Exhibition

Traces of the Past and Future: Fu Shen's Paintings and Calligraphy

Dec 5, 2017 – Sep 16, 2018

Fu Shen works at the intersection of landscape, calligraphy, poetry, ceramics and even memoir. A scholar, teacher and curator, Fu has realized his own distinct artistic voice after decades of study. Celebrated for bringing out the painterly quality of calligraphy and weaving his own narrative into ethereal landscapes, Fu both honors and extends the tradition of Chinese ink art.

One of Fu’s major contributions to Chinese art is his work in ceramics. With Jar with motifs of spring flowers and autumn moon (2002), Fu follows the established practice of applying calligraphy to vases but announces the jar’s modernity with unexpectedly bright-colored glazes.

Patching the Broken Net in seal script and cursive script (2007) is another example of Fu’s creative approach. In this hanging scroll, he depicts the fishing net of the title both pictorially and in an artistic rendering of three characters: patch, broken and net. The gestural characters, the meaning of the words and the painting of the net combine in a powerful work that conveys the message, “Never give up.”

The exhibition, Fu’s first retrospective in the United States, honors the scholar-artist on his 80th birthday. His faithful yet fresh interpretations of Chinese ink art will give you a new understanding of that venerated tradition.

A 20-minute video, Fu Shen: Traces of the Brush (2017) by Eros Zhao, will be screened at the museum on December 10. A short excerpt, showing Fu’s calligraphic technique, will be on view in the exhibition galleries.

Top Image: Patching the Broken Net in seal script and cursive script, 2007, by Fu Shen (Chinese, b. 1937). Hanging scroll; ink on paper. Lent from a private collection. © Fu Shen. Photograph courtesy of Eros Zhao.

Bottom Image: Travelers among mountains and streams, in the style of Dong Beiyuan, 1961, by Fu Shen (Chinese, b. 1937). Hand scroll; ink on paper. Lent from a private collection. © Fu Shen. Photograph courtesy of Eros Zhao.

Organizers & Sponsors

Traces of the Past and Future: Fu Shen’s Paintings and Calligraphy is organized by Eros Zhao in collaboration with the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Presentation is made possible with the generous support of Yanan Xu, Amy O’Dowd, and MDSUN in Los Angeles, California.