Performa 19, New York, US (2019)

The title of Yahon Chang’s ambitious performance-installation, The Bird Looks Beautiful, But It Is Very Strong, is a metaphor likening Chang’s large-scale calligraphy to White Crane gongfu (kung-fu), which he studied as a child: like this Chinese martial art form, and like the crane, the movements are deceptively gentle, but founded in great strength. The 2019 iteration of Performa celebrated the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus art movement, and in response Chang presented the supposedly “soft” nature of Chinese calligraphy in opposition to the “hard” Bauhaus character. In preparation, Chang relied on his decades of mental and physical training, which allow him to bank physical energy and prepare himself mentally, engaging in a state of “flow”, so as to create an outsized painting-performance for the show, seemingly without effort. Chang has said, “I paint with a strength that has accumulated throughout my whole life. I want to amplify this power, so people around the world can see the essence of two thousand years of Chinese culture.”
— Britta Erickson