Sogen Chiba, is a Japanese Calligrapher, from Ishinomaki in Miyagi. One of his skills is the “Spiral Splash,” that is to swing the stem of a very long and thin brush intentionally to splash the ink and to draw the spiral form of it. Sogen developed the tool called ‘Cho cho ho,’ which means very long brush himself. This skill is not just swinging the hand with the brush, but drawing the line by twisting and rolling the wrist flexibly at the center of the round cross section of the brush stem as a starting point, so that the swinging force is amplified toward the point of the 30 cm brush, much longer than a regular sized one and the ink is scattered momentarily. The form of the splash can be controlled by Sogen’s techniques. The theme expressed by the “Spiral Splash” is about the cosmic and the spiritual, large scale thing beyond human wisdom, such as explosive phenomena like the Big Bang, and the Phoenix.

Sogen Chiba’s 3.11 Requiem and Revival work transcribes newspaper reports of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Chiba created a new work in this series for the current exhibition. Given we are now seven years on from 3/11 our memories of the event are fading. We seek to record the memories of unimaginable disaster, and consider how we can move beyond them. Chiba himself is from the disaster-hit Ishinomaki district, and has used his indomitable spirit to move beyond misfortune and challenge himself to create works and imagery that can only be expressed in calligraphy.

Nine years have passed since The Great East Japan Earthquake and Related Disasters, and while recovery and revitalization continues in the disaster zones, there is also evidence of weathering in these areas. Amidst such circumstances, these works confront face on the question, what can only be expressed through contemporary calligraphy. Chiba himself is a survivor of the disaster, and incorporates strong messages for the people of the disaster zone in these works. His hope is that this exhibition will allow an even wider audience to see, know and feel these works. Chiba’s new work is included here. One direction being taken in avant-garde calligraphy, as seen in this work, is the shedding of the character nature of each character, making each viewer consider the definition of the work itself, is it calligraphy, is it not?

CM2 Space features Wang Fei’s ink series “Deformity.” Wang is an important experimental ink artist resulting from China’s “85 Art Movement.” He is well versed in the spirit and technique of traditional ink painting, but creates controversy and debate in breaking traditional principles. The use of “Dead Ink” in his works are traditionally called “sick ink” or known to be “illegal.” They are a means of expression, subverting the traditional rules of brush and ink aesthetics. In subject matter, he’s abandoned the traditional sentiment of literati painting and looks directly upon current society and nature.

Wang challenges the conventional patterns of Chinese ink painting, subject, and methods. He does not express his frustrations in extreme ways but uses irony to depict the cold attitude of the Chinese population that refuse to acknowledge the need for change, the population that want to reside in the safety of convention.

Yang Xiaojian, the Chinese artist born in 1960, whose bold revival of classical calligraphy into a form reflective of Western abstract expressionism has earned himself the title of “the Oriental Ink Beast.” In these large works on rice paper, the artist deconstructs Chinese ideograms into powerful, ambitious compositions that challenge conventional East-West categorization, showing the rawness of the emotions delivered by Yang. In the words of Professor Fan Di’an, Director of the National Art Museum of China Curator for Contemporary Art: “Yang Xiaojian is an artist who challenges both native tradition and western influence with a Chinese traditional medium—the ink and wash—an art form that he committed himself to for the last 20 years, proving in the process that art is both a means of spiritual redemption and an action of cultural transcendence of universal significance.”

“Contemporary Ink and New Calligraphy” is the curated contemporary ink and calligraphy exhibit to be presented to Western audiences by East Art Center, Beijing. East Art Center aims to highlight the contemporary ink paintings that were born out of the “85 New Wave (New Art Movement)” and the exemplary artists that pushed the medium to new places. “Contemporary Ink and New Calligraphy” will be featuring artists: Bian Hong, Li Huichang, Li Zhi Hong, Fan Peng, and Yuan Fuguo. These artists are threaded by their unique applications and angles that fuse the traditional Chinese ink medium and philosophies with contemporary aesthetics and ideals.

Kylin Gallery is pleased to present a solo presentation of new and recent works by Yoshio Ikezaki, bringing together a collection of some 20 works by the artist. These include Sumi ink on paper (Timeless Series), mixed media on handmade paper (New Series) and paper sculpture (Earth Breathes Series). Ikezaki’s painting images are mysterious and evocative. This enigmatic quality is derived partly from the fact that he mixes his own ink, including in it mineral particles that give the surface of the painting a slight iridescence. His paintings deeply show evidence of his intention to uniform and meet “East and West,” a coalescence of Western modern and Japanese tradition. He expresses the fusion with “Ma,” Japanese aesthetic term to designate an artificially placed interval in time and space which include meaningful voids created by the deliberate use of blank-space.

S.E.A. Gallery exhibits the work of Nagoya-based artist, 90-year-old Shoen Tominaga. In the early 1950s, Tominaga rose to fame as a member of the avant-garde calligraphy group, Bokujin-kai (lit. “Ink Man Group”), formed by Yu-ichi Inoue, Morita Shiryu and others. His work is characterized by an exquisite balance of black and white achieved through extraordinary compositions and brushwork honed from decades of experimentation.

Yuichi Inoue is one of the most important artists in Japan for his avant-garde calligraphic work. In this work, the word flower is written with a vibrant touch. The style goes beyond the scope of the calligraphy and is as powerful as a painting. He started writing in the 1940s and left his work mainly in the style of writing only one character from the late 1950s. He created his own technic and style to make ink splashes and spatter like dripping through repeated studies (or practice or research); he uses his own unique materials such as mixing bonds with ink. Inoue’s work is now appreciated internationally, not just in Japan. His works are in many museum collections in Japan, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and in Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and China.