Page 56 - The Pioneers, November 26, 2016 Hong Kong

Music has faint sound; a great symbol has no form.” Water Music
is a continuation and extension of Eastern artistic traditions, which
reveals his unique starting point from other Western abstract artists,
and in essence, shows his observation of ancient Chinese literati
values. This work chronicles the artistic achievement during Zao's
oracle bone period, and acts as a precursor for his later success with
abstract paintings.

ELUSIVE AND TANGIBLE, UNISON OF POETRY,
CALLIGRAPHY, AND PAINTING

Water Music also treats light sources with ingenuity, and is reminiscent
of J. M. W. Turner's depiction (Fig. 5) that breaks away from the
figurative and paves the way for abstraction by using elements of
light, air, vapours, and dispersing mists to create an ambiance of
airiness. With dramatic colours and grand, powerful brushwork,
Turner was able to bring together landscape painting and historical
painting and transcended them. Zao, on the other hand, incorporated
abstract light sources in Water Music, with the rays of light subtly
moving and flowing. Along with the depiction of water, Zao's profound
understanding for the unison of the elusive and the tangible seen in
traditional Chinese paintings is showcased. Zao once expressed that,
“There are many empty spaces in my paintings, but wash effects are
not as easily created with oil compared with ink and water, which is
why I pay more attention on the empty areas than the tangible aspects.
The rhythm composed with elusiveness and tangibility in Chinese
paintings is something that greatly inspires me.” He then further
articulated that, “Colours do not exist, only reverberations exist.” From
the perspective of traditional Chinese aestheticism, Mi Fu and his son
Mi Youren of the Southern Song dynasty (Fig. 6) created interesting
ink scrolls by crisscrossing the elusive and the tangible, resulting
in obscure, misty images of poetic, lyrical qualities. This aesthetical
approach of combining expressionism with poetry, calligraphy, and
painting is fully demonstrated in Zao's art. Zao's close friend and art
critic, Chinese-French member of the Académie française François
Cheng, puts it, “(Zao Wou-Ki's paintings) have a cosmic dimension…
it is through these forms that the artist shows a meeting… between
him, a transformed version of nature, and his interior universe, between
the works and the spectator.” Water Music places Zao Wou-Ki's inner
emotions for nature on a canvas in an abstract way, and if appreciated
wholeheartedly, a symphony, an epic saga, a visual feast can be
experienced.

Fig. 1 Zao Wou-Ki, Water Music, 1957, Private Collection, USA (Chao 2000 Trust)
© 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ProLitteris, Zurich
圖1 趙無極 《水之音》 私人收藏 美國（Chao 2000 Trust）

50 THE PIONEERS 先 鋒 薈 萃