WANG TIANDE 王天德 Not Yet Def ined: Paintings QUALIA CONTEMPORARY ART | July 25 – Sept 19, 2026
229 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301
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WANG TIANDE: NOT YET DEFINED ON VIEW JULY 25 – SEPT 19, 2026
The works in Not Yet Defined continue Wang’s navigation between tradition and transforma-
tion through a series of new landscapes composed with ink, Chinese pigments, and layered
handmade paper burned with incense. Several paintings such as Horizon View From Seclud-
ed Hut introduce vivid swaths of color including luminous red suns that punctuate otherwise restrained compositions of mountains and snowscapes. Wang also incorporates Chinese
couplets, a form of poetry and decoration consisting of two parallel lines of calligraphy that were traditionally displayed for protection, prosperity, and luck.
Presented alongside the landscapes are a selection of three-dimensional works including
plaster casts of pre-Tang Dynasty figurines and several traditional men’s and women’s garments, including a Qing dynasty robe, whose surfaces bear calligraphic passages burned
into layered silk with incense. Beginning in 2004, this ongoing body of work treats clothing as a relic of lived experience. Seen as more than protective coverings for the body, Wang elevates these garments as odes to cultural memory.
“Life is a continual repetition of our own experiences,” Wang says. “Not Yet Defined is a
process of being repeatedly moved by oneself and wounded by oneself; artistic creation is much the same.”
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WANG TIANDE 落木入云图 Autumn Trees Reaching into the Clouds, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 22 x 22 in | 56 x 56 cm
WANG TIANDE 幽赏平屋图 Horizon View From Secluded Hut, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 50.8 x 26.6 in | 129 x 67.5 cm
WANG TIANDE 漱石绛云图 Stream-Washed Stones beneath Crimson Clouds, 2026 Xuan paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 14.4 x 58.7 in | 36.5 x 149 cm
WANG TIANDE 漱石绛云图 Stream-Washed Stones beneath Crimson Clouds, 2026 (detail)
WANG TIANDE 蔬池抱月图 Garden Pond Embracing the Moon, 2025 -2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Letters by Wu Changshuo 64.8 x 15 in | 164.5 x 38 cm
WANG TIANDE 蔬池抱月图 Garden Pond Embracing the Moon, 2025 -2026 (detail)
WANG TIANDE 蔬池抱月图 Garden Pond Embracing the Moon, 2025 -2026 (detail)
WANG TIANDE 瑞云薄岺图 Auspicious Clouds Drawing Near the Ridge, 2026 Xuan paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 31.2 x 25.6 in | 79.3 x 65 cm
WANG TIANDE 抚柳问径图 Caressing the Willows, Asking the Way, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 32.1 x 25 in | 81.6 x 63.5 cm
WANG TIANDE 寻泽临川图 Seeking the Waters, Overlooking the River, 2025 -2026 Xuan paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 26.4 x 21.7 in | 67 x 55 cm
WANG TIANDE 遮云清水图 Clouds Veiling the Clear Waters, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 22 x 22.9 in | 56 x 58.2 cm
WANG TIANDE 千岩临雨图 A Thousand Crags Meeting the Rain, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 22 x 22.4 in | 56 x 57 cm
WANG TIANDE 舒云相照图 Unfurling Clouds in Mutual Radiance, 2025 -2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 85.8 x 29.9 in | 218 x 76 cm
WANG TIANDE 舒云相照图 Unfurling Clouds in Mutual Radiance, 2025 -2026 (detail)
WANG TIANDE 舒云相照图 Unfurling Clouds in Mutual Radiance, 2025 -2026 (detail)
WANG TIANDE 独坐南台图 Sitting Alone on the Southern Terrace, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 14.1 x 24.3 in | 35.7 x 61.8 cm
WANG TIANDE 自怜春水图 Self-Reflection in the Spring Waters, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 14.4 x 23.6 in | 36.5 x 60 cm
WANG TIANDE 三月香泾图 Fragrant Creek in the Third Moon, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 14.4 x 25 in | 36.5 x 63.5 cm
WANG TIANDE 泾上移水图 Shifting Waters upon the Creek, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 14.4 x 23.6 in | 36.5 x 60 cm
WANG TIANDE 遥闻香凝图 Lingering Fragrance from Afar, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 14.3 x 24.3 in | 36.2 x 61.8 cm
WANG TIANDE 春山寂寂图 Spring Mountains in Stillness, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 14.1 x 24.1 in | 35.8 x 61.2 cm
WANG TIANDE 暮潮仰山图 Evening Tide, Mountains Above, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 14.2 x 24.4 in | 36 x 62 cm
WANG TIANDE 雨后复水图 Waters Renewed after the Rain, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Rubbing 14.3 x 23.7 in | 36.2 x 60.2 cm
WANG TIANDE 松岚云阁图 Pines in Haze, Pavilion in Clouds, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 14 x 24.3 in | 35.5 x 61.7 cm
WANG TIANDE 犀头落云图 Clouds Descending upon the Horned Peak, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 14.3 x 23.6 in | 36.2 x 60 cm
WANG TIANDE 看山推云图 Watching the Mountains, Parting the Clouds, 2026 Xuan Paper, Ink, Burn Marks, Calligraphy Copybook 14.4 x 23.6 in | 36.5 x 60 cm
WANG TIANDE 王天德 CURRICULUM VITAE BORN 1960, SHANGHAI, CHINA; LIVES AND WORKS IN SHANGHAI, CHINA
EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS 2010 – PhD, Calligraphy, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China 1988 – Chinese Painting Department, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, now China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China 1981 – Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai, China 2003–present – Professor, Art Education Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai, China SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2026 Wang Tiande: Not Yet Defined, Qualia Contemporary Art, Palo Alto, CA, USA Wang Tiande: Beyond Reach, Alisan Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA 2025 Wang Tiande: Mirror Impressions, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA 2024 Thereafter: Wang Tiande Art Exhibition, Xu Wei Art Museum, Shaoxing, China 2023 Further Along, Qualia Contemporary Art, Palo Alto, CA, USA The Lesser Mountain, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China 2021 Wang Tiande: Three Floors, WS Space, Shanghai, China 2019 Winter of Longing, INKstudio, Beijing, China 2018 Awaiting: New Works by Wang Tiande, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong From the Canglang Pavilion, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China 2017 Over Mountains and Across Valleys, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China 2016 Literati Gathering: New Work by Wang Tiande, NanHai Art, Millbrae, CA, USA 2015 Wang Tiande Art Exhibition, Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness, Palace Museum, Beijing, China 2014 Conversation, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Conversation, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China Mountainscapes: New Ink Art by Wang Tiande, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Kai Men, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Hou Shan, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China 2012 Gu Shan, Sanshang Art, Hangzhou, China 2011 Boat, Galerie 99, Aschaffenburg, Germany 2010 Shuang Shuang, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2026 After Fire, Aranya Art Center, Qinhuangdao, China Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong 2025 Inspired by the Sign: Contemporary Visions of Epigraphy, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France Metamorphosis: Chinese Imagination and Transformation, China Institute Gallery, New York, NY, USA Line, Form, Qi: Calligraphic Art from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA Art Personalised: Masterpieces from the HKMoA (Phase IV), Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong At Ease with Hand and Mind: Calligraphy, Literature, and Contemporary Art, Qualia Contemporary Art, Palo Alto, CA, USA Tradition Transformed, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
WANG TIANDE 王天德 CURRICULUM VITAE BORN 1960, SHANGHAI, CHINA; LIVES AND WORKS IN SHANGHAI, CHINA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (cont.) 2025 Forty Years of Contemporary Ink in China, 1985–2024, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, and Xinjiang Art Museum, Urumqi, China 2024 The Journey of Ink: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Paintings from the Musée Cernuschi, Bund One Art Museum, Shanghai, China Black and White and Everything in Between: A Monochrome Journey, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada The Evolutionary Trace of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China Word Play: New York, Alisan Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA Themes and Variations, Alisan Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA 2023 Time Gravity: 2023 Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu, China Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, Asia Society Texas, Houston, TX, USA Global INK: INKstudio’s Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition, INKstudio, Beijing, China Kunming Art Biennale: Writing and Boundary, Yunnan Art Museum, Kunming, China Ink Alchemy: Beyond Tradition, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong 2022 By the People: Creative Chinese Characters, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Beyond Ink, Qualia Contemporary Art, Palo Alto, CA, USA Contemporary Chinese Art, Cromwell Place, London, UK 2021 Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA Dreaming Together: Asia Society Triennial, New-York Historical Society, New York, NY, USA NOT a Fashion Store!, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong 2020 Ink Painting Ongoing, 2000–2019, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China Shanghai Waves: Historical Archives and Works of the Shanghai Biennale, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China Brushless, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong 2019 Arts of China: New Acquisitions, Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY, USA Ink at Current: 10th International Ink Art Biennial of Shenzhen, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China Inquiry on Water, Suning Art Museum, Shanghai, China 2018 Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA 2016 Disguised Form: Ink Paintings’ Dimension, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China 2015 Writing Non-Writing, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China 2013 Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA 2012 Red Flag: Contemporary Chinese Art in the Montreal Collection, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada 2009 Yi Pai: Century Thinking, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China Contemporary Ink Art: Evolution, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
WANG TIANDE 王天德 CURRICULUM VITAE BORN 1960, SHANGHAI, CHINA; LIVES AND WORKS IN SHANGHAI, CHINA
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (sorted alphabetically) Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, USA Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY, USA British Museum, London, UK Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA, USA Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
WANG TIANDE: ABOUT THE ARTIST NOT YET DEFINED | ON VIEW JULY 25 – SEPT 19, 2026
Internationally recognized for redefining the possibilities of ink painting and calligraphy, Wang Tiande has established a practice that bridges traditional Chinese aesthetics and contemporary conceptual art. Wang is best known for his burned landscapes on layered paper spe-
cially commissioned by a traditional papermaking workshop in an ancient village along the Fuchun River in Zhejiang Province. Using a lit incense stick, he burns intricate networks of
marks through layered sheets of handmade paper or silk, allowing absence rather than ink to construct mountains, rivers, and calligraphic forms. Fire’s destructive capabilities are used in this way to create something altogether new through the gesture of erasure.
For Wang, artistic creation remains an open-ended process rather than a destination. Works
evolve through revision and reconsideration rather than progressing toward a final, conclu-
sive state. Through his distinctive use of fire, paper, silk, and calligraphy, he has transformed some of the oldest artistic traditions in China into a profoundly contemporary meditation on history, memory, and the impermanence of all things.