Wei Jia: A Way of Life. 韦佳：寻常

October 13–December 23, 2018

Artist Talk: October 13, 4–5 pm

Opening Reception: October 13, 5–8 pm

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Artist

New York -  Fou Gallery is pleased to announce that our new exhibition Wei Jia: A Way of Life will be on view from October 13, 2018 to December 23, 2018. An ordinary person, living an ordinary life in his ordinary attitude and doing ordinary things, Wei loves traditional Chinese art but does not follow conventional rules. He interprets the tradition in his own way and gives it a broader meaning. This exhibition presents his daily work in Brooklyn, New York in recent years, including Xuan paper (rice paper) collages on large­-scale canvases, works on paper, hand scrolls, calligraphy albums, small manuscripts, and a site-specific installation. This exhibition showcases Wei’s complete creative process and his creative state to explore the connection between art making and daily life.
Wei began to learn Chinese poetry and landscape painting with the renowned collector Zhang Boju and his wife Pan Su at an early age, which deeply influenced his entire life. Later, he studied oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1985, he went to the United States to obtain a MFA. After 1993, he settled down in Brooklyn, New York. He uses Xuan paper as primary medium, mixing ink, gouache, acrylic and other pigments on it. He writes calligraphy, then tears off the paper, reorganizes the pieces, and repeats the process to make collages. In such a process of accidental changes and inevitable forces, his life experience and artistic experience are integrated into visual images.

Wei practices calligraphy everyday and began to create calligraphy series since 2000. He reinterprets traditional calligraphy in the form of painting and combines the practice of both writing and painting in order to renegotiate the entangled relationship between the past and the present. The English title of the exhibition is A Way of Life, which can also be written as Away of Life. For Wei Jia, day-­to­-day practice of calligraphy is not regarded as training for a professional artist, but a part of daily life that he focuses on, which forms his life attitude. Wei Jia numbered the titles of his work and documented them in an 18-­year-old notebook, which records the development of his style. In some works ("No.16197", "No.16201"), Wei Jia intentionally deconstructs the reading of the texts and guides the viewer to appreciate the visual image. "No. 18222" keeps the original form of calligraphy, but Wei dismantled his own copy of Ming-dynasty painter Dong Qichang’s Thousand Characters into six square-shape images, and then rearranged them. The neat handwritings even bear some similarities with abstract paintings by Agnes Martin and Dan Walsh and minimalist art. Another work, “No.18221,” seems to return to the symbiotic relationship between poetry and painting in Chinese art: The abstract collages look like stone rubbing, while the colophons show the artist's witty remarks—“Stop carriage to enjoy the late maple woods; Frosty leaves redder than the February flowers."

For the exhibition, Wei will also present a scene on-site based on the brownstone structure of the gallery with his calligraphy written in the past two years. The immersive environment allows the viewer to enter the artist’s daily life.

During the exhibition, we will also arrange special events such as painting and calligraphy appreciation, Yaji (literati gathering), and tea ceremonies to enhance the viewing experience. For further information, please stay tuned to our follow-up pushes from the gallery.

Wei Jia working in the studio, photograph by Lin Jing ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery

Wei Jia working in the studio, photograph by Lin Jing ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery

*Chinese Press Release: Echo He; English Translation: Yuan Fang; Academic Advisor: Du Lin;

Wei Jia, No. 18222, 2018. Ink mounted on canvas and backed with wood board, 6 works, each 16 x 16 inch ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery 韦佳，No. 18222，2018. 纸上水墨，六幅，每幅40.64 x 40.64 cm ©韦佳，致谢否画廊

Wei Jia, No. 18222, 2018. Ink mounted on canvas and backed with wood board, 6 works, each 16 x 16 inch ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery
韦佳，No. 18222，2018. 纸上水墨，六幅，每幅40.64 x 40.64 cm ©韦佳，致谢否画廊

Wei Jia, No. 16197, 2018. Gouache, ink and xuan paper collage on paper, 57 x 29 inch ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery 韦佳，No. 16197，2018. 纸上水粉、墨和宣纸拼贴，144.8 x 73.7 cm ©韦佳，致谢否画廊

Wei Jia, No. 16197, 2018. Gouache, ink and xuan paper collage on paper, 57 x 29 inch ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery
韦佳，No. 16197，2018. 纸上水粉、墨和宣纸拼贴，144.8 x 73.7 cm ©韦佳，致谢否画廊

Wei Jia, No. 18221, 2018. Gouache, ink and xuan paper collage on paper, 30 x 21.5 inch ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery 韦佳，No. 18221，2018. 纸上水粉、墨和宣纸拼贴，76.2 x 54.6 cm ©韦佳，致谢否画廊

Wei Jia, No. 18221, 2018. Gouache, ink and xuan paper collage on paper, 30 x 21.5 inch ©Wei Jia, courtesy Fou Gallery
韦佳，No. 18221，2018. 纸上水粉、墨和宣纸拼贴，76.2 x 54.6 cm ©韦佳，致谢否画廊


纽约 – 否画廊荣幸地宣布，我们将于2018年10月13日至12月23日举办新展《韦佳：寻常》。寻常人，寻常生活，以寻常态度，做寻常事。韦佳热爱中国传统艺术，而不循规蹈矩，却以自己的方式诠释拓展传统，赋予更广的意义。本次展览呈现他长居纽约布鲁克林的日常所做所为，近年来创作的大幅画布上宣纸拼贴绘画，纸上作品，手卷，书法册页，小幅手稿，以及根据空间的现场创作。本次展览希望呈现艺术家完整的创作过程，创作状态，及作品和日常生活的关联。欢迎来参加10月13日下午4–5点的艺术家对话，和5—8点的开幕活动。

韦佳自幼跟随收藏家张伯驹及夫人潘素学习中国诗词和山水画，影响其一生。而后又在中央美术学院学习油画，80年代末赴美取得艺术硕士学位，1993年后长居于纽约布鲁克林。他用宣纸为主要创作媒介，混合水墨、水粉、丙烯等颜料在其上书写、挥洒，再将纸撕下，重新拼贴，反反复复的撕与贴，在偶然与必然创作过程里，把他的生活经历，和艺术经历融于画面之中。

韦佳每日练习书法，从2000年起他开始创作书法系列。一方面做传统书法训练，另一方面，以绘画的形式重新解释传统书法，探索书写与绘画的同一，探索交错的过去与丰富的今天的关系。展览英文标题为A Way of Life (一种生活方式），亦可写作Away of Life（远离生活）对于韦佳来说，日复一日的书法练习并不是一种职业训练，是日常生活的一部分，使自己可以净虑凝神，专注于日常所为，成为一种生活态度。韦佳按创作时间编号，作为作品标题，并记录在册，一本用了18年的笔记本记录了这一系列作品风格的演变。在一些作品中（《NO.16197》，《No.16201》），韦佳刻意解构文字的阅读性，引导观者直接进入视觉欣赏，似乎重复拼贴的笔触，结构和肌理建造了一个新的秩序，新的可能性。而《No. 18222》则保留了书法原本的形态——韦佳将自己临摹的明代董其昌《千字文》拆解为六张正方形的画面，再打散排列。如果不去辨认具体的文字，作品的工整格式看起来更像是Agnes Martin或Dan Walsh的抽象绘画，以及极简主义作品。而另一件作品《No.18221》似乎回归了中国传统书画中“诗画一体”的形式，主体部分的抽象拼贴看上去像石碑残片，而旁边的题词有艺术家诙谐的自我打趣——“此画酷似汉碑拓片“，又有日常的随笔记录——“停车坐爱枫林晚，霜叶红于二月花。家边展望公园正值千红万紫如画。”

韦佳还将根据画廊的褐石建筑结构现场创作， 以近两年每日临写的书法手迹去布置一个现场，观者可以置身其中，进入一个艺术家的生活状态里。

在展览其间，我们亦将举办书画鉴赏、雅集、茶道等活动，为观众提供更为丰富的观展体验。更多信息还请持续关注否画廊的后续推送。

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