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Zao Wou-Ki: Master Printmaker M+ 13 December 2025–3 May 2026 Hong Kong
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Press Release

Zao Wou-Ki: Master Printmaker explores the Chinese-French artist’s life, his prints, and his mastery of abstraction. It sheds new light on Zao’s printmaking practice, introducing the unique aesthetics, techniques, and styles of this medium while investigating the connections between oil painting and printmaking as equally significant aspects of his oeuvre. The exhibition explores how Zao’s printmaking catalysed his experiments in abstraction and considers the role of prints as a visual and conceptual vehicle that facilitated the circulation of his works, positioning him as an eminent cross-cultural figure in the post-war art landscapes of Europe, Asia, and the United States.

From his first attempts in 1949 upon arriving in Paris, Zao quickly mastered various printmaking techniques and incorporated them into his work, a practice he maintained throughout the rest of his career. The exhibition traces Zao’s aesthetic, and technical progression in print mediums such as etching and lithography and how they resonated with the themes and artistic styles of his oil paintings. It also highlights his graphic art commissioned for publications of prominent modern poets in France, illustrating his relationships with French literary circles.

Image at top: Zao Wou-Ki. Untitled, 1995. Lithograph. M+, Hong Kong. Gift of Françoise Marquet-Zao, 2024. Zao Wou-Ki © ProLitteris, Zurich, 2025. Image: Courtesy of M+, Hong Kong

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About the Artist

The pioneering Chinese painter Zao Wou-Ki once remarked, ‘Everybody is bound by a tradition. I am bound by two.’ Indeed, his oeuvre of more than 70 years presents a life of experimentation and negotiation between Chinese and Western artistic traditions. Working with oil paint, Chinese ink, lithography, engraving and watercolour, Zao traversed cultural boundaries and created an ever-evolving synthesis of Chinese and Western art.

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About the Gallery

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Address
West Kowloon Cultural District
38 Museum Drive
Kowloon
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm
Fridays, 10am – 10pm
Closed Mondays
(1)
Hong Kong West Kowloon Cultural District, 38 Museum Drive
M contemporary art institution in Hong Kong
M+
West Kowloon Cultural District, 38 Museum Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
+852 2200 0217
http://www.mplus.org.hk

Opening hours
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm
Fridays, 10am – 10pm
Closed Mondays
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