}

Out of Ink

Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art

April 11 - July 28, 2019

Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art explored the essential ideals of the ink painting tradition as manifest in the work of 13 contemporary artists at work in China. Their art does not necessarily rely upon conventional materials – ink, paper, or brush – but encapsulates the cultural spirit of ink. The experimental forms of expression that underscores their practice are a prism through which to understand how artists are rethinking the conventions of ink to forge new ties to the present cultural context, and enrich this weighty tradition in the process.

The exhibition curated by Karen Smith echoed content familiarly seen in ink painting, such as landscapes or natural forms, as single or juxtaposed elements from the natural world, as well as the role of calligraphy. These revealed the spirit of ink, a core value that is its most enduring esoteric quality, yet, none of the artists presented here claim to be ink artists. Instead they work with, appropriate, manipulate, or deconstruct, the spiritual and aesthetic ethos of “ink” as cultural metaphor, philosophical system, and as understanding of relationship between man and the physical world of form and space. In their respective ways, each artist makes a contribution to the future possibilities of a medium that has been the dynamic pulse of the nation’s culture through China’s long civilization.

Participating artists are Xu Bing, Chen Haiyan, Jian-Jun Zhang, Xing Danwen, Luo Yongjin, Sun Yanchu, Qiu Anxiong, Li Ming, Xu Hongming, Chen Guangwu, Liang Wei, Zhou Fan, and Tang Bohua.

Exhibition Catalogue

Out of Ink

Out of Ink

Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art explored the essential ideals of the ink painting tradition as manifest in the work of 13 contemporary artists at work in China. Their art does not necessarily rely upon conventional materials – ink, paper, or brush – but encapsulates the cultural spirit of ink. The experimental forms of expression that underscores their practice are a prism through which to understand how artists are rethinking the conventions of ink to forge new ties to the present cultural context, and enrich this weighty tradition in the process.

"Out of Ink" <br>  Karen Smith, Tang Bohua, Jian-Jun Zhang, Zhou Fan

"Out of Ink"
Karen Smith, Tang Bohua, Jian-Jun Zhang, Zhou Fan

As part of the exhibition Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art, Pera Museum presents a talk by the curator Karen Smith in conversation with the artists Tang Bohua, Jian-Jun Zhang and Zhou Fan.

 

Beth McKillop <br>"Ink in China"

Beth McKillop
"Ink in China"

As part of the exhibition Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art, Pera Museum presents a talk by the academic and curator Beth McKillop, who contributed to the exhibition’s catalogue with an essay. 

Xu Bing<br>Background Story: Summer Mountains

Xu Bing
Background Story: Summer Mountains

As part of the exhibition “Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art”, Pera Museum presents a talk by the artist Xu Bing, who participates in the exhibition with his installation Background Story: Summer Mountains.

Movement of the Line / Line of the Movement: Web <br>Taldans

Movement of the Line / Line of the Movement: Web
Taldans

Pera Museum presents Movement of the Line / Line of the Movement, a workshop-performance program that will be held at the exhibition floor as part of the Out of Ink: Interpretations from Chinese Contemporary Art exhibit. 

Video

In the Mood for Chinese Cinema

In the Mood for Chinese Cinema provides a composite, contemporary perspective on movies made in and about China in recent years.


The adventure of the Big ‘K’

The adventure of the Big ‘K’

In a bid to review the International System of Units (SI), the International Bureau of Weights and Measures gathered at the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures on November 16, 2018. Sixty member states have voted for changing four out of seven basic units of measurement. The kilogram is among the modified. Before describing the key points, let us have a closer look into the kilogram and its history.

Giacometti: Early Works

Giacometti: Early Works

Organized in collaboration with the Giacometti Foundation, Paris, the exhibition explores Giacometti’s prolific life, most of which the artist led in his studio in Montparnasse, through the works of his early period as well his late work, including one unfinished piece. Devoted to Giacometti’s early works, the first part of the exhibition demonstrates the influence of Giovanni Giacometti, the father of the artist and a Swiss Post-Impressionist painter himself, on Giacometti’s output during these years and his role in his son’s development. 

The First Nudes

The First Nudes

Men were the first nudes in Turkish painting. The majority of these paintings were academic studies executed in oil paint; they were part of the education of artists that had finally attained the opportunity to work from the live model. The gender of the models constituted an obstacle in the way of characterizing these paintings as ‘nudes’.