Wang Dongling, an artist and professor of calligraphy at Hangzhou’s China Academy of Art, in Zhejiang province, is known for paying contemporary homage to the traditional practice.

For decades, the vanguard artist has explored new frontiers of calligraphy and the ways it is presented.

Not only does Wang demonstrate technical expertise, he also surprises his audience by turning writing into a performance of strength, and integrates the presentation of his works with other forms of art.

Pilgrim to Tianjin, Wang’s exhibition at the Tianjin Art Museum introduces the purity and expressiveness of the line under his experimental strokes, adding dimensions to calligraphy, and his installations magnify the scale of writing as an art form.

Wang says that the exhibition is his salute to people in Tianjin. He also pays tribute to eminent culture figures once living in Tianjin, who helped revive artistic traditions in modern times. The exhibition runs until Jan 5.