CCL Talk – Give Me a Brush

Join us for an evocative afternoon with the masterful artist whose journey from calligrapher-painter to a pivotal global social commentator defies conventional narratives within the contemporary Chinese art scene. Through his art, Yang Jiechang engages with the performative expressivity of traditional brushwork and the intricate dialectics of Daoist thought to unravel the social and cultural tapestries of our global reality.

 
LECTURE ABSTRACTS SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Join us for an evocative afternoon with Yang Jiechang, a masterful artist whose journey from calligrapher-painter to a pivotal global social commentator defies conventional narratives within the contemporary Chinese art scene. Through his art, Yang Jiechang engages with the performative expressivity of traditional brushwork and the intricate dialectics of Daoist thought to unravel the social and cultural tapestries of our global reality.

From his poignant Massacre series, which delves into the human consequences of authoritarian regimes, to the Crying Landscape series crafted for the Venice Biennale, Yang's oeuvre confronts the essence of power, wealth, and terror. His abstract Layers of Ink and figurative Ascension and Tales of the Eleventh Day series navigate the dichotomy between material and spiritual transcendence, individual liberation, and universal harmony.

Yang Jiechang, a master of ink and traditional Chinese painting, began his artistic journey at age three. Shaped by Taoist philosophy and rigorous training at the Academy of Fine Arts of Guangzhou, he gained international acclaim after exhibiting at Paris' Centre Pompidou in 1989, which led to his relocation to France. Renowned for his "100 Layers of Ink" series, Yang's work merges historical depth with contemporary relevance. His art spans calligraphy, Gong-bi paintings, and politically charged sculptures. Celebrating decades of artistic evolution, Yang's work has been honored in retrospectives worldwide, solidifying his status as a contemporary luminary who bridges Eastern tradition with modern innovation.

His works have been collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Rockefeller Foundation, United States; Contemporary Art Foundation of the French Cultural Centre, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Cernuschi Museum, Paris; Hong Kong Museum of Art; M+, Hong Kong, among others.