Curator ﹕ Fang Lei
Artists ﹕ Chen Xiongwei, Fang Lijun, Hong Hao, Li Fan, Su Xinping, Tan
Ping, Wang Yiqiong, Xu Bing, Yang Hongwei
Opening Cocktail ﹕ 6 – 8 pm, Thursday 14 April, 2011
Contemporary by Angela Li is proud to present “A Schema for Printmaking”, representing
such highly acclaimed artists as Fang Lijun, Xu Bing, Tan Ping and Hong Hao.
Artists in this exhibition began their artistic journeys in printmaking, using various methods
such as woodcutting, engraving, lithography or silkscreen printing, and each has made remarkable
achievements in their printmaking practices, enriching the world of print art with their many works.
In addition, they have all touched on a wide range of other fields such as conceptual art, oil
painting, photography, installation, oil printing and other new media. As they use these other
mediums, printmaking has provided sustenance, and as these various fields draw nourishment
from and influence each other, these artists have created new possibilities for art.
In this exhibition, we discuss one particular issue in printmaking, that of originality. This is
a concept from western printmaking. According to this concept, artists must grasp a series of
techniques, such as drawing, carving and printing, to engage in original creation.
Printmaking is a system. It is one of the oldest international art forms. It can be traced back
over a thousand years in China, or even earlier, beginning with woodcut printing traditions. From
the earliest recorded woodblock printed scroll, the Tang dynasty Dharma Sermon (868 AD), to the
woodcut illustrations of serial novels and folk New Year calendars in the Ming and Qing dynasties,
printmaking has served the dual functions of printing and dissemination; western printing, which
emerged roughly 500 years after its appearance in China, belongs to the same realm. It was not
until the 18th century, when western artists began to directly draw images, carve and print them,
that the concept of “printmaking” became independent from printing technology.