Brushed Voices: Calligraphy in Contemporary China [Paperback]

Yiguo Zhang (Author), I-Kuo Chang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998

Published to accompany an exhibit at the gallery, in New York City, from April to June 1998. Offers examples of the modern resurgence of the traditional writing form as practiced by 21 artists. The many black-and-white illustrations and 11 color plates are supported with an introduction to the genr

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Represented in this exhibition catalog are 21 leading contemporary Chinese calligraphers and their works. The exhibition, organized by the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, where author Zhang is a curator, sampled various modern styles ranging from oracle bone, seal, bamboo, clerical, standard, and cursive scripts to noncharacter calligraphy. Each calligrapher's work is commented upon, and convincing illustrations are provided. The book opens with information on major exhibitions, competitions, newspapers and magazines, organizations, education, and auction houses and ends with an interview with Brice Marden, a contemporary American painter whose art is influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Recommended for both large public and academic libraries as one of the best on this subject.ALucia S. Chen, NYPL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Miriam & Ida D. Wallach Art Gallery (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884919065
• ISBN-13: 978-1884919060
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,658,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Calligraphy - a Vital Art Form in China Today, April 6, 2000

By 

Amy McNair (Lawrence, Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brushed Voices: Calligraphy in Contemporary China (Paperback)

"Brushed Voices" is the beautifully-printed catalog of an exhibition of calligraphy at Columbia University by some two dozen living Chinese artists. The author, a calligrapher and scholar of art himself, selected works of art that demonstrate important trends in calligraphy, such as "non-character calligraphy," where calligraphers make up non-existent characters, which they write as elegantly and seriously as real characters, as a kind of comment on the difficult and sometimes nonsensical nature of traditional Chinese learning, and "pictorial calligraphy," where artists make calligraphy by "painting" characters in splashy, washy strokes that are composed like the elements of a picture. The catalog contains insightful discussions of the artists' ideas and use of the brush, as well as biographical information about each artist. This is the only book in English to open a window onto the flourishing world of calligraphy in China today.