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Tang Chenghua, who teaches at the China Central
Academy of Fine Art (CAFA), has a rich international academic
background as far as academics go. Having floated about between
East and West for a decade, Tang Chenghua's work emphasizes the
serendipity of the creation process, and shimmers with the passion
of abstract expressionism and movement art. His abstract
art, which straddles the divide between materials and
mediums, has traces of a magnificent personal style, but Eastern
culture dominates his artistic world.
Calligraphy and Ink
Thick, bold ink strokes are the backbone of Tang Chenghua's artwork,
forming the foundation for a freewheeling clash between color
and space. The image structure is marked by Chinese Kuangcao calligraphy,
with its bizarre combinations of cursive Chinese script and empty
space. The finely textured strokes sweep across the space, adding
vivid and lively tones to the overall image. Vast swaths of blackness
hint at an empty void, giving the picture pure power. On the other
hand, the famous western abstract expressionist Willem De
Kooning uses blackness as a supplement, merely a supporting
role in the image.
Material Aesthetic
China has an ancient concept of the five elements, where"
all things are made of earth, metal, wood, water or fire"(Guoyu
--Zhengyu). The ancient Chinese concept that"all things
are made of matter" reflects the simple relationship
between man and nature. Artist Tang Chenghua has a keen feel for
materials. His artistic language is mostly comprised of the vocabulary
of printmaking; through the use of mixed canvas media, prints
on handmade paper, ceramic painting and wood installations, he
is attempting to reignite the spiritual properties locked inside
these materials: ink brings out the shy and gentle attributes
of cotton paper; wood is a mark of solidity; smooth marks on ceramic
are used to express the hardness of the material; the colorful
glaze is cool like the skin of a woman in water under the moonlight;
the smooth fibers of linen sooth the heart, verdant fields of
grain that intoxicate the eye...To Tang Chenghua, materials are
an important carrier of the spiritual power and rich aesthetic
in any artwork, giving subtle expression to his passion for the
abstract. He has thrust open for us the gates to the world of
perception.
Colors
Tang Chenghua has a preference for mineral colors. These colors
made from crushed minerals have a special textural dimension that
calls to mind the massive blue and green Chinese landscape
paintings. Those green and blue landscapes emerged after
the Warring States Period, first coming into their own in the
Eastern Jin Dynasty, becoming established during the North and
South Dynasties, and flourishing under the Tang. Blue-green landscape
artists (such as Tang Dynasty artist Li Sixun) used mineral blues
and greens to recreate verdant forests. The deep blues, bright
pinks and emerald greens in Tang Chenghua's paintings are heavy
and refined, like the colors of cooling magma.
Abstraction and Conception:
Compared to the subtle and vigorous abstraction of Zhao
Wu-Ki, Tang Chenghua's works have hints of conceptual
imagery, like looking out across the vast expanse of mountains,
rivers and towering gorges, where time stands still, the landscape
rolls out endlessly, and the power of nature shocks the soul.
Meanwhile, his massive figurative landscapes often conceal intimate
depictions of the natural world: the withering of massive lotus
leaves can only be truly appreciated by taking a boat deep into
the lotus pond; randomly scattered massive tree trunks are encompassed
by the gentle embrace of wisteria¡ Tang Chenghua's
art preserves the intricate interplay of real and unreal from
Chinese ink-splash expression within the structure and spatial
depth of abstract expressionism.
The Texture of Space-Time
Tang Chenghua's art is tightly linked to seasons and regions.
In a decade of academic wanderings through Britain, New York,
Japan and Germany, amidst diverse cultures and the changes of
the seasons, he has captured the timelessness and rapidity of
the ages; one's life changes and interacts with the natural passage
of the seasons, and Tang Chenghua's paintings bear the perpetual
marks of time, tainted with pain of impermanence-a tangle of bitter
and sweet.
The Art of Tang Chenghua
Ancient Chinese emperors such as Emperor Hanwu loved to erect
bronze dew collectors on the roof of their palaces. Bronze figures
held the dew collectors over their head, catching the morning
dew, which would be mixed into food along with fine grains of
jade to promote longevity. Yesterday's dew has been dried up by
the splendor of today's sun, and through the seasons and the changing
of the times, the lonely bronze men await condensation to descend
from the heavens. The Book of Changes states, "the movements
of the heavens are powerful; the noble man must persevere".Tang
Chenghua's powerful and inspired abstract works show us the magnificence
of nature, and allow us to feel the primal and fertile beauty
of paper, ceramic and wood. In his seasonally changing mindscape,
the clamor of the floating life is followed by the tranquility
of timelessness. In the words of German poet Friedrich Holderlin,
"man dwells poetically on the land".
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Form of Color: on Tang Chenghua
Dr. Beate Reifenscheid, Director of Museum Ludwig, Germany
Tang's works are special in that they impress the viewers upon
first sight, with its intense confidence and self-consciousness.
With this confidence he is able to produce color rhythms that
transcend pure concepts (such as landscape, trees, rivers etc.)
and inject a great internal power.
Just look at his paintings for a brief moment, and the viewers
will be led to believe that they have been moved to a beautiful
island or the lakeside, with a tree in front of them and the burning
red clouds behind. Clouds in the Heaven series seek contrast between
scorching red and tranquil turquoise, and interestingly, these
colors that mingle with each other when the cutting black, transitional
colors and that dim beige achieve the effect of independent continuation.
This is the imaginative world Tang has created. Although it is
absolutely abstract, just as those ancient Chinese paintings,
it has the same spiritual power that informs European and American
inventive paintings in the mid 20th century. This power carries
the tense coherence in forms, but it is also looking for its own
point of concentration: it is not a natural response, but a consciousness
to seek internally, to arrange those powers, and to instill emotion
into form. Though vibrated, these forces find their own rhythms
and tones, finally emerging themselves with nature and universe.
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of Experience - Tang Chenghua's Art Works
Fan Di an, Director of China National Art Museum
In 1996, Tang Chenghua, a Chinese artist residing in Japan, held
solo show at China National Art Museum, the show made a big impact
with sensational abstract form and large-scale printmaking. Seven
years later, his works came back again to China and were exhibited
at the Gallery of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Tang Chenghua
himself also started carrying out educational exchange activities
within the Department of Printmaking.
It seems to me that the basic themes of Tang Chenghua's art are
his life and cultural experiences. From Japan to the United States,
he has had for a long time the "cross culture" experience.
This experience is spiritual and perceptual, which effected Tang's
artistic expression. Tang Chenghua's artistic sensitivity is inspired,
embarking on a spiritual journey that breaks the boundary of oriental
and western cultures.
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