Remarking INK: How Chinese Artists Are Rethinking The Traditional Painting Fluid
What kind of creative expression can traditional ink painting generate in the hands of a new generation of Chinese artists? A group exhibition of John Moores Painting Prize artists at Bund 18 Jiushi Art Gallery may offer one cross-section.
Titled "Remarking INK," the exhibition brings together eight past winners and shortlisted artists of the John Moores Painting Prize (China): Han Feng, Lang Shuilong, Lei Shaowen, Lin Zhaole, Liu Zequn, Sun Yuan, Wang Shuzhong, and Zhang Puyi.
None of the eight artists follows the established techniques and formulas of traditional ink painting, and their works bring fresh ideas in content, subject matter, and means. The works range from individual experience and experimental creations incorporating artificial intelligence to reinventions of tradition.
The exhibition can be seen as a showcase of results following the John Moores Painting Prize (China)'s introduction of its Contemporary Ink Painting Prize in 2024.
The John Moores Painting Prize was founded in 1957 by Sir John Moores, a British businessman from Liverpool as well as a philanthropist and amateur painter.
The Contemporary Ink Painting Prize provides a platform for contemporary ink artists to go global, helping Chinese ink art integrate into the international contemporary art scene. Selected artists will go to the United Kingdom for residency, creation, exhibition and exchange.
"The reason we started the Ink Painting Prize was because there had not been enough ink painting works submitted in previous editions, and we wanted to encourage the painters," curator Lewis Biggs, who is also the chairman of the Institute for Public Art (IPA), told Shanghai Daily.
"The practices and patterns of these painters are very different. But they all have something in common – a dialogue between freedom and constriction, between discipline and expression. And that's the central theme for artists whatever medium they are using," he added.
If you go:
Date: Through February 21, 2027, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Ticket: Free Admission
Venue: Bund 18 Jiushi Art Gallery 外滩18号久事艺术空间
Address: 2F, 18, Zhongshan Rd E1 Road 中山东一路18号2楼
