From Two Arises Three: The Collaborative Works of Arnold Chang and Michael Cherney

The Tao gives birth to one
one gives birth to two
two gives birth to three
three gives birth to ten thousand things
—Laozi, Daode jing

When Chinese ink painter Arnold Chang and photographer Michael Cherney met for the first time in 2007, they recognized a compatibility between Chang’s personal brushwork and Cherney’s granular photographs, which recall the aesthetics of ink painting. Since 2009, they have been creating joint works that explore the differences and highlight the similarities between the two mediums. Although both Chang and Cherney are New York-born, the artists’ contrasting backgrounds encapsulate a dialogue between traditional and contemporary approaches to art, as well as between Asian and Western artistic modes. From Two Arises Three features 20 works, both individual and corroborative by Chang and Cherney, which strive to bridge the gap between the traditions of Chinese ink painting and the concerns of contemporary art.

Main image: After Huang Gongwang 3 (detail), 2009, by Michael Cherney (American, b. 1969) and Arnold Chang (American, b. 1954). Photographic inkjet print and ink on paper. Lent from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, R2014.3.3.