Hu Wei's art begins with traditional Chinese painting, expanding the traditional medium of ink into mixed media and elevating a technical medium to ontological 'thingness.' In the end, he creates deeper links to the Chinese aesthetic tradition within contemporary artistic creation.
In this exhibition, we understand and discuss Hu Wei's work through things and appearances. The artist creatively uses many materials and objects, such as rice paper, ink, mineral pigments, metal, ceramic, wood, shells, silk, cotton, and hemp... The process of transforming materials into language gives the specific properties of things infinite 'difference.' More importantly, in this process, 'thingness' shifts away from specific materials to become a transcendent spiritual presence. It is a contemporary interpretation of 'vigor' from Chinese classical poetry and an Eastern expression of the contemporary spirit.
We named the exhibition Formless Thingness to encapsulate Hu Wei's artistic methods and describe his aesthetic style, but we were also attempting to use this as a way to explore the rich spiritual content of the deeper levels in his works.
This is Hu Wei's largest solo exhibition to date, and it represents an important part of Tang Contemporary Art's mission to expand the local study of contemporary art.
Press release courtesy Tang Contemporary Art.
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