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Contemporary 人物 当代 艺术家

Contemporary | Zhao Qi: like works

The Chinese art

Artist: Zhao Qi

zhao qi Born in Jin County, Liaoning Province in 1954
He currently works and lives in Beijing

zhao qi would like to call these paintings on small notebooks works. Therefore, this point is emphasized because according to custom. We often call this type of painting “studio”, or shorthand or something like that. What zhao qi don’t understand is, why can’t sketches and sketches be placed in the exhibition halls of art museums such as Chinese paintings, oil paintings and prints?

Zhao Qi work

Outside of zhao qi understanding of painting, I think the work is a kind of narrative and the painter expresses his ideas through the painting. Although these paintings on small books are not “formal” like the works on display, their essence is still something thoughtful.

These paintings are random, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, sometimes leaning against where. This way, I can see that when I painted. I must have been moved by the image in front of me. Yes, these images are painted in front of the object, it is not an imagination from nothing. ——This is different from other jobs, right?

——All the works are sent with feelings. suddenly I feel wrong to tell this fact. Because some images are also boring when I hold a pen and first draw carelessly. When painting, the picture looks interesting. Painting is indeed a very magical act, we cannot know where the end of the brush is attached.

Contemporary art usually refers to art that has innovated and subverted existing norms in the fields of oil painting, sculpture, and printmaking since China implemented economic reforms in 1979 and opened to the outside world, including photography. Installation.Concept.Performance. Video. Multimedia and other new art forms . The Chinese art circle regards an art exhibition in 1979 as the beginning of Chinese contemporary art history.

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Contemporary 艺术家

Contemporary|Kang Jianfei: reconcile with myself

reconcile with myself

When kang Jian fei was young, kang Jian feiwas looking forward to the New Year. When kang Jian fei grew up, kang Jian fei was really afraid of the New Year. If summarize the reasons for the fear, there will be more. The most core thing think is because of the fear of time. Generally speaking, a pessimist, and there are so many things kang Jian fei can’t figure out. The world in my mind is different. kang Jian fei like wine, and kang Jian Fei like to drink by myself. When kang Jian fei am drunk, kang Jian fei can see the imaginary world more clearly. That is the other me, maybe that is the real me. I’m more and more afraid of drinking with others, afraid that kang Jian fei can’t control my drunk self and hurt others. kang Jian fei always want to gain insight into the secrets of the world, never believe in established rules, and always feel that there is an invisible line connecting the world.

forward to the New Year

When I was young, I was looking forward to the New Year. When I grew up, I was really afraid of the New Year. If I summarize the reasons for the fear, there will be more. The most core thing I think is because of the fear of time. Generally speaking, I am a pessimist, and there are so many things I can’t figure out. The world in my mind is different. I like wine, and I like to drink by myself. When I am drunk, I can see the imaginary world more clearly. That is the other me, maybe that is the real me. I’m more and more afraid of drinking with others, afraid that I can’t control my drunk self and hurt others. always want to gain insight into the secrets of the world, never believe in established rules, and always feel that there is an invisible line connecting the world.

A child

When was a child, there were not many words from teachers who could remember when was in school. One sentence was said by the head teacher. have to break the casserole and ask to the end, so that have adhered to this principle for many years. If you are facing a math problem, it must be right, but it doesn’t seem to be a good way to face life and society. Seeking truth is an attitude, and the method of seeking truth is self-continuous thinking and practice, but don’t touch society with a truth-seeking attitude. It seems too hypocritical. Some problems will not be solved until many years later. Otherwise, let it go, let it go!reconcile with myself.

If life is a stage

If life is a stage, then each of us must become a certain role. When you are watched, you are an actor, and acting is almost your destiny. There is no permanent banquet in the world, and there is no drama that can be performed endlessly. Before time, everything is a temporary. I believe reconcile with myself in determinism and the alternate causality, just like the sun rising east Xiluo is purely natural.

But all people will pursue the meaning of life, especially these sentimental and awkward artists who draw pictures for meaning, put urinals in art museums for meaning, and even peeing is also in pursuit of meaning. Perhaps the most meaningless part for others is the ultimate meaning pursued by the artist. In the face of time, the meaning will be dispelled, will gradually change, and will be reborn into a new meaning. Freud divided me into id, ego, and superego, but whether it is desire, consciousness, or morality, it still revolves around “I”, who am I? Who is me again?

believe in the laws of the world, reconcile with myself,and that the greatest joy in life is inner peace. Therefore, at the end of this year, I choose to reconcile with myself.

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Contemporary 当代 艺术家

Contemporary | Zhang Hui likes Beijing

Dazzling sun

Artist: Zhang Hui

Born in Beijing in 1968

Zhang Hui Graduated from the Mural Painting Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1991
2005 Master of Arts and Design, Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Currently works and lives in Beijing

walk in the surrounding

Living in Beijing, Zhang Hui like to walk in the surrounding mountains. Zhang Hui usually leave at 8 or 9 in the morning, sometimes with a couple of friends, sometimes by myself, driving for one and a half to two hours, and there are some routes around 100 kilometers away.

If it is a four- to five-hour route, Zhang Hui will bring something to eat, such as a steamed bun or a biscuits or bean buns, and sometimes a boiled egg. Generally, there is no salted duck egg, which is salty and oily, which is inconvenient. Be sure to bring something sweet, such as a few pieces of candy, two snacks, or two energy bars.

Bring a 500ml bottle of water on cold days, two bottles on hot days, and three bottles in July and August. There are many hills with an altitude of about one kilometer in Beijing, and the general parking place is about 500 meters.

There are only three mountains of two kilometers, Dongling Mountain 2,303 meters, Haituo Mountain 2,241 meters, and Wuling Mountain 2,118 meters. Outdoor hiking has sunshine, sufficient oxygen, and the atmosphere of trees, flowers, and mountains. It is a process of challenging one’s own limits and relaxing and happy.

In the book “What Do I Talk About When I Talk about Running,” Haruki Murakami describes his daily life, running in the sun, eating grilled fish, drinking beer, writing, and listening to music.

It’s a beautiful day. Zhang Hui also like the ending part of his “Norwegian Forest.” Reiko made a hot pot for Watanabe, and they sang while talking about the guitar. They held a “real” funeral for Naoko and played 51 songs in a row. The soul of Super Naoko is also redeeming himself. After that, they “hugged each other as a matter of course” and then made love.

like Bach’s music

Zhang Hui like Bach’s music, religious sense and divinity. Especially his fugue, the chase and escape of notes entangled and flowed. Zhang Hui like Indian traditional music, which is continuous and coming in a steady stream. Like jazz. Like Mahler, especially his ninth and tenth symphony, eternal, beyond death, suffocating.

Schopenhauer said that we are all slaves of our own will, trapped in the desire for food, sex, money, and control. Art is a possible way to save us from the distorted, boring and painful reality. Art can give us. Transcendence, it has such an energy to help us achieve spiritual escape.

Over the years, Zhang Hui have painted several different series: cities, trees and branches, people, colored stones, clouds, grids. There are many journeys and thoughts behind these paintings. Now it is difficult for me to state clearly the background of these thoughts.

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Contemporary 当代

Contemporary | Ni Youyu – Multifaceted artist

Ni Youyu is not just an artist; he is an observer, a researcher and a collector. In his spacious, industrial Shanghai studio, one encounters antique shards of ceramics, curious objects found in flea markets, stacks of notebooks and works in progress. Commonly overlooked found objects, many of which the artist discovered while traveling, are scattered around the room.

Ni Youyu working in his studio in Shanghai, 2013     Photo: Shasha Liu

Ni strives to create a space where ideas historical and contemporary can intersect. Educated in traditional Chinese ink-wash painting, he draws from the rich and deep traditions of Song and Yuan Dynasty ink paintings, when the ancient artists pursued the unity between man and nature within the limited space of paintings. The Song and Yuan pieces emphasized the sense of historical grandeur and rationality, making a strong impression esthetically with their precise of brush strokes. Following Chinese radition, Ni studies and emulates the work of old Chinese masters as a daily ritual. However, he does not simply mimic these ancient artworks in his own work. Rather, he immerses himself in them to extract their essence and purposely does not include ink paintings on paper in his own work. Ni’s practice is equally informed by post-1960s conceptual art, such as the Italian modern art movement Arte Povera (1967-1972).

Installation view of Ni Youyu's personal exhibition
Installation view of Ni Youyu’s personal exhibition “Brief history” Shanghai Art Museum Ni Youyu solo exhibition “Site of short history exhibitions”

Ich the damaged relics Ni You yu

lch (2013), made from found objects, involves 100 small pieces of damaged and eroded relics of Chinese figurative sculptures of people, Buddha and animals, dating from the North Song (960-1127AD) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912AD) that Ni collected on research trips over several years. After making molds from these ancient pieces, the artist cast soap sculptures from them. Exhibited as though they are artifacts, the sculptures juxtapose the temporality of soap with the lifespan of hard stone antiquities. In doing so, they raise questions about change and permanency, exposing both materials’ essential fragility.

 Ni Youyu, Zilch, 2013, 100 soap sculptures
Ni Youyu, Zilch, 2013, 100 soap sculptures

As part of the work, viewers are invited to become participants and “adopt” one piece of the soap, which they are free to use however they like. In exchange, they are asked to submit a photo of the object in their home. Their treatment of the soap becomes a reflection of their understanding of the sculpture’s function and its status as both a utilitarian and an aesthetic object.

Ni Youyu , Zilch Bubble, 2013, detail
Ni Youyu , Zilch Bubble, 2013, detail

The Song dynasty

Since 2011, Ni has been working on a series of paintings that exclusively use black matte and gold paint. Inspired by paintings from the Song dynasty and historical Japanese screen paintings. Sense of history, their color combinations and the precision of the brush strokes. Ni chose these colors in order to create a concrete yet illusionary visual effect. The contract of the gold semi-gloss against the black matte yields a contradictory quality. lending each scene a realistic yet dream-like aura.

  Ni Youyu ,Song Dynasty inkwash painting in detail
Ni Youyu ,Song Dynasty inkwash painting in detail

Hoping to avoid solid lines, Ni developed a special method that uses pressurized water to wash away layers of paint. For each painting, he repeats this process several times; the result is a surface that appears worn, as though eroded by time. This effect is a similar to the visual device used in Song and Yuan Dynasty ink paintings. Ni creates scenes of waterfalls, landslides and flood-damaged landscapes by applying water to the painting’s surface. This interaction – between water both represented and actual – imbues the work with a sense of ingenuity and contradiction.

Ni Youyu, Big Waterfall II detail

Galaxy the experience of childhood of Ni Youyu

Ni’s work Galaxy (2008-) re-examines and critiques the trend of costly large-scale art productions .that may be impressive but possess little meaning or content. In Chinese, the phrase “to pound the money” refers to spending a large amount of money without giving it much thought. Ni physically enacts this saying. repeatedly hammering coins he has collected from around the world until their surfaces are flat enough to paint on.

Ni Youyu, Galaxy, 2008 – 2012, Installation view

Building upon his preexisting interest in miniature painting, Ni trained himself to draw ink paintings on the coins.which he flattens to approximately one inch in diameter. As though representing “a galaxy of human knowledge,” these paintings depict a range of subjects, from landscapes to anatomy. This project furthers Ni’s exploration of the relationship between deduction and addition. In destroying the coins’ surfaces, he removes their monetary value. However, this process of destruction is also generative: it transforms .the coins into art objects, endowing them with a new value within the art market.

The inherent labor-intensive quality of his artworks requires the artist’s full attention and repetitive action. Ni often gets into a deep meditative state while in the process of creation. lending these works a sense of ease and grace. making his artistic practice an effortless endeavor.

From:

https://theartling.com/en/artists/ni-youyu/

https://www.niyouyu.com/

http://www.guan-dian.org/ni-youyu

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/216753

For more Chinese art: Abgstage01

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Contemporary 当代

Contemporary | Yuan Yuan – Architectural paintings

Chinese artist Yuan Yuan is known on the international art scene thanks to his distinctive paintings, focused on architectural subjects and executed with impeccable technique. They convey a unique atmosphere, that is materialized in the poetic of memory. 

Yuan Yuan, Confessionary II, 2013, oil on linen
Confessionary II, 2013, oil on linen

Zheijang hometown

Yuan Yuan born in 1973 in Zhejiang province and studied in the Oil Painting Department of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Where he gained a graduation in Fine Arts in 1996 and a Master in Fine Arts in 2008. When YuanYuan was studying there, while Chinese society was still very conservative. The Academy was “like a sunroof, always open for us” . And he benefited from a library well stocked with foreign periodicals. Currently lives and works in Hangzhou and Berlin.

His work is heavily influenced by traditional Chinese painting, which she studied when he was a secondary school student. Also, the painter was inspirited by Western artist such as Richard Long (Land Art) and Felix Gonzalez-Torres (Conceptual Art).  

Yuan Yuan, Breakfast, 2013, oil on canvas.
Breakfast, 2013, oil on canvas.

YuanYuan subjects are mainly interiors and these are based on real places, with some imaginary elements added. Sometimes he also manipulates architectural details and as a result the scenes . He depicts seem to lie somewhere between reality and illusion. 

All Yuan Yuan’s paintings share a sense of abandonment, offering just a glimpse of their former glory.

The artist said

“Ruins give us a sense of security, they are living spaces without .A sense of pressure so you can do whatever you want. Abandoned places are also public, meaning that you may enter and visit. This is similar to the process of a viewer who is looking at an artwork. I am trying my best to identify the residual traces left behind – not so much what the place has now.But rather what this place used to be for a long time, which no one can take away and cannot be seen. “

Yuan Yuan, A Home for Home, 2012, oil on canvas
YuanYuan, A Home for Home, 2012, oil on canvas
Yuan Yuan, Fairy Dream Liner 3, 2008, oil on canvas
YuanYuan, Fairy Dream Liner 3, 2008, oil on canvas

Paintings composition are highly structured and orderly, dictated by the geometric details of the   architecture depicted.  what sets Yuan Yuan’s paintings is the incredible detail with which he describes every individual surface within the composition. In particular, She is fascinated by mosaics and patterns of tiles, whether on floors, walls, or lining pools and showers.

He is able to play with an infinite variety of hues within the same color scheme to produce a stunning effect. The atmosphere often feels humid in his paintings, with water in pools or dripping from .the ceiling or decaying walls, and the mood is melancholy. In order to achieve the effect of wet surfaces, he applies several layers of diluted pigment. A classical Chinese painting technique.  

Yuan Yuan, Meteoric Water, 2011, acrylic on canvas
Yuan Yuan, Meteoric Water, 2011, acrylic on canvas
Yuan Yuan, Swimming Pool II, 2010, oil on canvas
Yuan Yuan, Swimming Pool II, 2010, oil on canvas

At first glance, Yuan Yuan’s paintings seem devoid of any human presence. This is not quite true. She wants to represent people by depicting traces of human activity, which heighten our curiosity. 

Thus, She also conveys a sense of passing time, of transition and history. 

Yuan Yuan, Mirror, 2011, oil on canvas
Mirror, 2011, oil on canvas

For more Chinese art: Abgstage01

***

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Contemporary

Contemporary | Lin Yilin through performance

Biography

Born in Guangzhou in 1964, Guangdong Province, China, Lin Yilin studied sculpture at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1987. Lin Yilin through performance found his way to think about present.

His poetics are expressed through urban interventions and site specific performances. It draws on China’s socio-economic conditions, political landscape and cultural experiences; reinvents the relationships between communities and environments in a globalized context.

Lin Yilin through performance uses his experiences as an immigrant to the United States as a starting point for many of his works.

Lin Yilin during a performance

Safely Manuevering across Linhe Road

Lin became known for his installations made with stackable bricks inserted in an urban context, thanks also to his involvement in the Big Tail Elephant Working Group, which founded in 1990 was fundamental for a reflection on the state of China’s urban development. Lin’s best-known work is in fact “Safely Manuevering across Linhe Road” (1995), where the artist moved a pile of bricks across a main road in Guangzhou for ninety minutes. He built a brick wall on the side of the road and then removed it row by row and reassembled it in the middle of the street. Repeating the same gesture, he brought the wall across the street. This performance turned a stable wall into a moving wall and also stopped heavy traffic.

safely manuering
Lin Yilin performing “Safely Maneuvering across Line Road”

Symbolically, the brick for Lin is linked to architectural construction and destruction, it also indicates urbanization and social transformation. The artist intervened on a public site with his body and represented the rapid urbanization which we easily forget despite being very evident.


For other contemporary artists: Contemporary

From:

Apersonaldiary

Guggenheim

Artsy

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Contemporary 当代

Contemporary | Wang Ruilin – “Dreams”

Surreal animal sculptures by Wang Ruilin 

In the serie titled “Dreams”, Chinese sculptor Wang Ruilin creates surreal animals with a particular  features: on their backs – and sometimes on their antlers – these creatures carry monumental elements of nature like lakes and mountain cliffs. It’s like a modern animal-version of Noah’s Arc without people.  

“Dreams Ark1”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Ark1”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Floating1”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Floating1”, Wang Ruilin

Wang Ruilin is a talented Chinese sculptor, born in 1985 in Anshan, in province of Liaoning. He graduated at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2005 and  actually lives and works in the same city. 

Rui Sculpture Life

His sculptures are heavily influenced by traditional Chinese art and mythology. Indeed, his life changed at the age of four or five, when he encountered . a painting of a horse by the artist Xu Beihong (1895-1953). A traditional Chinese painter, primarily known for his ink paintings of horses and birds. Ruilin became obsessed with these vigorous animal and has ever since identified with it.

Horses became one of the main characters of Ruilin’s works, resulting in the series “Horse. Play”, where pours the lively power of the animal in different static postures, creating significant tensions in the sculptures. 

“Horse. Play”, Wang Ruilin
“Horse. Play”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Horse”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Horse”, Wang Ruilin

“Dreams” series are almost life-sized copped sculptures .And the artist describes their creative process as digging deep into his heart and excavating works that originally exist from various experiences.

About his works, Ruilin says:

“Pursuit of Dreamscomes from my imagination, which is the balance between nature and abnormal state. Animals in Pursuit of Dreams may not be lifelike for I wish to inject different spiritualities and. spirits of the east and remind people to focus and admire on . other individuals who are the same or even more beautiful besides themselves only. Pursuit of Dreams-ark is the work I was inspired in the moment of 2012 . when people were concerning on how to be saved and I make ark to save not only rivers and mountains of human. In the space of impermanent compounds, what we pursue may not exist really and we can only feel the value and force. of life when the doom is set. Just as the big fish that I compare to ark, it carries mountains and rivers with life and . observes the world with the soul”

“Dreams Ark2”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Ark2”, Wang Ruilin
Wang Ruilin working on “Horse. Play
Ruilin working on “Horse. Play”

Eastern-classical art also influenced Ruilin use of color.In particular he loves Chinese flower paintings . for their rich, bright and cool colors. For the artist eyes they seem deep, pure and full of profoundness and uniqueness. 

The series “Dreams” was protagonist of ART Beijing in 2014.  

“Dreams Yak”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Yak”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Floating2”, Wang Ruilin
“Dreams Floating2”, Wang Ruilin
Wang Ruiling creating a sculpture
Ruilin creating a sculpture

For more Chinese art: Abgstage01

***

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Contemporary 当代 纵观艺术 艺术家

Contemporary | Li Xiaofeng – Porcelain Heart

Li Xiaofeng is a Chinese sculptor and fashion designer, born in 1965 in Hubei. His unique work consists in wearable porcelain clothes.

He graduated at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)’s Mural Department, and began his activity as a muralist. Then he began specializing in sculpture in order to explore new concepts and expressive forms to apply to the Chinese contemporary artistic scene.

Li Xiaofeng
Li Xiaofeng

His sculpture-clothing project is truly original, both for the selected material and the idea of wearable “pieces of armor” that recall Chinese traditional works.

Li Xiaofeng’s creative process

Li Xiaofeng researches and collects fragments of ancient Chinese porcelain recovered from archaeological excavations, dating back to the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties: he models and polishes them and punctures them, then sews them together on a leather undergarment through a silver thread, creating a “porcelain fabric”. His meticulous work is a bridge between past and present and a sharp reflection on the concept of culture. 

porcelain dress 1
These dresses are fully wearable
porcelain dress 2

Li’s Rearranged landscapes

“Chinese culture” is the basic breakthrough point in Li’s works: he feels a sense of mission for its study and he channels it all in what he calls “Post Orientalism”. Landscape was always a major theme in his large number of paintings created in the past but, instead of simply copying like some other contemporary artists, he had always the urge to rearrange it, in a dynamic dialogue with history. 

This extract explains the reason why Li Xiaofeng’s calls his porcelain clothes “rearranged landscapes”:

“Since the time when it was the Mongol Yuan capital Khanbalik to the present day, Beijing has initiated its largest excavation projects of all time and, like a blue snake that has been hibernating for a millennium, the city is now stirring and shedding its old skin. It greedily emerges through the towering buildings, twisting free from the historical sediment of its ancient civilization. Blue-and-white porcelain shards that represent this civilization are unearthed in large quantities at the same time. These blue shards, bathed in the sunny skies of socialism and caressed by the contemporary cool breezes blowing from the west throughout the capital, assume a bewildering array of postures as fashion items entering the new century!

Xi Liaofeng at work
Xi Liaofeng at work

Among his works are women’s dresses, t-shirts and men’s jackets. His first piece in wearable porcelain fragments was “Beijing Memories”, a Mao suit.

MIlitary uniform
MIlitary uniform

Lacoste’s porcelain shirt Li XiaoFeng

In 2010 the world-renowned brand Lacoste commissioned Li Xiaofeng a porcelain polo shirt for men and women for the Holiday Collector series. Unfortunately, a problem occurred: the PRC prohibits the export of ancient artifacts, including old porcelain shards.

Despite that, the artist did not give up and realized the porcelain himself, with the crocodile’s logo attached, and tore it apart only to recompose it into a Polo shirt, one of the most expensive and exclusive items ever sold by Lacoste.

Lacoste's porcelain shirt-sculpture
Lacoste’s porcelain shirt-sculpture

The artist also released a limited edition polo shirt, choosing blue and white fragments depicting the lotus flower and drawings of newborns from the Kangxi period and the Qing dynasty. The lotus flower represents rebirth and purity while newborns represent fertility. In that period the mortality rate among children was high and this type of decoration was in great demand in the hope of being a blessing for children.

“Porcelain shards” polo shirt

Li Xiaofeng’s main expositions

2019Dreaming of Crafts of the Future: Mongyudowon Unfolds, 11th Cheongju Craft Biennale 2019, Culture Factory C, Cheongju
2018Cracked – Porcelain, Red Gate Gallery
 2D vs 3D, Red Gate Gallery
 798, We Are Back, Red Gate Gallery
2017Red Gate on the Move, Red Gate Gallery
 Contemporary Dialogues Between Fashion and Art, Zhu Zhong Art Museum
 The Silk Road and Celestial Clothes, Taimiao Art Museum
 Fusion – The International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing
2016Red Gate: The Next 25 Years, Red Gate Gallery
2015China: Through the Looking GlassThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
20145th Tanwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Tanwan
 ST. Start International exhibition of the Chinese Contemporary Ceramic Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing
20137th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale 2013 Korea, Icheon CeraMIX Creative Center, Korea
2011Ming to Nirvana, Red Gate Gallery
2010Head On, Red Gate Gallery
 Width Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing
2008Virginia Miller Gallery, Miami
 Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York
2006Sculpture, Pickled Art Centre
 Consumption Times I, Ha Te Art Centre
2005Diversity and Construction, Beijing
2004X Yard, Beijing
 Beijing International Art Camp
2002CAFA Graduates’ Exhibition

For more informations about Li Xiaofeng’s work: https://www.redgategallery.com/content/li-xiaofeng

or: https://www.artsy.net/artist/li-xiaofeng

Categories
LAVORATO 当代

Contemporary | Art and inner communication-Zhu Yaning

ART BAIGUAN Hello, can you introduce yourself?

ZHU YANING: My name is Zhu Yaning and I am 23 years old. I’m currently studying sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, and graduated on September of this year.

ART BAIGUAN: When did you start to learn and get in touch with art? Which was the original intention of learning art?

ZHU YANING: When I was young, I had a really interesting art class and slowly I became more and more interested. In high school, I studied at the CAFA , where I studied Western traditional art, with its oil paintings. At the same time, I was also learning the fundamental aspects of history of art.

ART BAIGUAN: What made you choose contemporary art instead of traditional art? In your opinion, traditional art has an impact of contemporary art?

ZHU YANING: I know how to understand contemporary art from the traditional art thanks to the opportunity I had of studying abroad. It’s common opinion thinking that I should be at home because of my young age. Teachers are basically relatively traditional so after going abroad. I began to get in touch with some new things, and learned the contemporary art of the 20th century and the development of Western avant-garde art.

Materials and themes are not really important aspects, artists’ point is completely beyond the art range I once understood. In the beginning, it was actually very overwhelming. Because there was always something I didn’t know about that I should have tried understanding harder. But than if you leave the past and choose new things.you will eventually find a path that suits you better. Although there are still many confusions, it is indeed more than just going abroad.

In my opinion Chinese students abroad feel themselves bound between their tradition and the culture they are in contact with. I later discovered that the concepts and knowledge of the traditional art that I have learned have already penetrated into my own thoughts.and will be reflected whenever I do what I do. But it is a kind of wealth for me. The most important thing is a relatively peaceful attitude to get in touch with new things. In this way, your artistic concept will become more diversified, which means more possibilities for creation.

Zhu Yaning
Zhu Yaning

In fact, I don’t have the ability to define objectively and undergroundly contemporary art and traditional art, Some people may think that some avant-garde art of the last century can represent contemporary art. However, for some contemporary art practitioners they have already become a thing of the past. They are already tradition. In the second half of the last century, there was a conceptual artist who wrote a thesis on the topic of philosophy as art. This is enough to prove that the definition of art in the last century has changed dramatically.

Zhu Yaning's ArtWork
Zhu Yaning’s ArtWork

ART BAIGUAN As far as I know, you used to study sculpture. Why did you choose to do installation art?

ZHU YANING: Because the content we are studying is within the scope of visual art. In which we distinguish the direction of sculpture, oil painting, printmaking and the like. But to put it bluntly, we have chosen a way, like a tool or a category. it’s not a transformation, because in the end all forms are meant to express what you want to express.
Then the device is a language that I think is relatively comprehensive, it can create more possibilities. It gives you more possibilities and more ways to express what you want to behave,

Zhu Yaning's Sculpture
Zhu Yaning’s Sculpture

ART BAIGUAN: What is your work expressing? How do you think about material choices?

ZHU YANING I just want to give the audience a feeling A comparison and a discussion about time. Time, such a serious thing, is gentle.I tried to make people feeling the passing of time the more delicate i could. This is what I want to do, but whether the expression is sufficient or not is still open to question. In fact, because I am also a young and new artist, I am not as comprehensive as the mature artists. I think materials serve to the expression, the choice is because it is suitable, there is no deep reason. The final product can only be said to be within the scope of my ability to express the content in the best way possible.

ART BAIGUAN: Which is the work you are more satisfied with?

ZHU YANING: My favorite work is the third one, made with an italian girl, Fiamma. This work is my first contact with the image, and through this work I understood that cooperation is a very important thing. Before this experience I used to think that artists were independent individuals. or that everyone has their own independent ideas,so that it is difficult to integrate with other artists. But unexpectly, in this work, we had a very good cooperation, so I am really satisfied.

ART BAIGUAN: What do you think about installation art, new media art and the future development trend?

ZHU YANING: Installations and new media will become mainstream, and any of these devices that serve the things of life will ultimately serve art. Since the art has broken every boundaries, we have been free to use any form and medium. I think AR technology and 3D modeling have been used a lot until now but both will be used more in the future.

This is very good, we don’t have to stay in the past, we need just to accept it, because it’s not that you use new things to abandon some of the cultural heritage of the past, so I think it is creating more possibilities, and at the same time the viewer also has a better experience, and it is still a positive thing.

Zhu Yaning's artwork
Zhu Yaning’s ArtWork

ART BAIGUAN: Have you ever encountered difficulties in your creation?

ZHU YANING: The most difficult problems are still some real problems. For example, what kind of materials, venues, and equipment are allowed to be made and used but most important: the maturity of creation.

The difficulty I have encountered now is that my creation is not mature enough and my position is not strong enough.

Zhu Yaning's ArtWork
Zhu Yaning’s ArtWork

ART BAIGUAN: Can you express your own creed or thought? Do you have somthing to suggest to younger generation who are still groping on the art road?

ZHU YANING: The most fundamental suggestion is simple: it is sincerity. There are many problems and as long as we insist on sincerity, we will be able to solve them. Sometimes we fall into self-doubt, we don’t trust anyone or we do not have confidence in what we do. But we can understandd whether we are doing this in good faith, as long as you are doing is in good faith all the things you do have value.

I got two advices for the young generation: the first is to look at the individual’s orientation, and the second is to maintain interest. If you are not interested in something you do not have to learn it. It doesn’t make sense and wastes time. Because many of the students I met in the art think, “Ah, this subject is just like this, it doesn’t mean anything,” because they didn’t feel the meaning of it sincerely.

Zhu Yaning's ArtWork
Zhu Yaning’s ArtWork

When I first saw her work, it gave me a feeling of calmness and quietness. I was full of thinking about time and life. I thought she should be a quiet and mature girl. I can’t help but feeling that she is really a cute little girl. She has the characteristics of not following the trend and the ones of being alone and not alone at the same time.

Isn’t this the quality and attitude that the new young artists?