Provenance
Galerie Asbaek, Copenhagen

Walasse Ting’s worldly vision is vividly portrayed on his canvas, his works are rich with popular Western elements with an Eastern twist, stemming largely from his interactions with overseas Avant garde artists as he was well travelled as an adolescent. The distinctiveness of Walasse Ting’s work lies in his ability to synthesize and transform the Traditional Chinese polychrome ink traditions and Western popular culture such as Pop art and Expressionism.

Hot kiss waiting for my warm kisses, the lavender hair framing the women’s face accentuates the smooth contours of the flowing lines that is inherently derived from Eastern Classical ink tradition. The fragility and feminine quality of the subject is exposed as she looks straight ahead and into the eye of the viewer. In I remember, the concentrated splashes of green, orange, and magenta and the residual splashes on the face of the central female could perhaps be attributed to abstract expressionism. Her head is resting elegantly upon her crossed arm suggestive of a reclining posture that extends beyond the confines of the canvas reminiscent of Edouard Manet’s paintings. Furthermore, Ting’s artistic approach attests to the acclaimed of the scholarly figurative works dated to the Ming dynasty as he utilized the Chinese Calligraphic brushstrokes to create quick, confident and definitive lines that conveys energy and movement to formulate the free flowing lines of his female figures. The interlacing abundance of the vivid colors contrast with each other delineating dimensions, which can be observed with these figure’s flowing hair adorned with colorful florets that adds vitality to the composition. Watermelon adopts a bright and intense color palette, as the figure’s hair frames the watermelon that she munches on. Although the exuberantly fluorescent bright colors are decidedly Western in nature, while the composition of lines and impressions retained essence derived from calligraphic techniques rooted in Eastern traditions. Similar examples of Ting’s works are presently residing in various renounce Museums worldwide, such as Moma, the Chicago Art Institute and the Sikeborg Museum in Denmark among a few. Walasse Ting’s work are truly magnificent pieces of art infused with an appreciation for the sensory pleasures of the purity found in nature.