Scandinavian design meets Chinese calligraphy. Even to a Western eye ignorant of Chinese art and religious culture there is an instant feeling of spirituality. Lines and signs performed with utmost control and perfec- tion. Despite the obvious and immediate beauty of the image, one intuitively senses that beauty and imagery is not the only purpose of Yufan Wang’s practice, seeing goes beyond the visual surface. Buddhism and art, art and Buddhism – whether the one comes before the other will be unsaid, but certain it is that the two go hand in hand and that painting is also a spiritual practice, a way of meditating the wisdom of Buddha.

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Already as a child, Yufan Wang practiced classical cal- ligraphy. Every day after school, he would use an hour practicing, not because he was told so, just because he took pleasure in it. As a young man, his life took a different path when he started studying design, first in Sweden, later in Denmark. Since 2013 he holds a position at LEGO as a concept designer, but as he said, when showing up in Spinderihallerne one day back in 2015...something was missing.

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For the last two years, Yufan Wang has gone back to practicing calligraphy in a hidden corner in Spinderihallerne after work and very often after dark. Still with the same dedication and focus, but this time liberating himself from the classical dogmas, adding his own in- terpretation and inspiration from Scandinavian design which becomes especially obvious in his line works. With ink, brush and paper Yufan Wang has been paint- ing and meditating the 32 pieces of contemporary calligraphy and line works.

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- Eva Sommer Hansen

Spinderihallerne