| When I look at the work of calligrapher, poet, and painter Bada Shanren (Chinese, 1625-1705), I can easily get a sense of the storytelling ability of the great calligrapher. But Shanren’s use of the painted image told the story for a Westerner like me, who was not getting a feel for his writing ability because I could not read the text. Yet Asian calligraphy has influenced contemporary art for many years. One need only look at the work of the automatic writers like Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, or Franz Kline to see the influence, as these artists searched for a new way to make their marks. I too am influenced, because there is a boldness, a beauty in the mark making, a strength in the black lines on a white ground that gets in your subconsciousness. |  |
D. Dominick Lombardi
When I look at the work of calligrapher, poet, and painter Bada Shanren (Chinese, 1625-1705), I can easily get a sense of the storytelling ability of the great calligrapher. But Shanren’s use of the painted image told the story for a Westerner like me, who was not getting a feel for his writing ability because I could not read the text. Yet Asian calligraphy has influenced contemporary art for many years. One need only look at the work of the automatic writers like Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, or Franz Kline to see the influence, as these artists searched for a new way to make their marks. I too am influenced, because there is a boldness, a beauty in the mark making, a strength in the black lines on a white ground that gets in your subconsciousness. The symbolic, the spiritual, the wisdom, and experience in the calligraphic line can also be influenced by contemporary art. Seeing the work of Jung Do-Jun at his last New York City exhibit at the Tenri Institute was for me, a revelation. For the first time, I could sense what an Asian calligrapher, this artist, was trying to say in the writing. Noted calligraphers master one, maybe two styles. Jung has mastered five. His works hang everywhere from the hallowed entrances of various buildings at Gyeongbok Palace to museums and galleries throughout the world, so if it was going to happen for me, this was it.
Every pass, every twist, every touch of the inked brush on fine Korean papers yields, in the hand of Jung, many miraculous expressions that convey his thoughts beyond mere language. The essence of the painted words, the meanings behind each character—the shapes, the strokes, and the all-important voids are all part of it. Recently, I visited Jung in his home studio, and at his teaching studio in Seoul, Korea, and found much to understand and feel in his vision.
My first visit was to Jung’s home studio, where he and I went through numerous pages of his expressive calligraphy that clearly featured peaceful, fruitful forms which suggest very specific emotions and states of mind. The words come through various lines and marks, but you must look with trusting eyes. You must pass deeply into the work so it can lead you, guide your senses until something comes through that is beyond the language. Jung explained that this is no easy task, even for him. It could take dozens of attempts until he is satisfied. The variables in determining the success of a completed work are not just in the legible forms. It is also about the tone of the black ink, the line clarity, the line quality, the style, and the activity or meaning in the voids around the lines and shapes. How this is controlled varies greatly with the amount of ink on the brush, the speed at which the brush moves across the paper, the weight in the touch—it’s all very deliberate. Yet it remains a very organic, a very whole-mind-and-body action. There is an intuitive focus in all accomplished artists: a discipline that fine-tunes a focus. And with that, there is humility and a reverence for the art and its tools that is unmistakable in Jung’s two studios.
To be a contemporary calligrapher, a superior one like Jung, one needs to expand the possibilities, stretch and shape the forms anew without losing the language, while activating the precious voids which create volume, dimension, weight, and air. And it will activate the thought in the viewer when right, whether the engaged can read the text or not. It is extremely important for Jung to reach an outside audience. He wishes his work to transcend the parameters of the literal translation so anyone from any walk of life can enjoy the work. I had the distinct pleasure to briefly work side by side with Jung, to study calligraphy firsthand with one of the best artists I have ever known. Even if it was only for a moment. With this experience, I discovered calligraphy, done with traditional brushes and inks, was even more difficult than I had imagined. Great calligraphy truly comes from the soul—the very core of your being—and that the truly gifted calligraphers, for however corny this sounds, have to be one with the brush, ink, and paper. It has to be an extension from deep inside. Jung has that gift—a gift that he hones and respects for all his days.
