Detail: Alisan Fine Arts is honoured to present its tenth exhibition1 of world renowned artist Walasse Ting. Alongside the artist's noted vibrant colours, his black and white work on rice paper will also be exhibited. The exhibition will display around 20 artworks. Both are equally appreciated by connoisseurs and collected by major museums around the world.
Born in Wuxi in 1929, Ting left for Paris at the young age of nineteen after studying briefly at the Shanghai Art Academy. In Paris, he led the life of a poor struggling artist and was exposed to Western art for the first time. In 1958, he travelled to New York, arriving at a time when Abstract Expressionism was at its peak. Befriending American artist Sam Francis, Ting was strongly influenced by this movement and the works of Picasso. His paintings were filled with bold dripping strokes mixed with bright acrylic pigments. But by the 1970's, he began experimenting with figures thus developing the distinctive style that today is so familiar.
What's in a name? Walasse Ting's parents nicknamed him Hua la si which means 'spoiled'. He admired the works of Henri Matisse, and in 1950 he changed part of his nickname and adopted �sse from Matisse making his name Walasse. Walasse Ting's paintings are a sheer testimony to love, life and beauty. His women, flowers, cats, fish, horses and watermelons are couched in acrylic on rice paper delineated in Chinese ink through powerfully effervescent brush strokes in a rich palette of bright colours: the artist's core visual vocabulary.
Less well-known, but equally appreciated by connoisseurs, are his exuberant works in Chinese ink on rice paper. Without his usual colour to distract the eye, the strength of his composition and the different textures of his ink are powerfully revealed. And it is Ting's use of ink and line that so strongly remind the viewer of his Chinese roots.