Chinese artist Wei Ligang (b.1964) has been at the forefront of Chinese contemporary ink painting’s from the era's onset. The artist's works are often based on "Wei Squares" a formula inspired by the square framework printed on practice paper for the characters that students copy repeatedly when learning calligraphy. Here in this large scale work the dramatic gestures of dense blocks combined with thin brushstrokes and speckled regions of paint resource the practice of traditional calligraphy and ink painting. Solid blacks and migrating golds deconstruct and re-form the characters in Ligang's paintings, while hinting at traditional script-forms (such as formal, running, or "grass" script). This exhibits his deep Chinese roots.

Wei Ligang graduated Nankai University in 1985 and was the president of the university's calligraphy society. He also taught calligraphy at the Training School in Taiyuan. Ligang was one one of the organizers of the June 1999 “Bashu Parade: ’99 Chengdu Retrospective of Chinese Modern Calligraphy at the End of the 20th Century” exhibition, has also been included in the pioneering exhibition organized by Gordon Barrass at the British Museum in 2002, and has been shown internationally and extensively throughout China.