Venue: M+ Pavilion

Press release

Ink, the principle medium in Asian visual art and the hallmark of Asian cultural identity, has remained an active source of inspiration in contemporary art practice. Since the mid-twentieth century, many Asian artists have examined the content, practices, and concepts of traditional ink art—most commonly represented by calligraphy and landscape painting—to develop new expressions and techniques suitable for their time and personal experiences. Throughout this process, they often incorporated artistic tendencies and materials from outside of their own cultures. At the same time, artists from outside Asia also looked to traditional ink art for their experimentations. In short, ink art, a discipline with its own system of training, technique, vocabulary, philosophy, and circulation has entered into transnational dialogues. These cross-disciplinary and intercultural connections have kept ink art constantly evolving and are central to M+’s strategy for collecting and exhibiting ink art.

The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art at M+, the museum’s first presentation of ink art from the collection, highlights the diverse explorations that have taken place over the past sixty years. It defines ink art not only through its materials, but also as an aesthetic that inspires a wide range of applications and interpretations. The Weight of Lightness illustrates the tension at the core of ink art—between the material and the spiritual. This relationship permeates the thematic sections of the exhibition, organised based on the heritage and conventions that have shaped the philosophies and trajectories of ink art.

Featuring works by more than forty artists from across Asia and beyond, The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art at M+—the museum’s first presentation of ink art—looks at the diverse explorations that have taken place over the past sixty years. Through paintings, drawings, calligraphy, photographs, installations, and video works from the M+ collection, this thematic exhibition highlights ink art’s boundless creative potential.

 

+https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/inkart