A perspicacious Chinese ink painter whose life and art are one and the same with the philosophy he depicts, Tian Xu Tong’s name has become synonymous with Zen for his distinctive black-and-white ink-paintings of sagacious monks meditating on boats on water or on mountain tops insinuated by nuances of lines painted in plain, abstracted space. Pure, natural, elementary and calm, Tian’s composed seriocomic allegories take the imagination through boundless space with a leisurely and carefree lightness.
Incorporating and expressing both the clarity and power of focus, and infusing his works with the clever delight and simplicity of Zen philosophy on rice paper through ingenious brushwork and dexterity of conceptualization, Tian’s deceptively simple works embrace paradox on several levels and dimensions. Often appearing straightforward and outwardly amusing, one finds great strength and intensity of mind and thought in his spatial projections upon deeper and often recurring reflection. Since the late 1990s, Tian Xu Tong’s one-of-a-kind blend of abstract sage, serenity and drollness have brought a world of audiences not merely aesthetic satisfaction, but on a great level, peace and a sense of spiritual fulfillment.
Born in Beijing in 1962, Tian Xu Tong graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts & Craft in 1985 with a major in ink painting. A congenial, spirited and highly creative artist by profession, he is also an art professor in Tsinghua University (Beijing), with 40 over publications – ranging from guides on sketching techniques and innovative design to Chinese decorative art and books on Tian’s ink painting collections – to his name.
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2012
Affordable Art Fair, Singapore
2011
Affordable Art Fair, Singapore
2010
Fine Art Asia 2010, Hong Kong
2008
ArtBeijing 2008, Beijing
2006
ARTSingapore 2006
2004
ARTSingapore 2004
2002
New York Art Expo
2000
China Art Expo, Beijing
1999
China Art Expo, Beijing
1995
The 4th Asian Art Exhibition, Beijing
1991
Exhibition of Contemporary Installation Art, Singapore
1990
Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, Hong Kong
Solo Exhibitions:
2012
Zen, a solo exhibition organized by HaKaren Art Gallery, Singapore
2009
Silence and Harmony, a solo exhibition, Beijing
2007
Starkness & Trueness – Modern Works of Tian Xu Tong, two solo exhibitions in China National Museum of Fine Arts and Singapore co-organised by HaKaren Art Gallery and Beijing’s Qinghua University, School of Arts.
2004
The Door to Inner Peace, a solo exhibition organized by HaKaren Art Gallery, Singapore
2001
Zen, a Solo exhibition organized by HaKaren Art Gallery, Singapore
Group Exhibitions
2008
Group exhibition, Beijing
2005
Group exhibition, Singapore
Accolades:
1998
Featured in an exclusive interview-documentary (Beijing CCTV)
1993
Invited to furnish mural designs for a Taiwanese charity foundation
1988
Award of Excellence, Central Academy of Craft and Design’s Exhibition of Outstanding Works