The Style of Tang Da Wu

We cannot really say that there is only one style corresponding to Tand Da Wu’s works. He has been indeed involved in many works form the paintings to the sculpture. Then, if we focus only on a technical point of view, Tang Da Wu uses many styles.  His diversity in his work is also part of his personality. He is famous for that. That is part of his talent And What he is known for.

For example for Tiger’s Whip, he uses papier-mâché for the design of the tiger. On the other hand, he also uses a wooden chair and a red scarf in the same work. He does not focus on one raw material to create what he wants. But stop talking about Tiger ´s Whip. Too Many people only focus on this work but it absolutely does not represent all the insane works that Tang Da Wu during his very long career (And it is not finished!!).

That is why i want to focus now on another type of work, his paintings. We can focus on this painting to emphasize what I want to say. Here is “Kappa playing in the stream”, a painting from 2010.

 In this painting, Tang Da Wu does not use any color, only the white and the gray. He has created an ambiguous atmosphere. If you take a closer look, you seem to be lost in this painting; it is difficult to perceive what Tang Da Wu wanted to make us feel. By the use of gray and white, and the hazardous contours of the painting, it might be possible that Tang Da Wu only wanted to make us feel lost.

In the following sculpture, Tang Da Wu used steel to represent what looks like  a big bird, or a dragon, at the first sight. It is a phoenix. This animal is placed over the lower part of the sculpture which is made of several pieces of mirror. We have seen that Tang Da Wu has been implicated in many environmental issues (tiger hunt…), this work is another example of his commitment in this kind of global issues. The use of steel makes the bird look amazing, powerful and beautiful.

Then as you can see, it is difficult to describe the style of Tang Da Wu. He embraces many styles. That is one the reasons why he is so respected in the art world. He thinks out of the box. It is impossible to reduce him to only one style art when you have a quick look to what he achieved in the past three or four decades. He used to say that the aim of his works was to provoke thoughts (about the environment and social issues, the national identities, etc.), not only entertain the viewer. By saying that, he does not set limits to himself according to the style of his works.

I hope you enjoy this article. More are coming. Enjoy your reading!