Movable Ink
Solo exhibition by Anita Yan Wong
May 4, 2018 through May 31, 2018
Canessa Gallery | 708 Montgomery St. | San Francisco | CA 94111
Opening Reception May 4, 2018 | 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm (PDT)
Using “Bi”– Brushwork, Asian American Artist and Professor Anita Yan Wong brings the movement, patterns and emotions of nature into her current series of contemporary abstract ink paintings. The series explores the meanings of subject and passage of time in the pieces of “Tigers”, “Roosters”, and “Dogs”.
“Culminating from her illustrious career as an artist and professor, her classical training in guóhuà and Western art has fostered a style that seems both familiar in traditional technique, yet unique and almost indescribable at the same time.”
About the Artist: Anita Yan Wong, Contemporary American Chinese Impressionist painter, is a long time pupil of Hsin Pengjiu, a World-renowned Lingnan style master (嶺南畫派) and first pupils of Chao Shao An and Pu Hsin-Yu (Aisin-Gioro Puru), cousin of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China. With her background in Modern art and film, the artist is known for her distinct brush works and “Contemporary Traditional” paintings.
Anita Wong received her B.A. (Honors) in Graphic Design from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London; her M.F.A. and M.A. in Digital Photography and Digital Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art. She has served as a electronic media and cultural professor for over thirteen years before returning to a sole focus on her art in 2015. During this time, she was awarded Excellence Scholars from Maryland Institute College of Art and “Teaching excellence honor” from the Art Institute. Throughout the years the artist took part in an array of non profit artistic projects around the world including Baltimore international rhythm festival, Academy of Natural History Museum insects show and Action AIDS. Her “Contemporary traditional art” are currently featured on both traditional and Hip Cultural magazines.
Nature is the main inspiration for the artist who equally admires works by Abstract Expressionist artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, the Impressionists and the beautiful brush works found in Asian rice paper paintings. Anita explores the movements of subjects and passage of time, which is why animals and natural elements represent recurrent topics in her work. Tigers and birds in full flight experience a certain level of abstraction but still retain their natural appeal. Perception is also recurrent topic in her paintings as the artist tries to explore various ways individuals perceive her imagery. Inspired by Duchamp, Wong believes images could be used as a tool to serve the mind.
Anita’s current works have been dealing with movement, patterns and emotions occurred in nature, while simultaneously considering the role of traditional art form in the digital art age. Anita is interested in how traditional art forms can be pushed to reflect the social and scientific realities of the present. The Yale University China Hands Magazine has described Anita’s paintings as a “traditional art form that questions the modern mind.”
You can learn more about Anita’s work through her full interview with Justine Fang for Amadeus Magazine, her feature in Planet China Volume 2, and through Anita’s website.
Movable Ink
Solo exhibition by Anita Yan Wong
May 4, 2018 through May 31, 2018
Canessa Gallery | 708 Montgomery St. | San Francisco | CA 94111
Opening Reception May 4, 2018 | 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm (PDT)
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