Sol Lecture | Key Clues to a Century of ZAO Wou-Ki’s Art

Session 1 | 2022.02.25 (Fri) 19:00 – 21:00
Topic｜Original Printmaking: The Last Puzzle Piece of ZAO Wou-Ki’s Art
Speakers｜Zi-Ming Liu— Member of the European International Print Triennial Jury; Sunny Chang Ph.D — Director, Gallery de sol

Session 2 | 2022.03.05 (Sat) 14:00-16:00
Topic｜Still Waters, Gentle Winds: Exploring ZAO Wou-Ki’s Prints
Speaker｜Pi-Hsu Liu Ph.D, Graduate Institute of Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts

Location｜Gallery de sol
Address｜3rd Floor, The Arcade, No.166 Dunhua North Road, Songshan District, Taipei City
Opening Hours｜Tue–Sun 11:00 – 21:00 (Closed on Mondays)
Contact｜02 8770 5055｜service@gallerydesol.com.tw

The Mysterious Universe of a Great Creator

ZAO Wou-Ki (1920 – 2013) is a Chinese-born artist whose works frequently set record prices at auction and are held in major museums across more than 20 countries, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum, and Tate Modern.

From China to France, from France to the world.

Born in Beijing in 1920, Zao moved to France in 1948 and chose Paris as his second home, remaining there until 2011 when he and his third wife Françoise Marquet relocated to Switzerland. He spent the majority of his artistic career in France, where his relentless creativity and talent earned him numerous awards and honors.

Rooted in the East yet enriched by the West, his art created an entirely personal universe—serene yet vibrant, elegant yet untamed—that captivated the world.

The Final Piece in ZAO Wou-Ki’s Art: Printmaking

Over a creative career spanning nearly eight decades, Zao Wou-Ki explored many media. His oil paintings, watercolors, and ink works have long been recognized by both academia and the market, and have been the focus of multiple major exhibitions. His brilliant achievements in printmaking, though less systematically presented in Taiwan, are nonetheless a vital and indispensable part of his oeuvre.

When Zao arrived in Paris, printmaking was flourishing. The medium’s variability, unpredictability, and multiplicity attracted masters such as Picasso, Miró, and Chagall. Immersed in this vibrant milieu, Zao embraced printmaking—and it became a lifelong passion.

His contribution brought an unexpected and magnificent chapter to European print art. Boldly challenging Western lithographic and intaglio traditions, he developed a distinctive style imbued with an Eastern poetic atmosphere, and became the first Chinese artist in Europe to receive the Gold Award at the Norwegian Print Triennial.

Two Exclusive Lectures

Gallery de sol presents a pair of seminars accompanying the exhibition “The Fine Art Print of Zao Wou-Ki from 1950s to 2000s.” We invited Liu Zi-Ming, a member of the European International Print Triennial jury and one of the few print experts who directly witnessed Zao’s printmaking process, to join from Paris via livestream. He will be joined by Gallery de sol Director Dr. Sunny Chang and Dr. Pi-Hsu Liu of Taipei National University of the Arts to unveil the “key clues” of Zao Wou-Ki’s art.

The first lecture on February 25 features a France–Taiwan connection with Director Sunny Chang and Liu Zi-Ming revealing the mesmerizing and masterful techniques behind Zao’s prints. Liu will also take the audience on a virtual tour of a historic Parisian print workshop to explore the secrets of the printmaking process.

The March 5 session features Dr. Pi-Hsuu Liu, who will analyze how ZAO Wou-Ki, through his unique aesthetic sensibility, continued to move and influence successive generations of artists.

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