Pilgrim to Tianjin: Wang Dongling's Calligraphy Works
2024.10.26 - 2025.1.5
Tianjin Art Museum, Tianjin
This exhibition presents over 100 representative works, encapsulating Wang Dongling’s unwavering dedication to the practice and creation of calligraphy over more than six decades. The works on display include both traditional calligraphy, reflecting decades of consistent study and daily practice, as well as more recent pieces that innovate upon traditional forms. These newer works emphasize spatial structure, enhancing the purity and expressiveness of the calligraphic lines, and transcend the boundaries of traditional calligraphy to become contemporary ink art that integrates both calligraphy and painting.
In 2014, Wang Dongling held his first solo exhibition, Beside the Ancient Road, in Tianjin. A decade later, he returned to Tianjin for his second major solo exhibition, Pilgrim to Tianjin. “I have a special affection for Tianjin, a place where I honor both the great figures of the past and my close friends in the arts,” he says. In homage to the city’s rich history, Wang created calligraphic works inspired by Tianjin's historical development, as well as poems by modern cultural luminaries from the city, including Liang Qichao, Yan Fu, Li Shutong, and Zhang Boling. For this exhibition, Wang Dongling specially created a monumental calligraphy piece in regular script of Chairman Mao’s Yellow Crane Tower poem.
