The trans-disciplinarity of Zen Culture and Contemporary Art
─ Practice Buddhist teachings via art works
In 5th century, “Bodhidharma” who traveled East to China, taught the Zen method and was revered as the patriarch of Chinese Zen Buddhism, a philosophy that had a profound influence on Chinese and Japanese culture and later spread to Europe and around the world.
Wang Wei pioneered Chinese Zen painting during the Tang Dynasty, while Liang Kai’s Immortal in Splashed Ink from the Southern Song Dynasty is a classic work of Zen painting. Dharma Zen painting first appeared in the Tang Dynasty and since that time numerous artists have painted Dharma portraits, including Liang Kai and Mu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty, others painters in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and more recently Qi Baishi, Pan Tianshou , Zhang Daqian etc.
Sixty-nine-year-old Huang decided to dedicate himself to Zen painting, featuring the Dharma as his central motif through contemporary art forms. He had established his own style in depicting a hundred or more poses of Dharma. The goal is to make Zen painting more approachable for viewers with spiritual vibration and resonance, while also expressing the beauty of Zen culture and Zen philosophies to the world. He had invented a new style of Zen painting. Such works also offered an optimal interpretation and realized his desire to propagate Buddhist teachings.