New York, May 8 - W.Ming Art is pleased to present an online solo exhibition of the Lhasa-based artist Tsering Dolma (b. 1966), Tsering Dolma: Dance! Dance! Dance!, on view from May 8th to August 8th, 2021. The exhibition is a continuation exhibition which displays seventy-eight of the artist’s paintings on canvas, produced between 1984 and 2020, including her prominent Birth, Aging, Illness, and Death series (2013–2020). All featured paintings can be viewed on W.Ming Art's official website and Artsy.
Tsering Dolma: Dance! Dance! Dance! was first held at Jie Guan Art Center in Lhasa from September 18th to 27th, 2020. This was Tsering Dolma’s first solo exhibition, as well as the first solo exhibition of a Tibetan female artist in recent Tibetan art history. Tsering Dolma said that she wanted to hold the exhibition to celebrate all the friends who had supported her over the years. Having worked as an art teacher for 30 years, Tsering Dolma also hoped that the exhibition would encourage her students and show them that painting was a practice worth pursuing and honing over a lifetime. In addition, as a Tibetan female artist, Tsering Dolma wanted to offer a positive, uplifting message to Tibetan women through her work. Tsering Dolma’s paintings encourage women to refuse the limitations of stereotypes and to rise above the challenges of their social environments. According to the lessons found within Tsering Dolma’s paintings, women should maintain their original intentions and bravely pursue their dreams.
On May 8th, 2021, Tsering Dolma: Dance! Dance! Dance! opens online, presented by W.Ming Art. The exhibition shares a title with last year’s exhibition in Lhasa and is also curated by the same curator, Kelsang Yangla. Tsering Dolma has said, “Painting is my faith. I think life always comes first. On this basis, we should pursue things we love and never waste a second.” Tsering Dolma does not hesitate to present her thoughts on canvas, her most powerful medium of expression. Her paintings are informed by her earlier studies and deep appreciation of traditional Thangka painting. Tsering Dolma incorporates and draws from traditional Thangka techniques in her work, reflecting her belief that Thangka painting is the most perfect form of expression.
In addition, Tsering Dolma’s daily readings on topics in history, culture, and philosophy serve as the source of inspiration for her artistic practice. The theme of “Life and Death” is seen throughout the exhibition: bright and colorful depictions of the life cycle abound, wrathful deities, everyday people, and endless processes of childbirth, death, and rebirth all occupy the same pictorial space. For Tsering Dolma, painting is a form of daily meditation. Meditation practices force people to pay attention to their surroundings and to simple actions such as breathing, eating, and sleeping. In this simplicity, Tsering Dolma expresses the greatness and meaning of life.
To accompany the exhibition, W.Ming Art premieres a short film on Tsering Dolma, co-presented by AMS Radio and Melong Art, produced by the exhibition curator Kelsang Yangla and directed by Dawa Yangchen. At the end of May, W.Ming Art will hold an academic seminar in Lhasa at Lhasa Art Box (LAB), led by Victoria Liu, Ph.D. student of Tibetan Visual Culture at Columbia University. This seminar will feature top scholars discussing the historical context and significance of Tsering Dolma’s works. The event will also be broadcasted live on Zoom and Zai Yi. Special thanks to Tai Yuan Group to be the media support for this exhibition and the event.
W.Ming Art is honored to have Professor Tsewang Tashi of Tibet University serve as the advisory director for this exhibition. Dr. Tsewang Tashi frames Tsering Dolma’s artistic development in the context of the historical development of modern and contemporary Tibetan art. A scholarly essay will also be made available online, co-authored by Dr. Tsewang Tashi, Victoria Liu, and Kelsang Yangla.
Dr. Tsewang Tashi has also served as Tsering Dolma’s painting instructor since 1988 and recently wrote the following in regard to her work:
“The themes and artistic expressions of Tsering Dolma have especially close association with her living environment and cultural surroundings. Her work embodies both her metaphysical contemplation of life in traditional cultural contexts and her reflection of contemporary lives and social issues as a mother and a woman. As the artist has said herself, ‘Many artists have come to Tibet to paint. There are so many subjects to be portrayed. I am truly worried if we ourselves do not express.’ Tsering Dolma, in fact, has been somewhat marginalized as an artist of Tibet. Her work neither satisfies the exquisiteness required for traditional paintings nor strictly complies with the precise perspective representation in the academic painting discipline. She is unconventional, highly individualized, and unconstrained in her artistic expressions. Though Tsering Dolma’s works are different from both academic and traditional paintings, her distinctive individuality has garnered her much attention over the recent years.”
About the Artist – Tsering Dolma:
Tsering Dolma (b. 1966) is a contemporary Tibetan female artist from Lhasa. She has been passionate about art ever since she was a child, influenced by her deep interest in traditional Tibetan culture. She previously studied traditional Tibetan Thangka painting and craftsmanship. Later, Tsering Dolma enrolled in the Tibetan Ancient Architecture Team, where she participated in the maintenance and conservation of various ancient buildings and handicrafts.
In 1991, Tsering Dolma graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Tibet University. She is a member of the Tibet Branch of the Chinese Artists Association, the Vice Chairman of the Lhasa Artists Association, and a former art teacher at Lhasa Higher Normal College.
About the Curator – Kelsang Yangla:
Kelsang Yangla is a Ph.D. candidate in the Art College of Tibet University. She has a master’s degree in Arts Management from Columbia University. In addition to her work as a freelance curator, Kelsang Yangla is the founder of Lhasa Art Box (LAB), as well as Shan Melong Art and AMS Radio, two notable Tibetan art and culture platforms. Her main research interest is Tibetan contemporary art.
About Victoria Liu:
Yuyuan (Victoria) Liu is a doctoral student of Tibetan visual culture. Her research interest covers Tibetan cultural productions, including art (both traditional and contemporary), photography, and film. Victoria has written on topics such as the representation of Tibetan people in portrait photography, the use of traditional religious vocabulary in contemporary art, and the indexicality of photographic technology in Tibetan cinema. Before joining the doctoral program, Victoria received her BA in Art History from Barnard College and MA in Tibetan Studies from EALAC at Columbia University.
About W.Ming Art:
W.Ming Art is a private art and cultural enterprise founded in 2010 by Xiaoming Zhang. W.Ming Art represents artists for exhibitions and sales. W.Ming provides private sales and art advisory services for private and institutional clients globally. The company specializes in international modern and contemporary art and has placed works shown at the Metropolitan Museum and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, among others. W.Ming has three office spaces: one in Beijing, one in Shanghai, and one in New York.
For more information:
W.Ming Art official website: http://www.wmingart.com/
W.Ming Art Artsy platform: https://www.artsy.net/wmingart
Tsering Dolma short film – “Tsering Dolma: How My Hands Have Aged!”: https://youtu.be/G_46AmOyaYY
Tsering Dolma Online Solo Exhibition, Tsering Dolma: Dance! Dance! Dance!:
- W.Ming official website:
- Artsy:
https://www.artsy.net/wmingart/artist/tsering-drolma-ci-ren-zhuo-ma
Tsering Dolma’s artist page: http://www.wmingart.com/artists/tsering-dolma
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