Wesley TongsonSpiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley TongsonJan 12 – Jun 14, 2022 Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive2155 Center StreetBerkeley, CA 94720Wed – Sun, 11am to 7pm http://www.bampfa.org  Spiritual Mountains debuts a recent gift to BAMPFA of eleven paintings by the Hong Kong artist Wesley Tongson (1957–2012). His work draws heavily on traditional Chinese painting techniques and processes, including painting with his fingers and hands, but takes these a step further to create a personal expression that is wholly his own. This exhibition combines Tongson’s works with historic paintings from BAMPFA’s extensive Chinese painting collection to demonstrate the relationship between his genius and that of past masters. Throughout Tongson’s practice, we perceive a strong admiration and acknowledgement of the past, even as he pursued a new direction in his own work. It is in his highly lyrical brushwork and exuberant style of painting—which included large-scale landscapes and intricately patterned, dense examinations of the natural world—that we comprehend his range and genius. The exhibition’s title reflects the importance of spirituality in Tongson’s journey as an artist; he was a student of many …