Tan Ping: Pingo, ergo sum
In 2021, Tan Ping's solo exhibition "What is Painting 1984-2021" was held at the Tang Contemporary Art in Beijing. Continuing the essential yet provocative question, this exhibition also hinted at the theme of the 2022 Hong Kong retrospective, "Boundless." It not only reflects Tan Ping's artistic pursuit but also a profound exploration of transcending limits. During the "What is Painting 1984-2021" exhibition, Tan Ping, in an interview with Li Tianqi, revealed, "I've been painting for forty years, yet the journey remains incomplete."
"Art, to me, is an ongoing process; I approach each moment with a perpetual sense of incompleteness. Throughout this journey, I continually encounter in specific time, space, and domain—moments of meeting, immediate separation following a fresh beginning. It's akin to the end and start of a new life,, death and birth, sorrow and joy, disappointment and hope, the past and the future. In the fleeting moments of aggregation and separation, eternity is realized. This is the essence of art; this is the spirit of painting."
Compared to searching for answers, questioning touches more on the characteristics and possibilities of art. This inherent openness in Tan Ping's artistic approach is evident in the collaborative exhibition "HOU YING & TAN PING," held at Xiamen's Topred Center for Contemporary Art (TCCA) in February 2023. Pioneering Chinese postmodern dance, Hou Ying, and the trailblazing Chinese abstract painter, Tan Ping, collaborated to explore the experimental presentation of performance art and visual arts within the same space. In this exhibition, Tan Ping engages in the act of painting directly on the wall, using a long brush. The ink-soaked paper, more leaning than hanging, not only becomes an integral part of the space but embodies the space itself. The spontaneous strokes of liberated painting seamlessly fuse with the dancers' movements, expanding the realm of visual arts into the domains of body art and performance art. In this work, Tan Ping's distinctive spirit of freely transcending boundaries in the world of painting shines once again. Indeed, Tan Ping's creativity extends far beyond specific methods or mediums such as printmaking, painting, design, performance, and installations. This multidisciplinary approach stems from the "non-prescriptive" artistic concepts. A thorough understanding of these concepts requires an exploration of his educational background and areas of activity.
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In 2021, Tan Ping's solo exhibition "What is Painting 1984-2021" was held at the Tang Contemporary Art in Beijing. Continuing the essential yet provocative question, this exhibition also hinted at the theme of the 2022 Hong Kong retrospective, "Boundless." It not only reflects Tan Ping's artistic pursuit but also a profound exploration of transcending limits. During the "What is Painting 1984-2021" exhibition, Tan Ping, in an interview with Li Tianqi, revealed, "I've been painting for forty years, yet the journey remains incomplete."
"Art, to me, is an ongoing process; I approach each moment with a perpetual sense of incompleteness. Throughout this journey, I continually encounter in specific time, space, and domain—moments of meeting, immediate separation following a fresh beginning. It's akin to the end and start of a new life,, death and birth, sorrow and joy, disappointment and hope, the past and the future. In the fleeting moments of aggregation and separation, eternity is realized. This is the essence of art; this is the spirit of painting."
Compared to searching for answers, questioning touches more on the characteristics and possibilities of art. This inherent openness in Tan Ping's artistic approach is evident in the collaborative exhibition "HOU YING & TAN PING," held at Xiamen's Topred Center for Contemporary Art (TCCA) in February 2023. Pioneering Chinese postmodern dance, Hou Ying, and the trailblazing Chinese abstract painter, Tan Ping, collaborated to explore the experimental presentation of performance art and visual arts within the same space. In this exhibition, Tan Ping engages in the act of painting directly on the wall, using a long brush. The ink-soaked paper, more leaning than hanging, not only becomes an integral part of the space but embodies the space itself. The spontaneous strokes of liberated painting seamlessly fuse with the dancers' movements, expanding the realm of visual arts into the domains of body art and performance art. In this work, Tan Ping's distinctive spirit of freely transcending boundaries in the world of painting shines once again. Indeed, Tan Ping's creativity extends far beyond specific methods or mediums such as printmaking, painting, design, performance, and installations. This multidisciplinary approach stems from the "non-prescriptive" artistic concepts. A thorough understanding of these concepts requires an exploration of his educational background and areas of activity.
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In 2021, Tan Ping's solo exhibition "What is Painting 1984-2021" was held at the Tang Contemporary Art in Beijing.
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