Today, with the boost of contemporary art in China, people are impressed by the vigorous growth of non-realistic art, especially the abstract painting. Non-realistic art has migrated from the edge into the ‘grand hall’ of fine arts. If we look into recent auction results and exhibitions in major museums and galleries, we could discover the frequent presence of non-realistic art, among which the abstract ink art stands out.

Abstract art has experienced the process of de-constructure, re-structure and merging, as other art styles in China. Such transformation was not limited to ink art, but including all easel paintings, which develops into typical oriental patterns of abstract art such as imagery painting, mental landscape and schema of Yi. As cultural contexts always vary with the difference of geography, time and races, concepts from western art history could no longer perfectly define abstract art in China nowadays. Diversifications are observed in terms of artistic languages, techniques and media. In fact, many oil painters also create mixed-media works. Thus, with abstract ink arts as the pioneer, experiments in ink arts as the leader, there forms a new vision of a diversified contemporary Chinese abstract art scene dominated by contemporary abstract paintings.

Yang Weimin