Exhibit Info
This Exhibition Is No Longer Showing
Title:
The Art of Calligraphy
Dates:
April 1-June 15
Location:
Technology Center and 2nd Floor
About:
Chinese calligraphy, a form of artful writing, is an ancient and highly respected art form that requires mastery of the brush, the paper (or silk), and the ink in equal measure. The size of the characters as well as the contrast between light and dark and the speed of application of the line all work together to create each unique piece of work. Some scripts are more formal and require the brush to be filled often, placed with care on the page, and to be moved with careful deliberation so as to result in uniform brush strokes. Other scripts are more casual meaning the brush is filled less often and moved with speed and spontaneity. A series of characters for a piece using informal calligraphy can go from dark and wet ink when the brush is newly filled, to light and dry when the brush is nearly empty.
The works in this exhibit created by Michael Shiue represent a wide range of calligraphy styles, including paintings with ink, that are both formal and informal. Shiue, as a master calligrapher, states that one of the things that sets calligraphy apart from many recreational hobbies is that it can be melded with a broad spectrum of cultural arts, such as poetry, literature, and philosophy. He believes that calligraphy is the heart of Chinese culture as it is built upon a person’s entire cultural knowledge. It’s inextricably linked with the art you’ve seen, the literature you’ve read, the music you’ve heard, the philosophies you believe.
Michael Shiue, born and raised in Taiwan, came to the USA in 1976 to attend Ohio State University for his Ph.D. in Chemistry. During his career he worked in chemical research at Princeton University, The Rockefeller University, and several pharmaceutical companies in central NJ. He took up calligraphy as a serious pursuit, a passion from youth, after retiring in 2010. As a child and teen in Taiwan the strokes of calligraphy characters intrigued him by their fluidity and grace and he wished to express himself in this way once more. He is much in demand and has given lectures and performed calligraphy demonstrations at many charitable events in the Princeton area, as well as in schools, colleges, community centers, and libraries.