Born in 1942, Beijing/Australian calligrapher and visual artist, Zhang Dawo is known for his many facets of art including photography. His work is represented in many national and international public, corporate and private collections, notably, Rupert Murdoch.

Dawo’s artistic nature is deeply rooted in the ancient culture of Jin-Shi (artistic etching and engraving of symbols and writing on metal and stone – 4 000 BC), at the same time he has a fiery ambition of pushing the frontier of contemporary art.

For the first 40 years of his life he totally immersed himself in traditional forms. Since 1982, he has overcome the classical barrier, by moving from the two dimensional into the three dimensional, a visual revolution made largely possible by the rearrangement of the spatial construction and the use of different tones of ink on special calligraphic paper. An example of this modern calligraphy is ‘Ce’ (Volume) which is considered as being “in the period of present day Chinese art renaissance, unique and one of the most creative pieces of work”

After 1990 Dawo’s work crossed the boundary of modern calligraphy into modern art pushing its frontier with the ink medium. ‘Dawo Miaomo’, his own exclusive artwork, has completely moved away from the recognisable characters. It is “a form of unique eastern abstract art with unsurpassable quality”; the style is “free and fluid”, graceful and vivid: a forceful expression of romanticism and mysticism of the Oriental. A good example is the ‘Dragon’s Resplendence’, one of the five pieces of his work included in the collection of the British Museum.

The exhibition, ‘Brushes with surprise’ the art of calligraphy in modern China, has been organized by this Museum. All the leading Chinese calligraphers, fifty in all, of the past half century are represented, including Mao Zedong.

Dawo, one of the 25 living calligraphers, has been featured as the leading avant-garde in this exhibition. Other corporate and private collectors include Ford Foundation and Rupert Murdoch. Dawo is a member of the Association of Chinese Calligraphers and the Committee member of the Society of Modern Calligraphy and Painting (China). He is the founder of the Australian Society of East-West Art, Writing and Modeling and co-founder of the studio ‘Devil Art’.

Since 1985 Zhang Dawo has participated in many national and international exhibitions, solo and group exhibitions. Zhang Dawo’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong is being held at 3812 Contemporary Art Space from 7 March 2015 to 30 April 2015.