2026-03-03 11:50
We are familiar with Wu Yiming’s contemporary paintings, and we are equally impressed by the fact that his contemporary painting methods are not technical means in the traditional sense. He upholds a classical aesthetic attitude while engaging the dimensions of modern aesthetics, expanding the scope of contemporary art, and has done so consistently over time.
Friends who know Wu Yiming well are certainly aware that writing calligraphy and carving seals are part of his daily practice. Yet he has been reluctant to display them publicly, even intentionally concealing them during his painting process. He hides his calligraphic lines behind the painting, allowing a simple pictorial language to possess a stronger contemporaneity.
Recently, encouraged by Ms. Wang Lixin, the head of Dingyi Society, Wu Yiming created a group of works centered on text. These works reveal his distinct artistic personality and demonstrate his intelligent handling of the complex and multifaceted visual sensations that text generates within the context of the present era. He ingeniously integrates textual elements and calligraphic methods from an entirely new perspective.
In his daily calligraphic practice, Wu Yiming pays particular attention to the Wei stele style, and in seal carving he favors single-knife cutting—a bold and unrestrained masterly manner. Like writing, seal carving requires creativity in the spatial arrangement and distribution of blankness within the structure of characters. In Wu Yiming’s text-based works, the spacing principles of traditional calligraphy and the compositional structure of modern painting exert a dual effect. “Discipline” and “deconstruction,” a contradictory yet harmonious unity, assume new value and significance. It is worth noting that “misreading” and “translation” are key words of this exhibition. Internet slang, Chinese-to-English and English-to-Chinese translation collide in rapid flashes of thought, expanding the mind while also endowing his artistic language and concepts with a more complex and expansive space.
Related Artists: WU YIMING 邬一名
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