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Opening Reception, Sunday, July 23rd, 4:30 – 6:30 pm
Open to the Public: July 19 – September 8, 2023
June 30, 2023 (Palo Alto, CA) – Qualia Contemporary Art is pleased to present Kunlun Mountain, an exhibition of works by Chinese artist TAI Xiangzhou. The artist’s first solo exhibition on the West Coast will feature a new body of work that manifests, in ink on silk and on paper, his lifestyle as a contemporary scholar-artist and its accompanying practices. TAI’s illustrated meditations on both natural and supernatural forms epitomize the metaphysical threads from past to present, ancient to contemporary, and heaven to earth. The exhibition also features the artist’s first experiments with incorporating color into his practice, as well as his unique rendition of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s beloved bronze mascot, “Ritual vessel in the shape of a rhinoceros”, dedicated to the Bay Area community. Kunlun Mountain will be open to the public from July 19 – September 8, 2023, with an opening celebration hosted on July 23 from 4:30-6:30 PM PST.
“In ancient times when Feng Yi and Da Bing rode chariots, they rose up in thunder carts and entered the cloudy rainbow. They roamed in the ethereal mists and galloped in the hazy and nebulous. Going farther and farther and higher and higher, they reached the pinnacle. They traversed the frost and snow but left no tracks. Illuminated by the light of the sun, they cast no shadows. Spiraling around, they ascended the whirlwind. Traversing mountains and rivers, they strode over Mount Kunlun. Pushing through the Chang He [gate] they surged through the gateway of Heaven.”
– Inscription translated from TAI Xiangzhou, “Feng Yi Expedition (馮夷出巡)”
In an essay written for this exhibition, Richard Vinograd, Christensen Fund Professor of Asian Art in the Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University, writes that “TAI’s ink paintings have long visualized parallel worlds; in one, the historical realities of famous scholar’s rocks are depicted to scale with meticulous recreations of their metamorphic shapes – in the other, imaginary realms exploded into cosmogenic scenes in his extended Celestial Chaos [and Kunlun] series.” One such example is “Parallel Universe No. 5”, a large triptych in which Vinograd interprets “cloudy nebulae [that] commingle with folded and hollow rocks, floating and hurtling through space and its starry paleontology.”
The exhibition’s title also holds dual meanings, referring to Kunlun, the real mountain in Western China, but also a psychological space – a state of mind, a spiritual setting, a liminal space between heaven and earth, and a monumental icon embedded in the Chinese cultural imagination over thousands of years. TAI harnesses the infinitude of Kunlun in his new body of work, imbuing each scene with wildly inventive creatures thought to inhabit this parallel space of suspended reality. Celestial bodies give way to fantastical animals, mythical beasts—like dragons, phoenixes, and qilins—and zodiac figures, emerging from the mist of swirling clouds in a vision that approximates a hyperreal dimension.
TAI engages with the history of Chinese ink art while innovating upon its traditional subject matter. Looking beyond the landscape as a visual metaphor for the universe and existence, the artist instead shows the universe itself. The inky constellations start from the artist’s hand as blots of ink from a large brush on raw silk that unpredictably bleed across the fibers – a material interaction that mirrors the entropy and randomness of the cosmos. From the resulting forms, he envisions the potential figurative and narrative elements within; after treating the raw silk with a protective sealant, TAI adds a layer of finely-painted details in an intuitive process that draws from his extensive knowledge of Chinese mythology, philosophy, art, and history. In particular, TAI references the stone carvings and lacquer paintings of Han Dynasty-era art, weaving these stylistic motifs throughout his narrative compositions.
Calligraphic pairings, evidenced throughout the exhibition, enhance their accompanying imagery with inscriptions from classics of Chinese literature. Vinograd contextualizes these written elements “in the language and discourse of early Daoist philosophers such as Zhuangzi,” who were “concerned with primordial metaphysics of origins and existences, and full of paradoxical constructions.” The majority of works are presented alongside excerpts from the early Han Dynasty book Huai Nan Zi (淮南子), which is rife with colorful descriptions of Kunlun, from its impossible topography to its equally unfathomable inhabitants.
“As for the way, It stretches out the four binding cords and restrains yin and yang. It suspends the cosmic rafters and displays the Three Luminaries. Intensely saturating and soaking, Intensely subtle and minute. Mountains are high because of it. Abysses are deep because of it. Beasts can run because of it. Birds can fly because of it. The sun and moon are bright because of it. The stars and timekeepers move because of it. Qilins wander freely because of it. Phoenixes soar because of it.”
– Inscription translated from TAI Xiangzhou, “Qilins Freely Wandering (麟以之遊)”
A selection of works in the exhibition, such as “Scenery of Kunlun” and “Kunlun Mystic Trees” derive inspiration from the vast realm of Kunlun in the smallest of forms. Deceptively simple subjects, like rocks or wood, come to life under the artist’s careful observation, through which the rendered objects assume philosophical significance and geological scale.
Kunlun Mountain invites the public to consider the overlapping forms of the earth and the heavens, from both a macro and a micro perspective. The exhibition treats the spiritual realm of myths and legends with the same seriousness and respect as it does the centuries-old traditions of the literati. TAI’s work encourages contemplation and imagination, offering visitors a reprieve from the pace of modern life in the constancy of oft-overlooked natural phenomena.
About TAI Xiangzhou
TAI Xiangzhou (b. 1968 in Yinchuan, China) studied calligraphy during his childhood with masters HU Gongshi and WANG Wenjun. He further pursued the study of Chinese traditional culture with the prominent mentor FENG Qiyong. From 1999 to 2001, he attended the Media Design School in Auckland, New Zealand and in 2012, he obtained his doctoral degree from the Department of Painting at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. He currently lives and works in Beijing, China, and Auckland, New Zealand.
TAI has exhibited widely internationally including solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. at Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA; and in China and abroad at Suzhou Museum, Suzhou; Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing; National Art Museum of China, Beijing; Today Art Museum, Beijing; Sharjah Calligraphy Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy; among many others. He has attended several art fairs including Art Basel Miami Beach; Art Basel Hong Kong; and TEFAF, MECC, Maastricht, Netherlands.
TAI’s work is in the collections of internationally renowned art museums and academic institutions Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, China; Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University, Beijing, China; among many others.
About Qualia Contemporary Art
Located in downtown Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, Qualia Contemporary Art is dedicated to showcasing outstanding established and emerging artists working in a variety of media. The gallery is committed to building lasting relationships with artists, collectors, curators, and scholars nationally and internationally, and providing a vital platform for dialogues on contemporary art and culture in the Bay Area and beyond.
Location
328 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Gallery Contact
Dacia Xu
650-656-9132
Media Contact
Lainya Magaña, A&O PR
347-395-4155
Check gallery website for hours and additional info