Abstract
Stimulated by a recent exhibition of the painter and industrial designer Minol Araki (1928 – 2010) at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Dr. Wong will explore the adaptability of ink aesthetics to multiple identities and expressions in East Asia. As a Manchurian-born Japanese artist who studied with the preeminent Chinese master in Taiwan, Zhang Daqian, in the 1970s, Araki invites reflections on those aspects of ink painting (play, abstraction, calligraphism, and transculturalism) that have made this classical art form appealing to the modern eye. In addition, Dr. Wong will introduce technical and stylistic innovations since World War II which anticipate the conceptualism of contemporary “ink art.”