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inspiration. Zao split from his first wife Xie Jinglan (Lalan) transitional period in the artist's career. Culturally, great
in 1957, and he then visited the United States with Pierre Western artists incorporated texts in paintings as a pursuit
Soulages. It was there that Zao met Franz Kline, Barnett of form and also a way of integrating philosophical context
Newman, Mark Rothko, and saw Jackson Pollock's art in in their work. Their efforts unfolded into a developmental
person for the first time. Though his contact with abstract axis extended from Western art's critiques on the figurative
expressionism was brief, but it spared a great impact, with and the redefinition of what is art and what is non-art.
the balance of dynamism and tranquillity in the midst of free Comparatively speaking, Zao stood on the peaks of both
flowing brushwork casting a particularly great influence on Eastern and Western cultures, and incorporated his in-depth
him. Zao recorded in his journal the visual and conceptual understanding of different cultures in his paintings. He
impact he felt during this period. “The physical side of the paid special attention to the Chinese heritage of combining
gesture which throws materials on the canvas, as if there is calligraphy with painting, and transformed something
neither past nor tradition”, Zao once wrote in his diary. The regional into a global phenomenon. This defines Zao's unique
impact would prove to be long lasting as seen in his later art position and significance in both Eastern and Western art
that fuses together Western abstractionism with traditional history. Pure abstraction was originally non-existent in Asian
Chinese aesthetics. art, only abstraction of the mind and spirit was observed;
however, Zao was able to give this kind of metaphysical
LY R I CA L A N D A B S T R ACT, PA I N T I N G W I T H abstraction a form, allowing the inner grand mindscape to
INSCRIPTIONS be expressed.
In Water Music, bronze and oracle-bone inscriptions GREAT MUSIC HAS FAINT SOUND; GREAT
reminiscent of those on archaic bronze ware dating back SYMBOL HAS NO FORM
to the Shang and Zhou dynasties fill the canvas (Fig.3),
and incorporating these symbols in colour field shows Zao Wou-Ki's Water Music makes an allusion to George
Zao's intense interest and innovation in bringing together Frideric Handel 's Water Music through its title. The music
Chinese and Western art. The integration of calligraphy composition was commissioned by King George I in 1717 for
and painting is a tradition practiced in Chinese painting, a festive event held on the River Thames. The enthusiastic
and also a style that was historically innovative. The long melody was intended to proclaim the royal position, and
cursive-script hand-scroll, Biographies of Lian Po and Lin that the prince, who was only capable of throwing lavish
Xiangru, by Huang Ting-Jian of the Northern Song dynasty parties, should back down and wait. The brownish-yellow
showcased a simplified treatment of the scripts and even tones employed by Zao in the painting calls to mind the
mutated them in a primal manner. His endeavour broke the extensive use of brass instruments in the performance piece,
barrier between pictographic characters and expressionistic especially evoking the warm musical tones of the French
painting through the use of different brushstrokes and horn, played with an overpowering momentum in open air
with the scripts compositionally arranged like a painting. over a river. Green and white emerge in between the thinly
A vast world of multiple dimensions was opened up for layered bronze colours, reminiscent of clear yet deep and
expressing thoughts and emotions. There have also been graceful sounds of the oboe, bassoon and strings in the
many examples of incorporating text in painting in Western melody.
contemporary art, such as the abstract paintings by Franz
Kline in the 50s and 60s which were influenced by Japanese Using the Western medium of oil paint, Zao reinterprets
calligraphy; the earlier work of minimalist artist Brice Laozi's teaching in the Chinese classic text Tao Te Ching and
Marden (Fig.4) was influenced by the clean, simple elevated his art to the highest state of empty void: “Great
outlines of Chinese Ming dynasty furniture, and in
the late 80s to early 90s, he was fascinated by Asian
calligraphy and glyphs. The “blackboard” paintings
by Cy Twombly from the years between 1966 and
1971 consisted of repetitive circular lines set against
a greyish black backdrop, resulting in a dynamic
sense of modernity that allows the consciousness
to wonder under a controlled state of disorder.
Water Music was executed almost a decade earlier
before incorporating scripts in art caught on in the
West, with Zao a trailblazer amongst his Western
art counterparts. The combination of pictographic
characters and lyrical abstract expressionism has
made this an important artwork from this particular
Fig. 5 Joseph Mallord William Turner, Mountain Scene, Val d'Aosta,
1845, Collection of National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
圖5 透納 《山景,瓦萊達奧斯塔》1845年作 澳洲墨爾本
維多利亞國家美術館
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