Rewards of Wisdom: Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting

Over thousands of years, the tradition of Chinese calligraphy and painting has manifested a broad and magnificent visual language and served as a cultural wellspring for a person’s artistic pursuits to reflect their inner character. Rewards of Wisdom: Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting consists of work from the collection of the Confucius Institute at Western Kentucky University. Since 2017, WKU’s Confucius Institute has been hosting an annual exhibition of contemporary Chinese painting and calligraphy to celebrate China’s cultural history and create an avenue for cultural exchange. The artists on view are true inheritors of traditional Chinese art and techniques, influenced by millennia of tradition including that of literati painting. The literati approach defines emotional and intellectual growth as the pathway to quality artistic expression. Working in this tradition, the brushwork is calligraphic and the emphasis is on self-expression rather than literal representation. The artists selected for this show emphasize knowledge, virtue, peace, wisdom, beauty, meditation, science, and philosophy as vehicles of personal growth mirrored by decades spent perfecting their calligraphic styles.

Rewards of Wisdom: Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting features fine brushwork by both distinguished artists and rising stars from the collection of the Confucius Institute at Western Kentucky University. This exhibition is part of a celebrated partnership between the Confucius Institute at Western Michigan University and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and represents a commitment to the promotion of Chinese art and culture.

This exhibition is supported by the Joy Light East Asian Acquisition and Exhibition Fund.