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Wesley Tongson

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Wesley Tongson (Chinese: 唐家偉 (Tong Ka Wai; pinyin: Tang Jiawei); 1957–2012)[1]: 4  was a Hong Kong artist with family roots in Guangdong Province.[2] He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 15 and started painting at age 17. From that time until his death, Tongson dedicated himself to exploring various painting techniques with ink, ranging from Chinese brush painting, splash ink painting and eventually, finger painting.[1]: 4 [3]

Wesley Tongson
唐家偉
A man with short dark hair and round glasses wearing a gray overcoat over a shirt with colorful tie and gray slacks stands centered in front of a large ink brush painting that fills the entire background. The painting is of a bamboo forest, done in a traditional style.
Wesley Tongson in front of his bamboo forest of four panels, 1992
Born(1957-09-16)16 September 1957
Hong Kong
Died16 July 2012(2012-07-16) (aged 54)
Hong Kong
NationalityHongkonger
EducationGu Qingyao, Ontario College of Art, Huang Zhongfang (Harold Wong), Liu Guosong
Alma materOntario College of Art
StyleChinese brush painting, splash ink painting, finger painting
AwardsVisionary Artist Award from Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (posthumous)
Websitehttp://www.wesleytongson.org/en/

Early years and education

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Wesley Tongson received his primary education at the Primary School of St. Paul's Co-educational College in Hong Kong from 1963 to 1969. Afterwards, he went onto the Secondary School of the same college until 1973. In 1973, he briefly attended Brentwood College School in Vancouver, Canada and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He then returned to Hong Kong and continued his secondary education at Hong Kong International School, graduating in 1977.[1]: 86 

In 1974, Tongson took up traditional Chinese painting in Hong Kong. In 1977, he moved to Canada to pursue his studies in western painting at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. At age 20, Tongson studied Chinese brush painting with Gu Qingyao. Meanwhile, being inspired by the splash ink paintings of Chinese master painter Zhang Daqian,[2] Tongson started to experiment with splash ink techniques himself.[1]: 86 

Career

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Upon his return to Hong Kong in 1981, Wesley continued his studies with Huang Zhongfang, a collector and painter of Chinese art.[2] In addition, he took a three-month painting course taught by prominent contemporary Chinese artist Liu Guosong and experimented with a wide variety of non-brush techniques, such as ink rubbing and marbling for texturing.[1]: 8–9 

 
Red Plums Over The Earth, 1993

From the 1980s to 1990s, Tongson continued to explore splash ink painting techniques and began to draw on his Western and Eastern influences to create original contemporary works[1]: 4  such as Red Plums Over The Earth (1993).[4] Among Western painters, Tongson admired Pablo Picasso for his cubism movement, which he saw as bringing volume into painting.[1]: 4  During the latter half of the 1980s, Tongson's early works were shown in several solo exhibitions and in the 1988 group show "Modern Chinese Paintings by Five Artists" at Hong Kong City Hall.[1]: 86 

Tongson considered landscape painting to be the most difficult and highest accomplishment of Chinese art.[5] He continued to devote his energies to master this form throughout his life. His transcendent mountainscapes symbolize his commitment to his Zen-based spiritual journey.[3] Over the course of his life, Tongson explored Christianity, Buddhism and Taoism.[1]: 11–12  These subject matters often appear in his calligraphy and paintings,[6]: 91  as in Untitled (Buddhist Theme).

Tongson's work was shown at solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States throughout the 1990s,[1]: 87  including "Mountains of Heaven - Modern Chinese Painting by Tong Ka Wai" in 1993[5] and “The Vibrant Land” in 1994.[7] He also participated in group shows "New Trends – Art Hong Kong" in 1994 and "Art Asia" in 1995.[1]: 87 

Later years and death

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Spiritual Mountains 9, 2010

Beginning in 2001, Tongson started to experiment with finger painting. By 2009, he had virtually ceased using brushes.[6]: 58  He adopted “Mountain Taoist” (Chinese: 山斗道人; pinyin: Shandou Daoren) as his sobriquet,[8] which he used to sign his finger paintings,[5] such as Plum 5 (2011) and Spiritual Mountains 7 (2012).[9]

Tongson's large scale finger paintings from this period are regarded by Catherine Maudsley, Hong Kong-based art historian and curator, as notable for their sustained energy and cohesiveness.[1]: 8–9  Wu Song, Director of Wu Song Chinese Ink Studio at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, observes that by painting with an extension of the body, fingers and fingernails, rather than tools, Tongson was transforming finger painting techniques into spiritual symbols and going beyond the boundaries of Chinese finger painting.[6]: 80 

Wesley Tongson passed away on 16 July 2012.[1]: 4 

Legacy

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Notable exhibitions since his death include “Ink Explorations: A Wesley Tongson Retrospective” in Hong Kong in 2014,[10][11] "Wesley Tongson" in Beijing, China in 2016,[3][12] “Wesley Tongson -The Journey” hosted by Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco in 2018,[13][14] and "Spiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley Tongson" at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California in 2022.[15][16][17] Following the exhibition in San Francisco, a book launch and talk on "Wesley Tongson - Journey" was held at Asia Society Hong Kong on 9 July 2019.[18][19] In October 2019, Tongson was honored with the “Visionary Artist Award” by the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, USA.[20]

Tongson's works are in public and private collections, including:

Monographs

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  • Spiritual Mountains:The Art of Wesley Tongson (2023)[28]
  • Wesley Tongson - The Journey (2019)[6]
  • Ink Explorations: A Wesley Tongson Retrospective (2014)[1]
  • The Landscape - Modern Chinese Paintings by Tang Jiawei (Wesley Tongson) (1996)[29]
  • The Landscape - Modern Chinese Paintings by Tang Jiawei (Wesley Tongson) (1994)[30]
  • Wesley Tongson - The Vibrant Land (1994)[31]
  • Mountains of Heaven - Modern Chinese Paintings by Tong Ka Wai (1993)[32]
  • Mountains of Heaven - Modern Chinese Paintings by Wesley Tongson (1992)[33]
  • Dancing Colours - Paintings by Wesley Tongson (1991)[34]
  • Traditional Paintings by Wesley Tongson (1988)[35]

Note: The above publications are collected by Asia Art Archive.[36]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mo suo : Tang Jiawei hui gu : Xianggang yi shu zhong xin 2014 nian 11 yue 11-23 ri = Ink explorations, a Wesley Tongson retrospective : 11-23 November 2014, Hong Kong Arts Centre. Hong Kong: INK.Spiration. 2014. ISBN 978-988-13498-0-4.
  2. ^ a b c Sullivan, Michael (2006). Modern Chinese artists : a biographical dictionary. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 145. ISBN 0-520-24449-4. OCLC 65644580.
  3. ^ a b c Afnan, Nooshfar (30 September 2016). "Wesley Tongson". Artomity. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  4. ^ Wilson, Emily (1 February 2019). "Wesley Tongson". Artforum. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Wesley Tongson". USC Pacific Asia Museum. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Wesley Tongson - The Journey. USA: Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco. 2019. ISBN 9780578573724.
  7. ^ "Crossing Cultures". 10 May 1994. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  8. ^ Chang, Charlotte (2 January 2015). "Interview with Catherine Maudsley: Ink Explorations". A.M. Post. 112. Art Map Limited: 48–51.
  9. ^ Cheng, DeWitt (4 February 2019). "Wesley Tongson: The Journey". Artomity Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Ink Explorations: a Wesley Tongson Retrospective". Citylife Hong Kong. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Ink Explorations: A Wesley Tongson Retrospective". artinasia.com. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Three new exhibitions offers unique interpretations of Chinese landscape paintings". Timeout Beijing. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  13. ^ Katz, Anita (31 October 2018). "Wesley Tongson's evocative finger paintings at Chinese Culture Center". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  14. ^ Tuozzolo, Ryan (16 October 2018). "Awaiting the brighter future to come: Remembering the art, life of Wesley Tongson at the Chinese Culture Center". The Daily Californian.
  15. ^ "Spiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley Tongson | BAMPFA". bampfa.org. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  16. ^ Staff, Katherine Shok | Senior (2022-02-17). "Wesley Tongson's 'Spiritual Mountains' melds tradition, abstraction at BAMPFA". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  17. ^ "Wesley Tongson". Artomity. 25 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Wesley Tongson - The Journey: Evening book launch & talk". Asia Society Hong Kong. 2019.
  19. ^ Cheng, Gigi (2 July 2019). "Going on Wesley's Journey with Catherine Maudsley". Asia Week Hong Kong.
  20. ^ "Harmony & Bliss 2019 "Remembrance"". Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. 2019.
  21. ^ "Art Collection". Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Collections". Asian Art Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Collection". USC Pacific Asia Museum. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  24. ^ "M+ Online Collection". M+. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Hong Kong Museum of Art Collection Databank". Hong Kong Museum of Art. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  26. ^ "Mountain Taoist". University Museum and Art Gallery (HKU). Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  27. ^ Selected Works. Hong Kong: Morgan Stanley Asia. 1994. p. 27.
  28. ^ Spiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley Tongson. UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, United States). 2023.
  29. ^ Tongson, Wesley (1996). The Landscape: Modern Chinese Paintings by Tang Jiawei (Wesley Tongson). Hong Kong.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  30. ^ Wesley, Tongson (1994). The Landscape: Modern Chinese Paintings by Tang Jiawei (Wesley Tongson). Hong Kong.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. ^ Wesley, Tongson (1994). Wesley Tongson: The Vibrant Land. Hong Kong: Artpreciation (Hong Kong).
  32. ^ Tongson, Wesley (1993). Mountains of Heaven: Modern Chinese Paintings by Tong Ka Wai. Hong Kong: Pacific Asia Museum (Pasadena, United States).
  33. ^ Tongson, Wesley (1992). Mountains of Heaven: Modern Chinese Paintings by Wesley Tongson. Hong Kong: ShuangLe Gallery (Hong Kong). ISBN 9627621056.
  34. ^ Tongson, Wesley (1991). Dancing Colours: Paintings by Wesley Tongson. Hong Kong: ShuangLe Gallery (Hong Kong).
  35. ^ Tongson, Wesley (1988). Traditional Paintings by Wesley Tongson. Hong Kong.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  36. ^ Tongson, Wesley. "Research and Library Records". Asia Art Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
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