Cloud Wanderings of Wang Mansheng

May 28-August 13, 2022

June 11th Reception 1 - 4pm with Artist’s talk at 2pm

Free and open to the public.

This exhibition presents paintings and calligraphy in the Chinese tradition by Wang Mansheng that explore the spirit of the natural world and venture into contemporary meaning. Divided into three parts, the show includes landscape paintings and calligraphy in Guild Hall, colorful paintings of lotus in the Hays Gallery, and a selection of album paintings and artist’s tools in the central Goelet Gallery.

This exhibition juxtaposes the traditional and contemporary in multiple ways. In pre-modern times, the concept of “cloud travel” (yunyou in Mandarin Chinese) was largely associated with the wanderings of sages and immortals. In this way, yunyou paintings embodied notions of spirituality and aimlessness and were connected with Daoism, Buddhism, and folk beliefs. Drawing on the contemporary use of the word “cloud” for online data storage, the term yunyou has now taken on a new connotation of travel through the internet. In this exhibition, Wang Mansheng explores both meanings of yunyou and thereby, creates a dynamic and timely bridge between China’s past and our own day.

As Chinese painting continues to evolve in response to contemporary realities, few are better able to forge this path of development than Wang Mansheng. Steeped deeply and broadly in China’s classical arts, Mansheng is also a global citizen fully engaged in today’s world. His paintings at once speak to the concerns and sensibilities of viewers now, throughout the world, and are inspired by China’s vibrant past.

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