In this crowded field of “new ink painting,” Wang Yu’s creations, no longer limited to “visual stories,” bring us new possibilities for thought: can ink painting’s participation in the contemporary be realized through reliance on mere visual narrative? Is there perhaps a need for a more profound knowledge structure that can assist ink painting in shifting its conceptual direction? As I see it, the answer is a resounding yes. Thus, when faced with Wang Yu’s new experiments, I am no longer concerned with the question of whether or not it still constitutes ink painting. Instead, I am drawn to the fact that ink painting can still carry out a directional shift in its thinking. The title of this exhibition, Visual Structure Insight, uses the imagery of structure to remind us to reflect on a particular question: what kind of knowledge system determines our ability to open the doors of meaning? In our everyday experience, opening a door is the most natural of actions, but in fact, every time we open a door, there is a great force of ideas waiting to rush forth behind it. Only by learning to probe these forces can we truly release the contemporary value of art.

   
To this end, I hope that Wang Yu’s “structure” is properly “probed” as a result of this exhibition, and that his future experiments can unleash even more forces of ideas. Perhaps it is only in this way that ink painting can truly stand up to the intellectual tests of contemporary art.