I am very interested in calligraphy as a physical, as well as an intellectual, practice. One important aspect of this is the notion of performance. This might refer simply to the process of giving a thought concrete form, that by realising a poem or phrase in one's head, one 'performs' it. Or it might mean... Continue Reading →
I am currently showing a sketchbook entitled My Dying Father (2019) at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle, UK. The show has been put back from 2020 due to the Covid-19 restrictions in force in the UK. It is currently installed but until galleries and museums reopen, on-line only. 3D virtual tour of... Continue Reading →
Wrote this yesterday, in solidarity
Abeceda (‘Alphabet’) was a book designed in 1926 by Czech artist Karel Teige (1900-1951) inspired by a series of poems dedicated to the alphabet written in 1922 by the Czech poet Vitĕzslav Nezval (1900-1958). It was published in Prague by Nákl. J. Otto. Both Teige and Nezval were founding members of Devětsil (‘Nine Forces’), a... Continue Reading →
The UK Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education is working in partnership with the Poem, Calligraphy and Paint Institute, Kut-O Association Chinese School, Singtao Daily, Phoenix TV and Warwick University to organise its annual Chinese calligraphy competition. The deadline is 15th June 2020. Categories: Children (below 9); Youth 1 (10-14); Youth 2 (15-19); Adult... Continue Reading →
In the interests of scholarship and to provide a concise resource for interested parties, I am posting some examples of Xu Wei's cursive calligraphy, scanned from a book I bought in China. The texts are mostly poems written by Xu Wei himself, but there is also a poem by Du Fu (712 – 770) and... Continue Reading →
I have finally finished a mixed calligraphy piece I have been working up to for a while now. The large 道 (dao) in clerical script was written in China, while the cursive Chinese calligraphy and the uncials were written in the UK. It's my largest ever calligraphy work at about 2 meters long. I practiced... Continue Reading →
In an effort to improve my cursive calligraphy I have been copying Huai Su's (懷素) (737–799) famous Autobiography (自叙帖). I first copied this while at the LanTing Academy of Calligraphy earlier this year, but thought I would have another attempt. The Autobiography is considered one of the greatest pieces of cursive calligraphy (草書). The original (or... Continue Reading →
Press Release: December 2019 edizioni FoscoFornio today announces publication of Critical Moss- Art outside the Bubble The book's title plays on the proverb “a rolling stone gathers no moss”, to suggest making art in a rural context might be impeded by the lack of a critical mass of fellow artists. The book identifies decisive responses... Continue Reading →
On Sunday 8th December 2019 members of the International Research Centre for Calligraphy (IRCC) from the University of Sunderland participated in the Words Weekend Festival at the Sage Gateshead. We demonstrated Arabic, Chinese and Western calligraphy, introduced and explained the different scripts and writing materials, and allowed festival goers the opportunity to write themselves. The... Continue Reading →
Calligraphy Research 