Chambers Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening of Made by Tiande II on March 1, 2007. This exhibition is the sequel to Made by Tiande held at Chambers Fine Art in 2004. Born in Shanghai in 1960, Wang Tiande graduated from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1988. Since ancient times, Zhejiang has been a center of literati culture and during the 1980s when Wang Tiande was a student, it was one of the most important centers of experimental art in China. Unlike many of his contemporaries who rejected traditional Chinese methods of expression, Wang Tiande embraced it as a source of inspiration. As he has said: “While my friends turned to oil painting, I redefined ink painting and calligraphy, the most value-laden of China’s art forms.”
For the Digital Series of 2004, Wang Tiande created a series of works in which inscriptions in running script were glimpsed through layers of Chinese hand-made paper, the surface if which was punctuated by freely executed characters burnt into the surface. Developing this technique, for the current exhibition he has created a remarkable six meter long scroll based on the scenery around Mount Gushan in Hangzhou, China. This is accompanied by a series of photographs in which the same imagery is created using different means. As Zheng Shengtian has remarked: “Every time Tiande burns paper, “ashes of words” remain on the floor of his studio. Now, he piles up these ashes in the Shape of mountains. Then, by using a camera and computer, he recreates remarkably life-like landscapes. At first glance, this is merely playful, but in reality it embodies deep philosophical meanings. The ashes of traditional culture, re-made by the artist, are given infinite vitality.”
*A catalog designed by the artist will be available.
前波画廊有幸承办的《天德制造II》展览将于2007年3月1日开幕。本次展览是2004年在前波画廊展出的《天德制造》的续篇。王天德1960年出生于上海，1988年毕业于浙江美术学院。从古代开始，浙江一直就是中国士文化的中心，而在1980年代，当王天德还是学生的时候，这里也是中国实验艺术最重要的中心之一。和那些拒绝接受中国传统表现手法的同时代人不同，王天德把传统艺术当作是灵感的来源。正如他所言：“我的很多朋友转向了油画，而我则重新定义了水墨画和书法，这是中国诸种艺术形式中最有价值的部分”。
就2004年的《数码系列》而言，王天德创作了一系列作品，透过双层宣纸可以看见行草书的文字，而表层则在落墨的地方烧孔。在发展这一技术的同时，王天德为本次展览创作了一幅六米长卷，描绘了中国杭州孤山周边的景色。作为补充的是一系列照片，用不同手段创作了完全相同的影象。就像郑胜天所评论的：“每次天德烧纸的时候，‘语词的灰烬’都会留在他画室的地板上。现在他把这些灰烬堆砌成山体的形状。通过相机和计算机，他创造出非常逼真的风景。乍看起来，这只是游玩儿，但实际上它包含着深刻的哲学意义。传统文化的灰烬，通过艺术家的再创造，被赋予无限的活力”。
*前波画廊为此展览出版了展览图录。