Renowned Taiwanese calligrapher Tong Yang-tze (董陽孜) on Thursday unveiled two monumental calligraphy pieces inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York in what an official called “an honor” for Taiwan.
The two pieces are showcased parallel to each other in the Met’s Great Hall as a part of the “Dialogue” exhibition commissioned by the museum for its historic display space.
The presence of the works in the museum reflects Tong’s attempt at cultivating a visual dialogue between Chinese writing and museum architecture, the Met said.
Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York via CNA
Walking into the Great Hall, visitors can see the 82-year-old artist’s huge calligraphy pieces, which are written in a combination of semi-cursive and regular Chinese script.
Each of Tong’s pieces contains poetry excerpts from various eras of Chinese literature.
On one side of the wall, an excerpt from the Chinese Classic of Poetry encourages the consideration of the opinions of others to elevate oneself. The other piece’s words were taken from the poetry of Song Dynasty scholar Su Shi (蘇軾), who implored people to act when appropriate and to stop when necessary.
In a rare public appearance, Tong engaged in a conversation with Lesley Ma (馬唯中), a curator in the Met’s Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. Ma launched the exhibition on Thursday with a conversation centered on Tong’s two featured works.
Tong told Ma that “Dialogue” manifested as a conversation with herself.
The selection of the excerpts was based on the profound weight of their words, which are fitting for a space as prestigious as the Met, Tong said.
The poetry in her calligraphy reflects the principles she lives by, Tong said, adding that she hopes that visitors who view the works would grasp their meaning, fostering a dialogue between her and her audience.
Tong also pointed out Su’s lines, saying that abiding by the wisdom of the words could cultivate sincerity among people.
Taiwan’s Representative to the US Alexander Yui said at the exhibition’s opening that showcasing Tong’s two works alongside historical and contemporary exhibits in a museum of the Met’s stature was an “incredible honor for Taiwan.”
Tong began writing calligraphy as a child and received a fine arts degree from National Taiwan Normal University in 1966.
She furthered her studies with a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics and oil painting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the US in 1970.
The artist is renowned for writing monumental pieces of calligraphy with cursive Chinese script, which embodies calligraphy traditions as well as the visual composition of Western art philosophy.
The “Dialogue” exhibition will run through April 8 next year.
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