Mengqi Wang, A Leading Figure In China’s New Literati Painting Circle Visits William Paterson University

Feb 05 - Feb 19, 2019

In celebration of the 2019 Chinese New Year, the Year of the Pig, the Center for Chinese Art at William Paterson University organized an art feast that served communities in both New Jersey and New York. Professor Mengqi Wang, a famous Chinese ink painter and leading figure in China’s new literati painting circle, was invited to the United States to hold his exhibition, demonstrate his skills and lecture about his recent work.

Mengqi Wang was Professor and Chair of the Chinese Painting Department at the Nanjing Arts Institute and Professor of the Fine Art College at Shanghai University. Currently he is a researcher at the China National Academy of Painting in Beijing. Over the past several decades, Professor Wang has been immersed himself in traditional Chinese art and culture, through which he has created a unique artistic language by refining key elements of Chinese ink painting such as form, composition and abstraction. In addition, he has made tremendous contributions to the craft as a whole, especially by further developing different styles of Chinese Literati Paintings. His ink figure paintings, coupled with his views on art and life, have influenced a whole generation of Chinese artists.

On February 5th, the first day of the Chinese New Year, Professor Wang gave a wonderful demonstration of Chinese ink figure painting to the students, faculty and art community at William Paterson University’s Power Art Center. The audience was deeply impressed by his warm personality and elegant brushwork, showing his skillful imagination in painting extraordinary compositions. A professor of animation at WPUNJ mentioned that Professor Wang painted more than ten characters during his demonstration, with each character vividly depicted with their own personality and characteristics. Wang’s talent filled him with great admiration, and the students were encouraged by seeing his process firsthand. It was truly a remarkable opportunity for everyone in the audience, allowing for a new perspective on approaching art.

On February 9th, the exhibition “Where the Heart Belongs: An Exhibition of Chinese Ink Paintings by Mengqi Wang” had its grand opening at the New York Gallery of Chinese Art (91a Allen Street, NYC). The exhibition was organized by the Center for Chinese Art at William Paterson University, the New York Gallery of Chinese Art, USA and is sponsored by the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Research Institute at Beijing Jiaotong University, China.

The exhibition opening brought over one-hundred in attendance to the gallery, all deeply impressed by the work that was on display. While taking in his paintings, viewers could feel a burst of emotion ripple throughout their hearts. Daryl Joseph Moore, Dean of the College of Arts and Communication at William Paterson University attended the exhibition and told reporters that the artist had used such superb brushwork to bring all of his energy into his paintings. The exhibition, which runs until March 10th, features 55 of Mengqi Wang’s most recent works.

February 19th, Professor Wang presented his lecture, “Mengqi Wang and China’s New Literati Painting” to the students at faculty at Power Arts Center at WPUNJ. In the lecture, Professor Wang introduced the materials of Chinese ink painting, the techniques of brush and ink, the six methods of Chinese painting and shared the personal feelings, ideas and thoughts in his works. He also mentioned that in the long history of Chinese art, Dong Qichang and other artists in the late Ming dynasty and early Qing Dynasty were his favorite painters and sources of inspiration.

Professor Zhiyuan Cong, Director of the Center for Chinese Art at William Paterson University and curator of Mengqi Wang’s exhibition and art events, spoke to reporters about his intention behind planning this exhibition. In his opinion, just a few artists from China truly understand Chinese art and are able to reached such a high level of ability and success. We should introduce more Chinese artists like Mengqi Wang to the western countries, who represent the original, essential and top level of Chinese ink painting.

For more information about this event, please call the Center for Chinese at William Paterson University at 973.720.2799 or email ccart@wpunj.edu, or visit web wpunj.edu/ccart.