Exhibition Gallery Delaive: Walasse Ting 80th Birthday! Walasse Ting and Friends

AMSTERDAM -

www.gallerydelaive.com Date: October 13 - November 24, 2009

AMSTERDAM, October 14 /PRNewswire/ –

The Chinese artist Walasse Ting celebrates his 80th birthday on October 13th 2009. His birthday will be honored at Gallery Delaive with the exhibition titled Walasse Ting 80! Walasse Ting and Nico Delaive met in Amsterdam in 1985; they have been friends ever since.

Brilliance and vitality characterizes Walasse Ting’s depictions of women, flowers and animals. Ting’s seductive, magical world is appealing to all those who share his passion for the beauty of life.

Born in Shanghai in 1929, Ting studied briefly at the Shanghai Art Academy before leaving China in 1946 to come to Hong Kong, where he exhibited a few watercolors at a local bookstore. In 1950 he sailed for France, eventually arriving in Paris where he lived a poor but bohemian life with his friends from the Cobra movement: Asger Jorn, Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky. It is in Paris where he first meets Sam Francis, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Joan Mitchell.

Unable to sell his work in Paris, Ting decided to go to New York where he arrived in 1958. The art scene in New York was buzzing in 1958; the Abstract Expressionist period was at its absolute peek while the Pop Art movement was born. Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselman became Ting’s close friends. Roy Lichtenstein lived next door to Ting. It is in this exciting era that Ting and Sam Francis developed the idea to publish a book with 68 original colored lithographs, a book that would reflect the various artistic currents of the time. This ambitious and unique plan was realized in 1964; One Cent life was published in an edition of 2000 copies. Colored lithographs by Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, Jim Dine, Sam Francis, Asger Jorn, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Mel Ramos, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean Paul Riopelle, James Rosenquist, Bram van Velde, Walasse Ting and other artist made this publication a big success. One Cent life became the proclamation of a new generation of painters and is now a reference in the history of modern art. Ting’s painting career was honored by numerous prices and shows. His works are in the permanent collections including The Guggenheim Museum and MoMa in New York, The Chicago Art Institute, The Tate Gallery, London, Centre Pompidou, Paris, The Hong Kong Museum of Art, among others.

After more than 20 years in New York, Ting moved to Amsterdam. In the southern part of the city Ting worked and lived in a refurbished old school building, which made a very spacious studio and house. Ting lived here with his girlfriend until 2004.

In 2002 Ting suffered a severe brain hemorrhage and was diagnosed as clinically brain dead. Ting is not able to live the life he did - a life full of passion, art and beauty.

Ting is currently in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, where he is being nursed in a private home.

Source: Gallery Delaive

Editorial note: Marlies Bolhoven, Tel: +31-20-622-1295