Wucius Wong

Wucius Wong (born 1936; Chinese: 王無邪 (Wang Wuxie))[1] is a Hong Kong Chinese ink painter and leading figure of the Hong Kong New Ink Movement.[2] He has worked to bring attention to Hong Kong's efforts in Chinese contemporary art,[3] and was one of the first artists to bring modernism to the region.[4]

Wucius Wong
王無邪 (Wang Wuxie)
Wong at the Hong Kong City Hall, 2010
Born1936 (age 86–87)
Guangzhou, China
Alma materMaryland Institute College of Art
Movement
AwardsBronze Bauhinia Star (2007)

Early life and education

Wong was born in Guangzhou in 1936, but moved to British Hong Kong the year after.[4] As he grew up, he was surrounded by Chinese culture.[5]

He began studying art in 1955 under Lui Shou-Kwan, the prominent Hong Kong ink artist.[2] In the 1960s, Wong left Hong Kong for the United States, attending art school in Ohio and Baltimore for four years.[5] He was awarded a masters degree in Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art.[5] He has taught such artists as Wong Chung-yu,[6] and was an inspiration of Rosamond Brown, a British artist who lived in Hong Kong.[7]

He was inspired by the landscape paintings of the Song dynasty, the geometric designs of the Bauhaus movement, and the textured strokes of the Chinese ink movement.[8]

Art and academic career

After his studies, Wong returned to Hong Kong and taught design for ten years at Hong Kong Polytechnic (later Hong Kong Polytechnic University).[5]

From 25 May to 4 July 1962, Wong's work was exhibited at the major exhibition, Hong Kong Art Today, at the Hong Kong City Hall Museum and Art Gallery (later renamed Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1975). It was significant as the first exhibition with Hong Kong art as its theme.[9] The exhibition also reflected how naturalism in art had become passé and that abstract art was favoured at that moment in time.

From 1966 until 1974, he was assistant curator at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.[10] In 1970, he was received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.[11]: 164  In 1984, he moved back to the United States.[5] He eventually established a permanent Hong Kong home in 1997.[11]: 164 

Wong worked with Pat Suet-bik Hui (Xu Xuebi) in creating a mix of painting, poetry, and calligraphy.[12]: 199 

In 1998, he received an Emeritus Fellowship from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.[13] He has been recognised by the Asia Society through their Asia Arts Game Changer Awards.[14] In 2007, he was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong government.[2]

On 24 January 2017, he was granted the title of "University Fellowship" by Hong Kong Polytechnic University.[15]

His works have been sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong.[16]

Wong also founded a literary magazine.[5] His lyrical ideas and poetry can be seen to have an effect on his painting, where he "conveys personal feelings through colour, structure, and texture."[17]

Selected works

Books
  • Principles of Two-Dimensional Design. Wiley. Dec 1972. ISBN 9780471289609.
  • Principles of Color Design. Wiley. 1987. ISBN 9780442292843.

Paintings
  • Sky-Land Expression 1 (Diptych)[18]
  • Deep in the Mountains No. 2[19]
  • Thoughts Across the Lands (1970)[17]
  • Purification #2 (1979)[20]
  • Agitated Waters No. 7 (1989)[12]: xxii 

Selected awards

References
  1. Xu, Jay (2008). "Searching for Mountains No. 2". Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies. 34 (1): 38–39. doi:10.2307/20205577. ISSN 0069-3235. JSTOR 20205577.
  2. Mok, Laramie (24 October 2017). "Ink tank: contemporary ink artists to invest in". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  3. Buchanan, Sherry (24 February 1996). "Defining Hong Kong's Culture". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  4. Kwong, Kevin (28 December 2006). "At the East-West Crossroads - The Art of Wucius Wong". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  5. Tsui, Enid (8 March 2016). "Hong Kong's Wucius Wong delivers riposte to 'derivative' Chinese contemporary artists". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  6. Ng, Priscilla (27 June 2017). "Computers and Chinese ink in Hong Kong artist's solo show". South China Morning Post.
  7. McHugh, Fionnuala (2 September 2018). "The 'pink house' on The Peak faces an uncertain future". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  8. Ma, Karen (26 April 2018). "Wong, Wucius (王無邪) (1936–) - Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism". www.rem.routledge.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  9. 鄭, 蕾 (2016). 香港現代主義文學與思潮. 香港: 中華書局(香港)有限公司. ISBN 9888420828.
  10. "Wucius Wong". University of Hawaii Press. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  11. Sullivan, Michael (2006). Modern Chinese Artists: A Biographical Dictionary. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24449-8. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  12. Sullivan, Michael (1996). Art and Artists of Twentieth-century China. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07556-6. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  13. "2015/16 AIR: Mr Wucius Wong". www.polyu.edu.hk. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  14. "Artist Imran Qureshi honoured at the prestigious Asia Arts Game Changer Awards". Daily Times. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  15. "PolyU confers University Fellowship on seven distinguished leaders". South China Morning Post. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  16. "Modernist ink works capture qualities of water". The Standard. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  17. "The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art at M+ | Highlights". www.westkowloon.hk. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  18. Moore, Susan (18 March 2016). "Modern Chinese ink art goes beyond calligraphy". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  19. Chauvy, Laurence (15 April 2013). "Hans Hartung et la Chine, rivières croisées". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  20. Man, Eva Kit Wah (2015). Issues of Contemporary Art and Aesthetics in Chinese Context. Springer. p. 44. ISBN 978-3-662-46510-3. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
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