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Being Open and Empty

2005
Not on view
A prominent example of Wang’s monumental calligraphic abstraction, this hanging scroll features powerfully inked lines that convey a vivid sense of the artist’s physical engagement with the work. The interaction of ink and ground—especially the spatters and streaks that communicate the impact and momentum of the brush—is crucial to its appreciation. The white paper is not simply the absence of ink, it is the picture “space” into which Wang’s ink structure is thrust. The title, borrowed from a phrase in the Daoist classic Zhuangzi (ca. 300 B.C.), refers to a state of enlightenment achieved through ridding one’s mind of mundane trifles. Its literal meaning, however, “protect the white” (shou bai), may also reflect Wang’s awareness of the uninked paper as a significant component of the whole.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Being Open and Empty
  • Artist: Wang Dongling (Chinese, born 1945)
  • Date: 2005
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 88 × 57 in. (223.5 × 144.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of the artist, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.188.2
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Wang Dongling
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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Ink Meditation, Wang Dongling Chinese, Hanging scroll; Ink on paper, China
Ink Meditation
Wang Dongling
2005
Canon, Wang Dongling Chinese, Ink on paper, China
Canon
Wang Dongling
1991
Poem to the Tune of “The Rain-Soaked Bell”, Wang Dongling Chinese, Ink on paper, China
Poem to the Tune of “The Rain-Soaked Bell”
Wang Dongling
2007
Dark (Heaven) and Yellow (Earth), Wang Dongling Chinese, Horizontal scroll; ink on paper, China
Dark (Heaven) and Yellow (Earth)
Wang Dongling
2005
Untitled, Wang Dongling Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China
Returned to lender
Untitled
Wang Dongling
1999

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