Brush-and-Ink, Materiality and Multimodality in Chinese Calligraphy and Seal Engraving: Chak-kwong Daniel Lau Solo Exhibition

A peer-reviewed solo exhibition of calligraphy by Lau Chak Kwong, curated by Dr Sarah Ng, Former Curator of Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Hong Kong, and organized by Hong Kong Arts Centre, September 16-28, 2024, The Hui Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

As part of the larger body of research outputs of the PI’s GRF project (General Research Fund, the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong/ project title: Calligraphic Materiality and Multimodality: Modes of Expression and Representation in Chinese Calligraphy and their Dynamics with Contexts of Use in the City of Hong Kong), this exhibition was peer-reviewed by the Review Panel of Committee on the Management of Hui Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) chaired by Professor Zhou Jin, Department of Fine Arts, CUHK), with gallery booking endorsement from Prof. Frank Vigneron, Chairperson, Department of Fine Arts, CUHK.

The solo exhibition was accompanied by:

1.) The bilingual exhibition catalogue/ monograph entitled “Brush-and-Ink, Materiality and Multimodality in Chinese Calligraphy and Seal Engraving” (3 volumes, 812 pages) (中國書法與篆刻的筆墨、物質性及多模態), edited by LAU Chak Kwong (PI), with 5 scholarly essays and curatorial statements contributed by Professor Harold Mok, CUHK, Dr Sarah Ng, Mr. Tsang Kwong Tsoi and Dr Lau Chak Kwong (download the 3 volumes from: https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/calligraphy/daniellauchakkwong/publications.php ) The 3 volumes of the exhibition catalogue was published on “Synergy between Tradition and the Contemporary — Hong Kong Calligraphy Series: Chinese calligraphy and Seal Engraving by Lau Chak Kwong” website (peer-reviewed), Hong Kong Baptist University Library, 2024 (https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/calligraphy/daniellauchakkwong/ )

2.) A peer-reviewed (Research Committee, HKBU) website, “Synergy between Tradition and the Contemporary - Brush-and-Ink, Materiality and Multimodality: Chinese Calligraphy and Seal Engraving by Lau Chak Kwong Daniel” (古今相生 — 筆墨 ﹑物質性及多模性 : 劉澤光書法篆刻), hosted by the Library of Hong Kong Baptist University (https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/calligraphy/daniellauchakkwong/index.php ) (The novelty of this website is its dual nature as both a digital archive for public access as well as a large body of 780 creative research outputs published and exhibited for the first time as an online exhibition curated, developed and designed by Lau Chak Kwong (PI). Offering a far-reaching impact, this website extends the PI’s scholarly and artistic research on Chinese art and calligraphy to a wider community in cyberspace.

Based on the GRF project’s theoretical framework for examination and interpretation of materiality and multimodality in Chinese calligraphy, this solo exhibition of a large body of creative works of Chinese calligraphy is systematically categorized into various themes of developing Chinese calligraphy from the accentuation of intrinsic brush-and-ink aesthetics to new calligraphic expressions in different material forms and multimodality including a series of site-specific life performances of calligraphy, their documentations in the form of video projection in the exhibition space and for online viewing and circulation as well as online exhibition of artworks in the accompanying calligraphy website.
Lau’s calligraphy witnesses a breakthrough in traditional Chinese calligraphy in that his calligraphy sculptures, calligraphy tapestries, calligraphy on everyday objects such as mobile phone cases and handbags transcend the conventional material forms and tools of brush, ink, paper, silk, and format, pushing the boundaries of Chinese calligraphy from the confines of two-dimensional space into a dynamic three-dimensional realm. The new concept, combined with the artist's thoughts and emotions, makes his calligraphy’s expressiveness and modes of expressions more vivid and vibrant. Moreover, Lau’s large-scale calligraphy performances/ calligraphy-cum-performance artworks fully demonstrates how they expand the horizons of traditional calligraphic expression and materiality by their incorporation of elements such as body movements, strength, and rhythm evoked by wielding a giant brush, interactive improvisation with the audience, calligraphic aesthetics, the literary meaning of the huge Chinese characters, and the historical, social and cultural contexts of the performance sites to achieve a more enriched and incisive multimodal communication of meanings pertinent to the experience and city life of Hong Kong. Through new and novel creation of Chinese texts in new material forms and multimodal communications, Lau powerfully paths the way to a paradigm shift in which the appreciation and perception of Chinese calligraphy is enriched by multisensory experiences.

This substantial body of artworks by Lau illustrates how Chinese calligraphy has been transformed from a literati-oriented art with a restricted audience into a more accessible form of visual culture that reaches wider audiences in both exhibition space at a research university, calligraphy performance sites in Hong Kong (e.g. historic buildings) and the calligraphy website, thus contributing to the reconstruction of a strong sense of vitality of city life through artistic practice of Chinese calligraphy and the appreciation and engagement of the exhibition audience.

As a calligrapher and art historian, Lau has produced this body of creative outputs with his unique theory and artistic approach that emphasize the synergy between the practice of calligraphy and art historical research, as elucidated in his scholarly essay “The Refreshing Paradox of Embracing Innovation for a Return to Antiquity: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Integration of Art Historical Research with Creative Art Practice of Chinese Calligraphy,” in Tam Wai-ping ed., Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 2018 (Hong Kong: Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2019), 192-237.