Ink arts, which have flourished in China for more than 2,000 years, are expected to speak to Western audience through contemporary forms.

An exhibition, titled "Ink Worlds," presents the work of two dozen contemporary artists from China and the United States, spanning from the pioneering abstract work from the late 1960s through 21st-century technological innovations.

The ongoing exhibition, organized by the Cantor Arts Center of Stanford University, is free to the public and lasts till Sept. 3 at the center in Palo Alto, California, on the U.S. west coast.

The art works on display explore the visual features and international connections, as well as the ongoing impact of historical techniques, materials, and themes.

It's designed to examine the modern evolution of this art form, from scrolls and panel paintings to photographic and video forms.

One of the primary differences between the contemporary ink paintings and traditional Chinese paintings is the artists' interest in abstraction, process and formats, such as installation and so on, for displaying ink paintings, said Richard Vinograd, the Christensen Fund Professor in Asian Art at Stanford University.

The distinction is especially represented by the determined pursuit about abstraction ever since the 1960s, such as Liu Guosong and other artists, said Vinograd.

"I think it was one of the major turning points. It has also been carried through more recent periods up to the present," he said.

The works at the exhibit come from the collection of Chinese American entrepreneur Jerry Yang, former CEO of Yahoo, and his wife Akiko Yamazaki.

Their collection is widely recognized as one of the most important private collections of contemporary Chinese ink art. This exhibition is the first only show of Yang and Yamazaki's ink art collection.

Accompanied the exhibition is a book with the same title "Ink Worlds," authored by Vinograd and Ellen Huang. It is the first book to represent the collection from the perspective of contemporary art history.

To those who have little knowledge of Chinese paintings, they may also find the exhibition appealing, such as the power in composition and the formal properties, said Vinograd.

"We also try to foreground these areas of communication with other arenas of the contemporary art world, such as international abstraction," he said.