Sonata 1975 Mark Tobey

Jack Wise created work that appears to have encouraged many art critics to place him in categories with other painters working at the same time and in the same region. Some of these associations come from philosophies he shared with his peers. Some of the connections to "schools" or groups of artists were made through his unique blend of contemporary and ancient styles and techniques, and some are simply the result of living amongst the natural surroundings of Canada's West Coast. Wise was an artist, a teacher and a student, and he lost no opportunity to use the knowledge he avidly acquired through friendships, reading and observation, in his distinctive approach to creating art.

Wise is placed along with Lin Chien-Shih and Mark Tobey in what has been labelled the Pacific Northwest School of Abstract Calligraphic Painting (Shiara Alwis, "The Pacific Northwest School of Abstract Calligraphic Painting", The Art of Jack Wise, Victoria, 1998, 21-24). These artists combined American Abstract Expressionism with Asian aesthetics and doctrine. For them, art was a meditative process and, as phrased by Chien-Shih, they felt a sense of freedom working outside of the strict rules imposed by the academic world (ibid.), both as calligraphers and painters.

78-49 Lin Chien-Shih

The synthesis of writing and painting in Asian calligraphy, the general interest in Chinese and Japanese culture in North America in the 1940s and 50s, and the Zen Buddhist ideals of simplicity and directness appealed to the Abstract Expressionists, who were yearning to break free from European traditions in art (Barbara Rose, "Japanese Calligraphy and American Abstract Expressionism", Words in Motion, Japan, 1984.). This incorporation of the 'void', the open space or unpainted area in Asian traditions, with the often heavy, centrally focused aspect of many European painting styles resulted in this new method of "abstract calligraphic painting", in which the three artists could manifest the tension of the Taoist importance of opposites.

The fusion of Eastern and Western thought and practices was frowned upon during the first part of Wise's career. His initial combination of Asian and Occidental art coincided with the sixties, and his paintings were often berated as superficial representations related to the psychedelic movement. Wise was stigmatised for being associated with this group, and his deep study, understanding and connection to Eastern tradition was largely overlooked until more recent times (Glenn Allison, "At SFU Gallery Jack Wise A Decade of Work." YVR-Vancouver in Review. IV (September 1978), 13.).