“Trees and Stones" WU YIMING | Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy
2026-03-03 11:09

“Trees and Stones: Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ink” is currently on view. Centered on the theme of “trees and stones,” this exhibition presents 42 works / series by 9 artists from the Shanghai region. Beginning with the traditional subject of “trees and stones,” it connects, on the one hand, to the brush-and-ink lineage of ink art tradition, and on the other hand continues the spirit of experimentation in contemporary ink. Rooted in tradition, the artists respond to the present with personalized language and forms, offering new interpretations of the connotations and spirit of ink art.

This issue introduces participating artist Wu Yiming.

Wu Yiming
Born in Shanghai in 1966. Graduated from Shanghai School of Arts and Crafts in 1986, and from the Fine Arts Department of East China Normal University in 1992.

Selected group exhibitions:
2023 “Migration: Yuz Foundation Collection Exhibition,” Yuz Museum, Shanghai
2022 “A Symphony of All the Changes: 2022 Jinan International Biennale,” Shandong Art Museum, Jinan
2016 “Re-do Today,” Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
2015 “CHINA 8 – Contemporary Art from China on the Rhine and Ruhr,” Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
2013 “Portrait of the Times: 30 Years of Contemporary Art,” Power Station of Art, Shanghai

Collections: USC Pacific Asia Museum; Yuz Foundation; DSL Collection

Wu Yiming’s ink practice has gone through several phases. The calligraphy and painting training he has pursued since childhood remains his “daily lesson.” It is a spontaneous dialogue between himself and xuan paper and ink, and also a way of triggering inspiration. Over the past decade, the painter has turned his gaze toward “ordinary things” — plants, candlesticks, porcelain, ponds, light, and more. With a perspective akin to an “encounter by chance,” restrained emotion, and subtle variations, he transforms the forms of “things” into spirituality. Line, plane, color, and form all arise from visual perception and manifest in temperament — whether it is the sensation of “a sudden stirring of wind,” or the realization of “with a soaring smile, seeing peach blossoms.” Through this method of “perceiving the greater through the minute,” the painter conveys the experience of individual life within a vast environment, interpreting a contemporary spirit of “xieyi” (freehand expression).

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Related Artists: WU YIMING 邬一名