20th Century Chinese Female Artists 二十世紀中國女藝術家系列

Female empowerment and equality in modern societies have been a much debated topic dating back over a century. While the diverse achievements of female talents across different fields have gained better light in recent years, female artists remain an under-represented and under-appreciated segment in Western societies and even more so across Chinese communities.

Yet the emergence of female artists in 20th century China was a testament to both the country’s social progress and the various redefinitions of modernity that were adopted in a historical context complicated by wars and disasters. Female agency in society was among the issues argued and promoted in the mass media of the time and retains lasting ideological power today. In scholastic studies and exhibitions, however, attention has been focused on modern Chinese male artists. Exhibitions featuring the creative attainments and influences of their female counterparts from the period are few and far between, and rarely in monographic presentations.

Asia Society Hong Kong Center’s 20th Century Chinese Female Artists Exhibition Series (“the Series”), the first of its kind in Hong Kong, aims to reclaim the story of female artists. By providing local Hong Kong audiences with important examples of their artistic accomplishments, we hope to honor them with the public recognition they deserve for their contribution to the making of modern China.

From a wider community context, the Series fits into the discourse on female empowerment and equality in today’s Hong Kong, where research indicates that women continue to face challenges in male-dominated industries as well as gender stereotypes in the media and the workplace. Through education programs for children, students, families, and the general public, we will highlight achievements of women in various industries while connecting to the lives and careers of the unique female artists presented in the Series. The first exhibition in the Series focuses on the life and works of Fang Zhaoling, and is made possible by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

現代社會的女權和平等，從上一世紀以來一直是極具爭議的話題。近年來，儘管有才華的女性在不同領域上的成就較以往多了注目， 但眾多社會上的女藝術家代表性仍然不足，她們仍然未能得到充分讚譽，這情況在各個中國社區更為明顯。

然而，二十世紀中國女性藝術家的出現卻印證了中國社會的進步，同時也為經歷戰爭和災難這複雜歷史背景下的現代添上了新的定義。社會上的女性代表一方面備受爭議，另一方面則為當時大眾傳媒所追捧，這意識形態的力量在今天仍然存在。學術研究和展覽界別的注意力往往集中在現代中國男性藝術家身上， 以一個時代的女藝術家創意成就和影響力為題的展覽極為罕有，更鮮有以女藝術家個人為專題的展覽 。

亞洲協會香港中心二十世紀中國女藝術家系列 (「系列」) 開創先河，為女藝術家故事爭取發光發亮。 透過向香港觀眾展示她們重要的藝術成就，以提升公眾對她們的認知，令她們對中國現代作出的貢獻得以表揚。

若然以較廣泛社區為宏觀背景，研究指出香港今天的女性在各行各業內仍然面對著由男性主導的挑戰，在媒體和職場上就繼續受到性別定型的規限，可見系列的主題理念，正好配合香港現時女權和平等的議題。我們將透過為小朋友、學生、家庭及公眾設計提供的各項教育活動， 特顯女性在不同行業上的成就，並同時將之連繫到系列中各獨特女藝術家的生活和事業生涯。

系列的首個展覽以方召麐生平及作品為題，承蒙香港賽馬會慈善信託基金的支持，展覽得以舉行。為配合展覽，特意創立賽馬會藝術教育及「妍亮人生」計劃，為本地不同社區的社群提供教育講座和活動。

Painting Her Way: The Ink Art of Fang Zhaoling is presented exclusively by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The exhibition features a selection of paintings and calligraphy by the distinguished female artist Fang Zhaoling (1914-2006).

Fang was one of the most innovative Chinese painters to emerge in the last decades of the 20th century. Her work is original, distinctive and powerful. She was among the first female generation in China to benefit from Greater educational opportunities and female artists like her who fully realized their careers were relatively few.

Beyond biography and artistic development, the exhibition also considers ink painting and how Fang, as a diasporic artist, played a particularly significant role in its revival after chaotic reforms in the mid-century. It addresses the period of development between traditional ink art of the past and its new direction, showcasing Fang as a bridge between two generations.

Exhibition Period:
September 27 – December 31, 2017

Exhibition Venue: 
Chantal Miller Gallery
Asia Society Hong Kong Center
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Former Explosives Magazine
9 Justice Drive, Admiralty, Hong Kong

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday: 11 am — 6 pm
Last Thursday of Every Month: 11 am — 8 pm
Closed on Mondays 

Free Admission

展覽日期：
2017年9月27日 – 12月31日

展覽場地：
麥禮賢夫人藝術館
亞洲協會香港中心
香港金鐘正義道9號香港賽馬會復修軍火庫

開放時間：
星期二至星期日：上午11時至下午6時
每月最後一個星期四：上午11時至晚上8時
逢星期一休館

免費入場
 

Fang Zhaoling (1914-2006) was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China. She was one of the most innovative Chinese painters to emerge in the last decades of the twentieth century. In her artistic passage from childhood to adult, she studied with three of China’s leading painters, Qian Songyan, Zhao Shaoang, and Zhang Daqian, achieving technical mastery of the medium as practiced in three very different ways. Her master-disciple patterns of training in Chinese painting intersected with the modern Western style education she received at The University of Manchester, The University of Hong Kong, and Oxford University. During her lifetime she exhibited widely in Japan, Europe, and the United States as well as elsewhere in Asia, but it is only with the distance of time that the path-breaking nature of her art and career have become most evident.

In 1951 Fang Zhaoling exhibited with her tutor, Zhao Shaoang at the first Chinese art show in Japan since the war. She then exhibited in various group and solo exhibitions including the Musee d’Orsay in 1953, Oxford University in 1957, the Royal Academy Summer Show in 1967, Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1978, Shanghai Art Museum in 1983. She was at the same time remarkable in her perseverance, her unwavering lifelong pursuit of her art, and her ultimate artistic success. In this, she was a model example of the “new woman” so much debated by theorists of the early twentieth century, a woman who through education and travel achieved self-realization that enabled her to contribute to world culture at the highest level.  

方召麐（1914-2006） 生於中國江蘇無錫，為二十世紀末最前衛的中國畫家之一。她師從國畫大師錢松岩、趙少昂及張大千，技巧集各家大成。藝術家的傳統藝術訓練融合在曼徹斯特大學、香港大學及牛津大學所受現代西方教育，畫技別樹一幟。

她曾在日本、歐洲、美國和亞洲多地展出，更於1951年與老師趙少昂在東京舉行戰後首個中國藝術展覽。方召麐其後在巴黎奧賽博物館（1953年） 、英國牛津大學（1957年） 、英國皇家藝術研究院(1967年) 、香港藝術館（1978年）和上海美術館（1983年）等博物館展出。

她憑藉堅毅精神，對藝術的熱忱和成就，成爲「新女性」的代表。「新女性」一詞源自二十世紀早期，形容以教育及遊歷實踐自我的女性，概念當時備受爭議。

Open to public (free of charge). No registration required.

Saturdays | 2:30pm (English) | 3:30pm (Cantonese)
Sundays | 2:30pm (English) | 3:30pm (Cantonese)
Last Thursday of Every Month | 7:00pm (English) 

開放予公眾參與 （費用全免）。毋需另作登記。

逢星期六 | 下午二時三十分（英語）| 下午三時三十分（粵語）
逢星期日 | 下午二時三十分（英語） | 下午三時三十分 （粵語）
每月最後一個星期四 | 下午七時正（英語）

Discussions and Lectures 座談會及講座

September 27, 2017: Fang Zhaoling in Context 策展人對話
October 23, 2017: The Dying Throes of the Last Matriarchal Tribe in China 中國最後的母系部落
October 31, 2017: Women in Architecture 建築業女性
November 21, 2017: S.H.E. Dialogues: A Girl with Big Dreams
November 27, 2017: S.H.E Dialogues: Spotlight Fashion — Women in Business
November 28, 2017: Women Explorers of National Geographic 國家地理的女性探索家
December 1, 2017: S.H.E. Dialogues: Female Equestrian Scarlette Cheng 香港女騎師‧蔣嘉琦
December 15, 2017: From Athlete to Educator: Cham Lim Chee 運動員到校長﹕陳念慈

Film Screenings 電影放映

October 9, 2017: Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present 《凝視瑪莉娜》
October 27, 2017: English Vinglish 《印式英語》
November 15. 2017: Eva Hesse 《伊娃·海瑟》
December 11, 2017: Hidden Figures 《NASA無名英雌》

Workshops and Performances 工作坊及表演

October 22, 2017: Big Sister Day: Board Game design 桌上遊戲設計
October 29, 2017: Seal Carving, by Miss Elephant 印章雕刻
November 5, 2017: Big Sister Day: Theater and Performance 戲劇與表演
November 6, 2017: Qipao Making with Janko Lam 林春菊旗袍製作坊
November 19, 2017: Qipao Ornaments 旗袍裝飾
December 3, 2017: Create your Spacecraft 自創太空船
December 3, 2017: Theater Art, by Shiona Carson Shiona Carson 戲劇藝術
December 17, 2017: Create your Stamp 自創印章

道無盡：方召麐水墨書畫展, 《Cultural Express 文化快訊 RTHK》, September 24, 2017. 

方召麐水墨藝術今起展出, 《大公報》, September 27, 2017. 

Fang Zhaoling: A Legend of Ink Art, Asia Week, September 28, 2017. 

傳奇女畫師——《道無盡：方召麐水墨藝術展》, 《藝頻 》, September 28, 2017.

Ink Art of Fang Zhaoling, Prestige, October 4, 2017.

陳方安生母親方召麐畫作展 48幅「道無盡」作品反映人生態度, 《香港01》, October 10, 2017.

巾幗不讓鬚眉 細看現代女藝術家的貢獻, 《東周網 》, October 25, 2017. 

【家長八達通】方召水墨藝術展 「道無盡」新女性典範, 《星島日報》, November 7, 2017. 

Thought Leaders: 'Art is a Visual Language', Discovery, December 18, 2017. 

《香港賽馬會呈獻—道無盡 方召麐水墨藝術展》, Syreeta Sik, December 29, 2017. 

亞洲協會香港中心《香港賽馬會呈獻—道無盡:方召麐水墨藝術展》, 【呀劍萬帥】, January 10, 2018.

【親子好去處】亞洲協會香港中心《香港賽馬會呈獻—道無盡:方召麐水墨藝術展》, 《ULifestyle》, January 22, 2018.

Press Release 新聞稿

English
中文

This catalogue is published on the occasion of Asia Hong Kong Center’s exhibition, Painting Her Way:  The Ink Art of Fang Zhaoling, from September 27, 2017 to December 31, 2017. Fang Zhaoling is one of the most innovative Chinese painters to emerge in the last decades of the twentieth century, and the exhibition addresses the period of development between traditional ink art of the past and its new direction, showcasing Fang as a bridge between two generations. This catalogue includes illustrated color plates of all exhibited artworks, as well as essays from Julia F. Andrews, Kuiyi Shen, Joan Judge and Joyce Hei-ting Wong. 

為配合於2017年9月27日至2017年12月31日舉辦的展覽“道無盡：方召麐水墨藝術展”，亞洲協會香港中心將出版“道無盡：方召麐水墨藝術展”同名展覽圖錄。方召麐（1914至2006年）為二十世紀末最前衛的中國畫家之一。本次展覽關注傳統中國水墨藝術尋找新方向的發展時期，並分析方召麐作為兩代人之間的橋樑，於當代中國水墨藝術發展中扮演的角色。本書收集是次展覽中的所有展出作品的彩色圖片，並輔以沈揆一、安雅蘭、Joan Judge和黃熙婷寫成的四篇專題文章。

Title: Painting Her Way:  The Ink Art of Fang Zhaoling 道無盡：方召麐水墨藝術展
ISBN: 978-988-1272-9-4
Number of pages: 203
Price: HK$280
Publisher: Asia Society Hong Kong Center
Design: Universal Brother Communications