Virtual Workshop: Chinese Calligraphy with He Jiancheng

Artist He Jiancheng demonstrates the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy in this workshop, presented live from the artist’s studio in China. He Jiancheng’s artworks are on view in the Walsh Gallery in the exhibition SEEING IS BELIEVING: Crossings and Transpositions, Part II (January 21-March 5, 2022).

Please note: this event is streaming only.

Materials used in this workshop include:

• Bai-Cloud Bamboo Brush (sheep hair)
• White 1-ply, transparent and light weight Xuan paper (rice paper)
• Jin ink stone
• Song ink stick
• Watercolor (18 colors or more)
• 6B pencil
• Mixing palette
• Cup for water
• Paper towels

About SEEING IS BELIEVING: CROSSINGS AND TRANSPOSITIONS, PART II: This exhibition, organized by Professor of Studio Art Jo Yarrington, features work by five contemporary Chinese artists: He Jiancheng, Xiao Yao Ning, Luo Biwu, Zuo Zeng Yao and Zhang Zeng Min. Yarrington travelled to China in 2019 with four other American artists, where they presented Part I of this international exchange.

About ink/stone: This exhibition presents works by Chinese artists from the 20th and 21st centuries who engage with ink and stone as materials, subjects, and concepts. Employing a range of techniques and media, the artists make diverse points of contact with older Chinese artistic traditions. Some embrace the emphasis on ink brushstrokes on paper or silk to render mountainous landscapes or rock forms; others incorporate media and styles usually associated with western painting: oil on canvas, or gouache and watercolor. Yet others use photography, industrial processes of fabrication, or create conceptual and performance art. The contemporary works are shown together with older stone objects such as Buddhist steles, a scholar’s rock, and inkstones, which provide historical touchpoints for the artists’ reinterpretations of these forms and media. The exhibition is curated by Ive Covaci, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Art History at Fairfield University.