WALASSE TING (1929-2010)

From the earliest stage of his career, Walasse Ting's paintings have captivated viewers with their electric colors and light-heartedness. A painter, lithographer and poet, Ting's artistic trajectory began with his creative integration of Eastern and Western aesthetics. Born in Shanghai in 1929, Ting studied at the Shanghai Art Academy before he left China in 1946. In 1950, Ting relocated to France at where he befriended members of the avant-garde CoBrA Group, most notably Pierre Alechinsky and Asger Jorn. In 1959, he moved to New York and participated in the Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism movement where his closest associates were artists Sam Francis and Joan Mitchell, members of the second generation of Abstract Expressionist painters. After 15 years of abstract painting, Ting's interest in the body and his exploration of sexuality led him back to figuration in the 1970's. Reevaluating the notion of the female body, Ting's work became even more subjective, personal, and radical in his expression of emotion through the vehicle of figurative imagery.

Ting responded to the idea of sexual desire through his art, as he transferred his inner emotions to the fluent and expressive brushstrokes in his capture of alluring beauties against the riot of vibrant acrylic colors that break free into a dreamscape of sensual pleasure. In Reclining Nude, the bare-breasted subject evokes the immediacy and emotions of sexual passion. Illustrated by flat planes of colour and simplified lines, the woman reveals herself to the viewer amidst her bed of fruit and flowers.

Ting displayed a clear enthusiasm for the representation of women; this can be well observed in the painting Women with Fans. This charming and dreamlike composition depicts two female figures peering and whispering behind floral fans, barely distinguishable through the verdure of the various types of flora. Similarities in the composition of Women with Fans and Reclining Nude are noticeable with Ting’s focus on the women's facial expressions, hair style, and the playful take on the colour choice of their skin tones.