Fung Ming-chip

1951, Guangdong, China

Introduction

Born in Guangdong, China, in 1951 Fung Ming-chip grew up in Hong Kong, before spending his early adult life in New York and Taiwan. Self-taught, Fung’s career spans nearly four decades and is rooted in the written word first explored through the classical art of seal engraving. The artist later expanded his artistic practice to wood-carving, ink painting, calligraphy, sculpture. 

Since 1975, Fung has diligently practiced traditional calligraphy and has also been guided by the hallmarks of Abstract Expressionism, especially by the movement’s emphasis on the gestural treatment of line and space. Significantly, this school of artists, including Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Tobey drew their inspiration from Chinese calligraphy and culture. In 1977, he moved to New York, and since 1986, he has lived between New York, Taipei and Hong Kong before settling in Hong Kong, where he currently resides and practices. In 2004, he was an artist in residence at Jesus College, Cambridge University, in the United Kingdom.

Through his own unique process of research and analysis, Fung Ming-chip draws out new inferences on both a technical and conceptual level, leading him to new discoveries. To date, he has developed over one hundred and forty new strains of calligraphy. Positing and predicting new classifications in calligraphic development, Fung undertakes experiments to determine the feasibilities and possibilities inherent within each one. In this way, he not only extends the tradition of calligraphy but also expands its development as a contemporary art form.


BIOGRAPHY
1951    Born in Guangdong, China
1956    Raised in Hong Kong where he started working after completed primary school
1977    Moved to New York, US
1986    Began living between New York, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
1986    Playwright and director of 5 dramas in Taipei, Taiwan 
1992    Publication a fiction Curious Dealer’s Mermaid
2004    Artist in Residence at Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK
2006    Lives in Hong Kong
2014    Artist’s Talk, Asian Art Hong Kong, Liang Yi Museum, Hong Kong
2015    Invited to give a talk at 70 John Gallery, New York, USA
2019    Artwork featured at Spotlight Gallery Conversation: Chinese Hanging Scrolls, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
2020    Speaker, Summer Talk Serise: Development of Hong Kong Art, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020         

  • Null Set, QM Fine Art, New York, USA

2017         

  • MEME, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
2015        
  • Shu Fa Sutra, Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
2013
  • M. Sutherland Fine Arts, New York, USA
2012        
  • Mandarin Oriental, Miami, USA
  • Art Platform, Los Angeles, USA
  • To Be & Not To Be, The Private Museum, Singapore
2011
  • Asia One Art Fair, Hong Kong
  • Miami Art Fair, Miami, USA
2007,09
  • Gebert Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2006
2005
  • Beginning of Infinity, Neuhoff Gallery, New York, USA
2004
  • Rational Line, Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK
2002  
  • Gallery Saka, Tokyo, Japan
2001  
  • Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
2000  
  • Goedhuis Contemporary, London, UK
1999  
  • Tsing Hwa University, Hsin Chu, Taiwan
  • Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Caligrafia Chinesa de Fung Ming-chip, Galeria da Casa Garden, Fundacåo Oriente, Macau
1995
  • Party, Pan Pan Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan
1994
  • Value Transformation, Duchamp Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 
1993
  • Variations of Seal Carving, County Cultural Centre, Taipei, Taiwan              
1991
  • The Word by Ming-chip Fung, Quart Society, Hong Kong                  
1986
  • The Seal 1975-1985, Asian Arts Institute, New York, USA
1984
  • Photo Space, Catherine Gallery, New York, USA
  • The Seal - Another Chapter, G&G Associates Fine Art, New York, USA
1982
  • Lenscape, American Library, United States of America Consulate, Hong Kong
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023

  • Summoning Memories: Art Beyond Chinese Traditions, Asia Society Texas, Houston, USA

2022

  • The Magic of Zen: Celebration of Chinese Language Day, Secretariat Building, United Nations, New York, USA
2021
  • Flying Ink: Hengshan International Calligraphy Art Exhibition, Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center, Taoyuan, Taiwan

  • Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA

2020
 2019
  • Arts of China: New Acquisitions, Asian Galleries, , Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
  • Writing/Non-writing, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2018
  • 2050. A Brief History of the Future, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
  • Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, The Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA
  • When Less is More, Alisan Fine Arts-Aberdeen, Hong Kong
2017
2016
2015-2016
  • Magic of Chinese Characters, Chinese Calligraphy in 3000 Years, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland
2015
2013
  • Noirs D’Encre. Regards Croisés, Foundation Baur Musée des Arts D’Extreme-Orient, Genéve, Switzerland
  • Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
2011
  • Ink Art vs Ink Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
2010
  • Writing/Non-writing, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
  • Ink Art VS Ink Art, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2009
2008
2007
  • Made In China, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2005
  • The Act of Writing and of Non-writing: The Open Space for Chinese Calligraphy, Art Museum of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
  • The Painted Word: Language as Image in Modern Art, Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, USA
2002
  • Paris-Pekin, Espace Cardin, Paris, France
  • China, Museum Saap, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2001
  • The Rhythmic Line: Contemporary Calligraphy, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Tradition and Experimentation: 2nd Chinese Calligraphy of the Millennium, Ho’s Gallery of Calligraphy Arts, Taipei; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan
  • China Without Borders, Sotheby’s, New York, USA
2000
  • New Perspective on Contemporary Calligraphy, Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
1999-2002
  • The Power of Words, Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
1999
  • Medium Transpositio, Kuo Mu Sheng Foundation Art Centre, Taiwan

  • Tracing 2000, Color Field Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Avant Gardes en Chine, Galerie LOFT, Paris, France
1998
  • Fans, Color Field Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan
1997
  • Stream Segment, Asian American Arts Centre, New York, USA
1996
  • Asia Pacific Heritage Month, Mass Transit Authority Headquarters, New York, USA
1995
  • Looking Through Lines, Dimension Endowment of Art, Taipei, Taiwan
1994
  • Flowering in the West, Haenah-Kent Gallery, New York, USA
1990
  • Chinesische Kalligraphie, Galerie Lommel, Germany
1985
  • Contemporary Primitive, ABC NO RIO, New York, USA
  • Asian Artists Show, A Gallery, New York, USA
1984
  • Gorilla Art Show, Avenue B Gallery, New York, USA
  • Small Works Exhibition, Washington Square East Galleries, New York University, New York, USA
1983
  • Self-Portrait, The Landmark, Hong Kong
1981
  • Chinese Center, Montreal, Canada
1979
  • Center for Chinese Art and Culture, Boston, USA
1977
  • City Hall, Hong Kong

SELECTED SPECIAL PROJECTS
2014   After Mi Fu Handscroll, Response to Mi Fu’s Boat on Wu River, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA 
2008   Les Poèmes du Mandarin Tableware Collection, Hermès, France
2007   Mural: Inner Universe, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2004   Artist in Residence, Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, USA
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, Los Angeles, USA
Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, USA
Harvard University Art Museum, Cambridge, MA, USA
Princeton University Art Gallery, Princeton, USA
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, USA
Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL, USA
Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA
World Bank, Washington D.C., USA
Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Collection, USA
Khoan & Michael Sullivan Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, UK
The Olenska Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
White Rabbit Collection, Sydney, Australia
Taiwan Museum of Art, Taichung, Taiwan
Westin Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan
Ju Ming Foundation, Taiwan
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
United Airlines, Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong
China Club, Hong Kong
Mobil Oil, Hong Kong    
Shanghai Tang, Hong Kong & New York
Fundacao Oriente, Macau