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MAGNIFICIENCE WITHIN: NEW INK PAINTINGS BY TAI XIANGZHOU
Merging the fantastical with tradition, Tai Xiangzhou continues to shine in today’s contemporary Chinese art world. Since Tai’s American debut at Asia Week 2011, he has taken the international audience by storm. With each subsequent exhibition of his intricate masterpieces, the public has been floored by both the sheer beauty of his works and his dedicated homage to traditional technique. In just the past year, he has shown his work in countless seminal institutions across three continents. The Chinese Porcelain Company is therefore honored to present Tai Xiangzhou’s second solo show in North America during Asia Week 2013. 
“Magnificence Within: New Ink Paintings by Tai Xiangzhou” features fourteen new ink paintings, three of them in the highly coveted handscroll format. Pupil of the modern-day master Liu Dan since 2006, Tai shines a fresh light into the classical Chinese art form of ink painting and calligraphy. Taking a bold, innovative step, Tai introduces to us his new body of work based on a single scholars’ rock that stands at a mere two inches tall, four inches wide, which will be on show. Touted as the world’s earliest abstract sculptures, Chinese scholars’ rocks are bizarre natural formations that have been revered in the East and West alike. As early as the Song dynasty, both emperors and the leading painters of the day collected and admired these rare rock forms. They were displayed in outside gardens and in homes as a way of bringing the wonders of the natural world inside. In his handscroll paintings, Tai multiples and mystifies this single scholars rock, literally self-constructing a whole new universe with a deeply spiritual air and seduction. Similar to his “Genesis” series, Tai once again injects movement into typically bold and stiff rock formations, thanks to his use of light, water streams and bits of sky scattered throughout the dense mountain range. The nuances within each work seem limitless, as such, Tai’s paintings evoke new levels of detail and interpretation upon repeated viewings. Tai pays precise attention and sensitivity to his materials, recovering paper-making techniques of the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Through his studies, Tai discovered a silk-like paper called Chenxing Tang zhi. Tai has Chenxing Tang zhi made by skilled craftsmen using the very same 10th century techniques. The successful marriage of ink and paper distinguishes the best of Chinese ink painting, and thus Tai only uses Qianlong-era ink. Employing materials fit for only the emperor, he enraptures today’s audience with the tenderness of romance between mountain, water, wood, and calligraphy, that is characteristic of old ancient masters. 
Born in 1968 in Yinchuan, China, Tai has worked for many years in digital media and cultural exhibitions in Beijing. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. at the Art Academy of Qing Hua University with Bao Lin as his advisor. Established in 1984, The Chinese Porcelain Company offers Asian and European works of art and furniture of the finest quality. Our specialties are Chinese ceramics and works of art for the Imperial, Domestic and Export markets, Asian sculpture, including those of Chinese, Tibetan, Indian, Khmer and Vietnamese origin, French and Continental furniture, ceramics and works of art, and contemporary Chinese paintings. An illustrated brochure will accompany the exhibition. For further information please contact Corinne Plumhoff at 212-838-7744.
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