Tag: contemporary ink painting
-
When the World Shatters
This article explores the systemic collapse of our modern world, where the high art of diplomacy is being replaced by the “right of the strongest” and international institutions are systematically undermined. From the razed olive groves in Gaza to the manipulation of global financial markets through leveraged options, the text examines how greed and the…
-
Terra Dystopia
Terra Dystopia, a new series of artworks, serves as the starting point for an essay on the core characteristics of a dystopian society, questioning how many of these once-fictional traits have become our reality.
-
State of the Art 2025
State of the Art 2025 is my contribution this year to an ongoing series of “self-portraits.” For years, these pieces have documented my creative journey, reflecting the current status of my work.
-
Spring Potpourri
Spring potpourri. Embrace spring! My latest post shares moments of peace found in nature’s embrace, as well as delicious seasonal delights.
-
Goodbye to the Winter
Explore the artist’s journey from winter’s darkness to spring’s light through abstract paintings. Learn how black paper challenges traditional Chinese painting concepts.
-
Emptiness, Space, and Depth
Emptiness, Space, and Depth: The Spring Collection. Selection of recent Artworks. Studies, sketches, paintings.
-
break on through
The Doors, known for capturing exploration and the human desire to uncover the unknown in their music, embody the theme of breaking through to ‘the other side’. The 1970s era of experimentation with mind-altering substances, influenced by psychedelic art, has shaped graphic design. The artist, recently participating in exhibitions in London and Sao Paulo, reflects…
-
Selection of New Works
Selection of new works: A small selection of recent works in different techniques.
-
Between Calligraphy and Painting
Who Sows Calligraphy will Reap Paintings. Between Calligraphy and Painting: In order not to get too boring, this article will be the last one for some time in which calligraphy sets the tone. We have already heard quite a bit about this high-quality art form by now. A few more aspects will be addressed today…
-
Superior Haiku by Ashley
calligraphed by Friedrich. Superior Haiku by Ashley: This article is about a haiku (俳句 or hokku) [1] and the creative process of turning it into calligraphy. The wonderful poem is by Ashley. A short video shows the creation process. In the extra-part there are details about calligraphy. Many people know Ashley because of his beautiful…
-
red dao and black zen
newly painted calligraphy. red dao and black zen: This article is about creating my series “painted calligraphy” [samples] with more details this time. Which can be a bit boring if you’re not fundamentally interested in the topic of calligraphy. I recently received a call from someone who had bought some of my paintings many years…
-
Birthday present from Confucius and
one of the best love poems. Birthday present from Confucius: So I’m 70 years old now. So what?! Really – so what? How should I react? Emotional? Annoy me that I’m an old fart now? But I was an old fart last year too – and the year before. Don’t even think about it? This…
-
old and new works
and thoughts and concepts. Old and new works – mostly new. And it’s about more than a few brush strokes. When Chinese people see my calligraphy, especially the one written in the traditional style (portfolio), they usually shower me with praise and emphasize that they could never do it that well. The second part of…
-
About being happy – reflections and thoughts.
About being happy through the centuries. About being happy was not planned as a topic. But I promised a co-blogger, M, whose work I particularly admire, that I would write a few thoughts on the topic of being happy. Which of course can be seen as arrogance and I would therefore like to apologize for…
-
2024 How do you set it up?
2024 – to defy or embrace? When I say that I welcome the New Year optimistic Daoistic, it may sound surprising given the world situation.
-
new yearbook is out
surprising stats and tensions. New yearbook is out. To keep things interesting, this blog article comes with two extras. I’ll start with the extras first, and for some reason, the main text will come at the end. Contrary to my previous habits, the main text takes up a few thoughts on current events. These days,…
-
day dream job
and some remarks. Day dream job: Little boys, especially those of preschool age, often aspire to become firefighters or police officers. However, I’m not sure about girls’ future career aspirations. I’m also not sure what my vision was as a 5-year-old. Probably a demolitionist, since my father was one at the time. When I came…
-
Between Here and There
and the Fever-night-creeper between here and there: The topic of this post first came about in reflection on dreams and waking up. One could consider “Here” as the normal state and “There” as the dream world. When we awaken, we are still surrounded by fragments of dreams, and we are between “There” and “Here.” Where…
-
between cold and heat
We have an old joke: “Should you take medication if you have a cold?” “Absolutely! If you don’t take any, it will take 7 days until you get well again. If you take some, you’ll be back on your feet after 1 week.” Well, it took me more than 2 weeks to stay in bed…
-
and the beat goes on
recent artworks. recent artworks: It’s not that there’s nothing to tell, nor that I don’t have enough new pictures to show, but I’m quite busy with a few projects. These projects require a lot of time and attention, so I’ll be posting less frequently in the near future. As someone who writes posts here, you…
-
a kinda yin-yang too
Not many would immediately recognize the yin-yang aspects in the two images I present today. As an extra there is a short video about the presentation of Zen images.
-
When the let-go period is over
Presentation: I have chosen a work that probably does not immediately cause a “love at first sight” feeling to everybod. Plus a book presentation video.
-
not nothing this time, but
I actually wanted to write a post called “More Nothing” or something like that. However, my marketing director convinced me that giving my readers more nothing every week was not a recipe for success.
-
works on meditation
Works on Meditation: According to a study experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. Of course, many thoughts seem very important to us. After all, they come from us.
-
Elements of Rhyme
Elements of Rhyme pays homage to Dominik Alexander, an impressive living writer with the courage to innovate and a penchant for quality and individualism.
-
Summer swan song – or the bitter croaking of ravens
The summer holidays are just around the corner and the last article concludes for the time being on the basis of 2 pictures with the theme of emptiness.
-
Gaining by letting go
Gaining by letting go is again a formulation that could come from the field of esotericism. I have previously indicated that this is not an area in which I am proficient.
-
about letting go
Flow and letting go. New series of abstract images on the subject of omission.
-
What game shall we play today?
About knowing and believing. Quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger: “Sciences are good at measuring something, but cannot say anything about our being”.
-
Cucumber cutting, abstracting and –
A few quick notes on our world of perception, from slicing cucumbers to the feeling of diving. And about abstraction itself.
-
Bada Shanren Fish – Daoist Talks (IX)
Ziran is a fundamental concept in Taoism that can be understood as “naturalness” or “spontaneity.” It refers to the inherent nature and self-so of all things, emphasizing the importance of following the natural flow of the universe rather than resisting or attempting to control it.
-
environment and nature topic
From time to time I dedicate myself to the topic of the environment in my paintings. This is also the case in this picture, which addresses the topic of environmental destruction in a special way.
-
a poem about one of my paintings
A poem about one of my paintings by Dominik Alexander – and an extra poem by him.
-
Daoist Talks (VIII) Ego versus Self
Daoism distinguishes between the ego and the self. The ego refers to the individual’s sense of self, which is often shaped by societal norms, cultural values, and personal experiences.
-
the magic sea
Magic Sea Opera: Even if the idea that I would like to present today might sound unrealistic or at least utopian at first, I would by no means see it as unfeasible. Namely, the idea of an opera as a total work of art, in which the visual part is the actor
-
The children’s book of my last post
The children’s book of my last post is not a project in progress, it’s just a play around. If you want to play, play with us! Now that I have started with the topic and my last post on it received such positive feedback, I would like to write a little more about it. Thanks…
-
new horizon
A few weeks ago I came across a meditation where you should practice the following: Sit on a high level and imagine the wide horizon in front of you. Easy. But then: “Imagine the wide horizon BEHIND you”. And then the horizon left and right. That changed a few things for me.
-
Dao in Chinese Poetry. Daoist Talks (VII).
Dao in Chinese Poetry: Two masterpieces of classical Chinese poetry with a Taoist structure. Li Bai and Du Fu.
-
state of the art 2023 – a step further
I have been painting a self-portrait every year since 1976 and call this ongoing series State of the Art.
-
ginkgo leaves in autumn and winter
Ginkgo leaves. Theme and four variations. In late autumn the leaves like gold lie in the meadow. In winter, a few leaves always manage to peep through the light snow cover.
-
Project in the home straight – almost
I mentioned some time ago that after the Theodor Storm book, I was invited to illustrate another book by Prof. Wolfgang Kubin.
-
Daoist talks (VI) Principles of Dao in Painting
Daoist talks (VI) Principles of Dao in Painting: Chinese painting of the last 1000 years has been shaped primarily by Daoist ideas.
-
Getting rid of the Blues…..
Since my work is very much influenced by ideas from Chinese calligraphy, I wanted to try again to approach things in a more “western” way.
-
Daoist talks (V) Dao and Zen in Arts – analyzed by AI
What AI says, answering my question: The Role of Dao and Zen in Chinese Painting
-
How an idea takes root and persists
Poetry from the sky: Something has stuck in the back of my mind: characters that float down from the sky like leaves or something similar and write a poem at the same time.
-
Because it’s Wednesday again…
This and That and Everything: I’ve started 2 new series, one spilling over into the other.
-
Daoist talks (IV): Liang Kai The Story of Eight Eminent Monks
Liang Kai is best known in the West for his painting of Li Bai. Only a few know the scroll of “The story of eight eminent monks”.
-
New Works for Old Series
A series that is particularly close to my heart is gestural expression. However, my progress in doing so is heavily dependent on how busy I am with calligraphy.
-
Daoist Talks (III): The Cosmos in One Dot
Mindfulness in a dot After a lot of theory, we want to highlight practical aspects today, but first a summary of the last post: Everything is Dao, from the smallest dot to the universe; thus, everything is imbued with Dao, especially the counterplay of yin and yang. These are not opposing forces but depend on…
-
The Dreamweaver’s daughters cast their nets
The Dreamweaver’s daughters cast their nets and the Wolf hour are my last works on the dream cycle.
-
three strikes
Three strikes: Today I would like to present 3 newer works and will not write much about them. The first is a play on Zen thought. In the sense of what was said above, it remains without further explanations.
-
Daoist Talks (II): The Basics
Our main topic will be Daoism in Chinese painting. Understanding the essential aspects of the Dao should help us to understand Chinese painting better and more profoundly.
-
Daoist Talk (I) Supplement
Existence of the non-existence. The sound of one hand clapping. An afterword to Daoist talks (I)
-
Daoist Talks (I): Two Daoist stories and a Daoist painting
Daoist Talks (I): Two Daoist stories and a Daoist painting. A first step into the world of Taoism in Chinese painting.
-
More nonZENse
Article about Daoism and Zen-Buddhism related to fine arts. Introduction of 2 paintings.
-
two book covers and one dragon
Introducing two cover designs and a new dargon painting.
-
new projects ahead
Cover for a book: I was asked to create illustrations for a book of poetry and then also to design the cover. Here are some samples.
-
Too young to die – too old to rock’n roll + scam alert
No, it’s not the title of my autobiography and no advertising for Jethro Tull. Much simplier.
-
minor, major and a video
bookmarks video: I wanted to present another video in this post, but as a balance to the more abstract works that I am presenting today, this relaxing video with my bookmarks seems to me to be quite suitable. I have already listed many of them on: bookmarks. In this video I used the recently presented…
-
Gold, History, Friends, Sinology and Luxury
An artist’s week in the most livable city in the world: Vienna. About artistic and cultural events.
-
only one picture this time….
solid gold: It’s not that I haven’t painted a lot lately, but I’m making slower progress than usual. Some of the work is almost finished and then, only small things are missing, I break off.
-
goodbye beijing, hello chongqing
After the exhibition in Beijing had to be repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic, the organizer moved the exhibition to Chongqing, to the Hong Art Museum Chongqing.
-
dreamtellers
The Surrealists really turned my world around. First was André Breton who opened the door to this world for me. Then came the painters like Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico etc.
-
how we (I) see
Many years ago I read an article about viewing habits. A certain audience was asked the question (sort of): “Do you think we all see the same thing when we look at something?”
-
now and zen and later
A few decades ago, the term Zen moment was quite unknown in the West. Today it has become a consumer item and similar to the pair of terms feng shui 風水, most people do not understand what it is actually about.
-
Ophelia 2022
Ophelia 2022: When most art lovers hear the word Ophelia, they probably think of one of the most famous Pre-Raphalelite paintings. Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais.
-
front page in Chinese newspaper again
The 光明日报 guangming daily has published a quite detailed report about me, and that on the front page. Last year an article about me, with a focus on calligraphy, appeared in this important newspaper,
-
teaser for next exhibition
I’ve been needing a few short video clips for my work for a long time. With a little effort I was able to get something going myself, but then the result was too boring for me and I left this task to someone else.
-
etudes
Etudes: If one looks up the English-language equivalent of the French term études in conventional dictionaries, the result is generally “studies”. Only when you translate it from a music-theoretical point of view do you come up with “etudes”.
-
metaverse (V)
After my last post (metaverse IV) Schrödinger, his cat, you and I basically agreed that IS and NOT-IS can exist at the same time.
-
metaverse (IV)
day & night and Schrödinger’s cat [1] I am very pleased that my postings on this topic are so well received and thank you for the general interest!After this posting today, one more on this topic will follow, but it will be easier to understand. Today it gets a little more complicated. When I…
-
metaverse (III)
the beginning and the end Short preliminary remark If I just started with my thoughts, there would be a certain danger of someone shouting: “Hey, that’s not scientific!” Two preliminary remarks are therefore permitted. All our thinking is based on previously thought and mostly we deal with premises. Such as A $100 bill has a…
-
Metaverse Project Started (II)
prologue and reflections After my last 2 postings on Kabul and Pyongyang (in the broadest sense also a kind of metaverse 😊) I would like to come back to my personal metaverse today and in the following postings to come. In the first post on this topic metaverse, I presented initial attempts to devote…
-
My Ukraine contribution
The picture stands on its own and the title underscores the theme: ” Голубь мира над Киевом”. (Peace Dove over Kiev).
-
studies for oil paintings
This week I did some studies on landscape, seascape and organic theme. 3 representative works are presented today.
-
state of the art 2022
As I posted in an earlier post, I used to paint a self-portrait every year and named the series “state of art”. This portrait is from 2022.
-
my kind of metaverse (I)
In February I started playing around with an idea, but I don’t know if it will become a series yet: It’s dedicated to the metaverse.
-
Flyer for my Beijing Exhibition
Flyer for my exhibition in Beijing this spring. Honoring 50 years of cultural exchange between Europe and China.
-
Cats in Chinese Painting
Let’s play a little game again: Let’s imagine there is a competition with 3 cats at the start. The “best” cat should be chosen. Which would get your vote: 1, 2 or 3?
-
What a dot can do
Reflections on a dot in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. About the meaning of the smallest part of a painting.
-
diffuse light
When I started thinking of light in fine arts again about who influenced me it was, Lyonel Feininger came to my mind.
-
snow and ice and corona
As I mentioned in my last post, January and February are not my favorite months, especially when it comes to painting. But I try to use the time, make drafts, do some calligraphy, play with ideas and try to improve my painting technique.
-
watching the night
About winter depressions. Since this topic has been with me for decades, I would like to present a few examples that have emerged over the years. A useful tool to cope with this is the artistic reflection on this topic.
-
new works in abstract surrealism
When it comes to painting, I’m most creative in the evening and after-hours. I can turn off the day’s events and concentrate fully on painting. However, I have to be careful not to work too long. It often happens that I start with enthusiasm and vigor and fall in love with a job right from…
-
triptych variant
I presented a tryptich a few days ago. As is so often the case, the underlying idea has not been shelved for me and so I wanted to see how a variant could look like. So I created another work to replace one of the triptych.
-
waltzing corona
My first painting this year is this triptych. I will take this as an opportunity to present my point of view, because if I can manage to explain the essential points clearly, you may look at Chinese art from a different perspective in the future.
-
about my surrealist work
When I started painting decades ago, the first few years were marked by surrealism. Mainly because I was more concerned with literature and I soon came across authors like André Breton or Paul Éluard, whose ideas fascinated and influenced me.
-
trying environment topic
I made 2 versions on a topic that has been with me for a long time: 2 vanishing points. The easiest way to depict this idea is in a landscape painting and so I chose this construction.
-
new territories to explore
I haven’t painted as much for a long time as I did this year and my vigor, joy and urge to improve is unbroken. Now we are in the 4th lockdown and I take it very calmly – more time to paint…. I deliberately took a short break from my Corona series. That prevents me…
-
corona and the sea
Graphing the phenomenon Covid-19 is a difficult undertaking in several respects, whereby the most important questions for me are: How do I make the invisible visible? How do I create a predominantly abstract image in such a way that the underlying phenomenon can be recognized? But above all, how do I convey the areas of…