Calligraphic Abstraction
Calligraphic abstraction is a contemporary art movement originating in the dual traditions of Asian calligraphy and abstract expressionism.
Style
Abstract expressionism developed with artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko, who included a performative aspect to their painting that was recorded by the effects that the paint then had on the canvas. These artists had more of an interest in the ability of the medium itself, whether it was paint or another material, to contain emotion and often experimented as Rothko did with how colors interact with one another.
Artists who pursue calligraphic abstraction explore the same expressive quality of their medium, alongside the discipline and tradition of calligraphy. They work in a primarily non-representational modality and the movement of their medium mimics the swirling and scroll-like movements of a calligraphy pen across paper. The influence of calligraphy leads many of their works to take on a fluid, organic quality to their mark-making.
History
[Franz Kline and Bokubi, etc. Cite Hawaii exhibit]
List of calligraphic abstractionists
Major calligraphic abstractionists
Cai Guo-Qiang
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China and began his career as a more traditional artist, inspired by western styles and was interested in landscapes, watercolors, and oil paint. However, he later realized that his father’s traditional Chinese art and calligraphy had influenced him greatly. In 1984 Cai began using gunpowder, which was invented in China, to create works with a social commentary on violence, rituals, and ancient medicine. He also draws from Chinese military history, daoism, and buddhist philosophy. Cai lived in Japan from 1986 to 1995, and currently resides in New York (Guggenheim, “CAI” 1). Cai’s performative work, The Birth of Tragedy, shown in Cognac, France, on September 25, 2020 is a perfect example of why his artwork fits into the Calligraphic Abstraction movement. In this work, Cai combined the grace and movement of calligraphy with the violence of fireworks. The performance included a prelude, and several movements, which Cai conducted over a speaker. The colored smoke and sound of explosions were dynamic and emotionally moving (Cai 1). His exhibition titled, Gunpowder Art, at the Ashmolean Museum, from October 25, 2019–April 19, 2020 is another great example of Calligraphic Abstraction. These works are created using gunpowder, a highly combustible material, on fragile surfaces such as paper, silk, glass, and porcelain. He combines these materials to show the relationship between destruction and creation. Cai used this same method in his exhibition, The Transient Landscape, at the National Gallery of Victoria from May 24–October 13, 2019. The Transient Landscape is a highly immersive experience and shows a meaningful dialogue between the TerraCotta Warriors of the Qin dynasty and contemporary China (National Gallery of Victoria 1).
Arin Sunaryo
Arin Dwihartanto Sunaryo has an innovative approach to abstract art as he rejected traditional techniques in favor of industrial methods (Guggenheim, “Arin” 1). In his solo exhibition “Silent Salvo”, Sunaryo displays a series of works made via dispersions of resin and volcanic ash (Sunaryo 1) Arin’s work pushes boundaries by asking the viewer if how the painting is made negates the authenticity of the work as a painting. This balancing act he does goes hand in hand with calligraphy which also walks the line between painting and non-painting (i.e. writing). Sunaryo’s methods place emphasis on the movement of the paint similar to how calligraphic lettering seamlessly moves from character to character. Due to his precision and labor-intensive techniques which mirror machinery, Sunaryo’s work represents calligraphic abstraction through his own interpretation of how modern technology can work for the artist to realize his vision. His unique approach of combining man-made materials with earth-found materials provides a beautiful collision of two worlds (Will 1). During his exhibition called After Taste at Sullivan + Strumpf, Sunaryo explains that his work reminds him of “when the earth is sliced open” (Symons 1). His “Volcanic Ash Series #4” addresses artistic expression and politics as the works preserve a historic Indonesian event ("Volcanic Ash Series #4" 1). Sunaryo represents a new wave of experimental contemporary artists in East Asia.
Yuna Okanishi
Yuna Okanishi studied calligraphy from a young age, which continues to impact her paintings. Her study of calligraphy led her to study Zen philosophy and ink painting. She developed her own expression of philosophy within her paintings that contains elements of Zen philosophy as well as the influence of the Abstract Expressionist artists. An important element to her philosophy that carries over into Okanishi’s artwork is the idea of unity between man and nature. The idea that human emotion is related to natural phenomena is a central theme in her paintings (Okanishi, “Yuna” 1). A key event that she relates to human emotion is natural movements such as that of the waves or magma. Due to her chirographic training, she focuses on natural curves which she is able to connect to her calligraphy and therefore human nature to address issues of humanity’s impact on the environment (Okanishi, “Profile” 1). Okanishi’s series Blue Songs is one of the best examples of her combination of calligraphic techniques, issues of the environment, and the human connection to the natural world. Each of the paintings in the series contains a blue background with silver brushstrokes on top. Okanishi describes her philosophy concerning the impact of the oceanic environment on people’s minds. She believes that harmony within the ocean will lead to harmony among humankind, following her belief in the idea of oneness. According to the artist, the silver lines describe the fluid, curving movement of sharks as they swim, a peaceful motion that she expresses through various calligraphic techniques to create lines of varying thickness and rhythm (Okanishi, “Blue” 1). While one painting in the series features many thin curvy lines that seem to express the motion of a cohesive group of sharks as they move together and convey a sense of peaceful unity, other paintings in the same series have erratic motions in the brushstrokes that express more of the violent nature that is commonly associated with sharks and expresses the urgency surrounding the current issue of the shrinking size of their population. In addition to the description of the motion of sharks, the calligraphic lines also give insight into the mind of the artist. This revelation of the artist’s mindset further conveys the relation between the ocean environment and the human psyche.
Christine Flint Sato
Born and trained in oil painting, ceramics, and drawing in the UK, Christine Flint Sato was set to embark on a traditional artistic career when she was introduced to the medium that would define the rest of her life’s work: sumi. Sumi is the traditional Chinese and Japanese calligraphy ink medium, made primarily of soot and animal glue. Sumi is very unpredictable, even for masters of the craft. “Even professional sumi artists who have trained for years, do not expect complete control over their materials,” (Lambe 1). Sato spent an entire decade learning and mastering the art of sumi calligraphy under the guidance of Seika Kawabe, a master calligrapher (RWA 1). It is utterly incredible to imagine what such an experience must have entailed, especially for someone, who in her own words, “didn’t know anything about Japan at the time,” (Johnson 1). The dedication required to master this craft is astounding, yet this was not sufficient for Sato. After a decade of calligraphic training, she realized that she did not want to endlessly produce something that was “still just language,” (Johnson 1). This led Sato to explore sumi itself as a medium. On this topic she said, “World of line and space, and this black-and-white dichotomy that you play with. What I was getting at was the sensitivity of sumi, the gradation of the ink, and the different marks and textures you can do,” (Johnson 1). This perfectly ties Sato to the same motivations that led the abstract expressionists to abandon the obsolete props of an outmoded and antiquated legend. Just as many of the abstract expressionist painters began to focus on the medium of painting as a focus on its own merits, Sato and other avant-garde calligraphers have focused on their medium of sumi ink as its own focus, which is reflected in Sato’s works. There are more impressionist works, still abstract in nature, like the Sumiland series or Flowing woods series. Structural, landscape elements can be seen, but the focus in all of these are the sumi marks, the medium itself. There are divisions, but so much of it is blotted out by sumi blots, as if to say that any pseudo-representational elements are unimportant, and that the true sensual beauty of the work is in the sumi medium. This is evident in the Folded in space series, which shows off the various techniques and versatility of sumi as a medium (Sato 1). The works are about the medium, playing with the medium, performing with the medium, and using your action to create something: the process being a central part of it. The important point is moving from calligraphy as writing to a visual art, inverting expectations of the medium.
See Also
References
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