Dawo
Zhang

Calligrapher Zhang Dawo photographed by JIANG Dandan

Dawo’s showing of uninhibited “signs-lines” results from a bitter negotiation with the tradition. It reveals his great quality as a contemporary calligrapher, as nothing is more difficult than to exceed the mastery of the ancients. He thus takes on a huge challenge. Within a contemporary practice freed from the academic and bureaucratic constraints, he has to release the lines of power and genius of the Chinese writing. Unlike an imperial scholar, Dawo positions himself as free and open. With his hand dancing on paper, he creates lines of a universal language. These lines invite us to celebrate and to share the dynamic of nature. The use of ink reminds us through the stroke of the brush that we are still connected to the world. Despite our independence, the need for freedom and the use of abstraction, we remain incorporated into a vital process that Dawo emphasizes with every stroke.