engraving Exhibition, Yale University, New Haven, USA
1991                
  • 2nd International Art EXPO, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
1990                
  • The Brush Dances & the Ink Sings, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
1989                 

  • Sino-Japanese Calligraphy Exchange Exhibition, Hong Kong

  • Paper Art from Hangzhou, Hamburg, Germany

1988
  • Japan-China Representative Calligraphers’ Show, Japan                    
  • China-Japan Calligraphy Exchange Show, Hong Kong                      
  • Art on Paper from Hangzhou, Germany
  • Contemporary Chinese Painting Exhibition, Zaire, Africa
1987                

  • Lanting Sino - Japanese Calligraphy Exhibition, Shaoxing, China

  • Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy Treasures from Mainland China, Taipei, Taiwan, China

1985                
  • International Calligraphy Exhibition, China
1984                
  • Singapore-China Calligraphy Exchange Exhibition Show, Singapore
1983                
  • Japan-China Calligraphy Exhibition, Japan
1981                
  • National Collegiate Calligraphy Exhibition, China
1980  
  • 1st National Calligraphy and Seal Carving Exhibition, China
 

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA
Yale University, New Haven, USA
The University of California, Berkeley, USA
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
British Museum, London, UK
The Olenska Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
Palace Museum, Beijing, China 
National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China 
China Central Television, Beijing, China 
Chinese Arts Centre, Beijing, China 
Beijing Library, Beijing, China 
Chinese Military Museum, Beijing, China 
Beijing University, Beijing
China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China 
Zhejiang Museum of Fine Art, Hangzhou, China 
Jiangxi Museum, Nanchang, China 
Jiangsu Museum, Nanjing, China 
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong