Category: 人物

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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 Glass，The 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 人物 当代 艺术家

Contemporary | Cute illustrator who loves traveling-Xu Yu


Xu Yu, whose real name is Xu Yu. She said that she started this name because it was a homophonic and poetic picture of her original name, so she uses it now.

More materials to represent the picture to Xu Yu

According to her own introduction, there are many mediums for her paintings, watercolors, colored lead, oil pastels, carbon bars, board paintings, etc. Generally, a material will be changed after a long time, because she always tries to use more More materials to represent the picture.


“Hometown”

At first, I saw Xu Yu write this paragraph on Weibo’s Weibo: “My childhood was in Hangzhou, a small town in a small town in Jiaxing. The farthest place I visited was Hangzhou, when I looked at the province Travelers are envious of the glare of their eyes. When I was in high school, I saw someone going abroad to study abroad. I thought how good it would be if I were to go abroad. I have been looking up at the authors of the books and books since I bought Huaxin, thinking about if one day It ’s good to know them, and I ’d like to be able to freelance one day.

Things come to mind here, the world becomes wonderful. Later, when I went to college, I started to skip classes and save money to travel, and later I fought with my parents After studying abroad, I started to run around the world, and I also became an author of the heart and a freelancer. What ’s even more amazing is that those who I have followed since high school are much better now. Become a friend and a fan friend (speaking of a flower in my heart here).

as long as I do it, I can do it

Once I only dare to think about things, I naturally reflected them into reality a little bit. Not long ago, I had a wish to go to the beach to see the stars Look at the moon. At this moment on the sea breeze terrace, the stars are all over the sky. It seems that as long as I can think of anything, as long as I do it, I can do it. “


“The watermelon field in summer is a beautiful memory of my childhood”

For Xu Yu, painting is not about how skilled you are, but about showing what you want to say. Techniques are physical things, and what you really have in mind does not depend on your skills. Anyone can draw.


“One year I lived in Tuscany, and the small country-style lifestyle allowed me to enjoy the complete life of an Italian.”

Like Xu Yu, she is a cute little girl in the eyes of friends. Her favorite things may be painting and traveling, and occasionally love cooking.


“XuYu is really a childlike girl.”


In the memory of her friend, she was a girl who ran to Sicily with her two schoolbags on her own. The schoolbag was full of equipment needed for painting. “You will be very happy to follow her, she will tell you the story she met on the trip.” My friend said “Because Xu Yu particularly likes to chat with others, I remember that when the Roman tourist encountered her, she came to know a Japanese and Korean Traveling friends have also listened to their stories. It feels amazing! Xu Yu is really interesting and interesting (Courage of the Northeast dialect). ”


“The Beautiful Legend of Sicily”

Xu Yu said: “Every aspect of life can give me a lot of inspiration. Traveling, painting, watching movies, and living in different places. I want to paint too many things every day. I just hate that time is not enough.”

“The Legend of Sicily 2”

She also said: “The perception of live painting is completely different from that of taking pictures.”


“Southern Diary”

“Southern Diary” is her graduation project and the first personal picture book in her life. This book can be regarded as an account of her in the past 20 years.


The inner page of the picture book “Distance”

Xu Yu : Let’s go travel!

In fact, Xu Yu’s painting is the story of her life experience, simple and beautiful. We always have all kinds of messy reasons to disturb our travels, but with Xu Yu’s paintings, we can see the beauty and follow her story line.

At the same time, you can also look forward to the story “Italian Alone” she has assembled for three years.


Will you finally have the urge to say?


“Let’s go travel!”


“Southern Diary”

“Southern Diary”

“Southern Diary”


xu yu resume


Xu Yu, graduated from the School of Art and Design, Zhejiang University of Technology,


Now studying at the Bologna Academy of Fine Arts as a graduate student in comics, and is also a freelance creator,

Now cooperating with magazines such as “Painted Heart”, “Picture Box”, “Middle School Place”, “Children’s Literature”, “National Geographic”, “Traveller” and so on Co-published books “Adventures of Rabichi” and “Distance”. Published works:


In 2017, cooperated with Tomorrow Publishing House to publish “Distance”


In 2017, he co-published “The Adventures of Rabbi” with Red Horse Book


Published a personal picture book “Southern Diary” in 2018 (intimate traveler)


In 2018, cooperated with Le Fun to publish the flip book “Unveiling the 24 Solar Terms”

Categories
LAVORATO 当代 艺术家

Contemporary | Fusion of traditional and modern Liu Jiahua

Liu Jiahua was born in Sichuan in 1979, and graduated at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts. He came to Beijing in 2009 to work as an independent artist. Thanks to his work, he’s been invited to participate in important exhibitions is his country but also abroad and has won different awards. Recently, Liu Jiahua has attracted a lot of attention among the new generation of artists with his unique form of picture expression.

As an artist who enters the city from the countryside, the order, rules and even civilization of the city undoubtedly subvert the existing cognition of Liu Jiahua. In the visual, psychological and lifestyle aspects, and so, he truly feels the impact of the so-called urbanization process.

Therefore, in the works of his artistic creation, “Returning to Peach Blossoms”, the architectural symbols representing the urban civilization and the traffic symbols and the nature with its mountains and rivers, both have a yearning for urban civilization and a decadent agriculture. “The Return to Peach Blossoms” has a metaphor of “spiritual utopia” from the subject.

“Building” is more than a “City”. “City” is like a book, a testimony to the modern historical process. Gorgeous skin of human civilization, and a legend and dream in the memory of the nation. The confession of “City” reflects the distress of people, although one is material and the other is flesh. To describe “city” between affirmation and loss is to describe “people” themselves.” ——Liu Jiahua

There’s a proverb talking about winds: it is says that the distance between the two places is one hundred miles. For example, the “wind” will be different, and the “vulgar” will change with a thousand miles.

The artist Liu Jiahua’s work “Red City” was born like a juxtapose of traditional symbols and contemporary phenomena. Causing visual confusion. This surrealistic theme and the sense of suspension of dreamy colors create a lost world that is also true and illusory.

The work “Red City” has a long history and a splendid Chinese culture, and it has been draped in the era of the colorful clouds. The collection of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign architectural creations is infiltrated into the works. Consequently allowing it to be distributed spirituality and vitality.

“Why did you choose ancient architecture?”

At his question Liu Jiahua said: “The pavilion” has a double dimension of meaning, which can represent the ancient architecture that has disappeared, or it can be transformed into a symbol that of traditional and cultural heritage.”

“Next, the red rope began to appear in his picture. Why did you draw this rope?”

Liu Jiahua explained: “It is actually a disbanded Chinese knot. It no longer has the original meaning of harmony, happiness, etc. It is used to bind, Wrapping and hanging Chinese ancient buildings.

Therefore I hoped to use two traditional things to create a current visual experience and social problems. A little bit of “cooking beans and burning soybean meal”.

Most of the works created by artist Liu Jiahua are the series of “Red City Records”. So some critics have divided his creation into four periods: the “New City Period”. Which is the period in which Liu Jiahua began to re-examine, recognize,establish and construct himself. At this time, Liu Jiahua was in self-deconstruction and negation of self. Looking for the development period of the true self; the third period was the “Behind the City”. And the ancient architecture depicted in his paintings has begun to transform into the expression of self-centered orientation. The last period is the “unmanned period” is a period of psychological and ideological maturity created by Liu Jiahua. That is to say that it seems to have entered the realm of “no self”.

Categories
LAVORATO 当代 艺术家

Contemporary | Wang Wanglin oriental heroes


Young artist Wang Ruilin

Wang Ruilin (1985-), born in Anshan, Liaoning, is a young artist in Beijing. After graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he began to create the series of Dreams of Dreams in 2012. He said: “Because of this real and false world of impermanence, the restlessness and goodness gradually brought me. In this way, the soothing narrative of the work allows me to find the balance of my soul. Let nature take its course and bring to my creation Soil and sweet springs. ”

Wang Ruilin said that isolation from this world is painful, but it can also reduce the impetuosity and temptation of the world, and let him see the essence and value of life. As the main work of the Dream by Dream series, Dream by Ark represents most of his original intentions and emotions.

Dream by Dream series Ruilin

The next series is about Sun Wukong’s sculpture called “Mi · Hang”. Before making this sculpture, he studied all the monkey images of China and the West. He thinks that Sun Wukong in the United States and imported monkeys are all large and one kind. The image of King Kong. He thinks this understanding is wrong. He thinks that Sun Wukong is a monkey because in animals, the monkey is a kind of spirit beast, and the wisdom is relatively high. It should be won by wisdom and aura, so the direction of Chinese and Western understanding is different. He believes that what really represents Chinese superheroes is not tights and muscular blood vessels. It does not need those hard conditions to prove himself, more should be internal.


“Hidden” series of works

Many people do not understand why he was a monkey. He replied, “I just want the world to see the Eastern hero.”


“Hidden” series of works

Wang Ruilin’s intention to create Qi Tian Da Sheng

Wang Ruilin’s intention to create Qi Tian Da Sheng is to let the world see the appearance of an oriental hero. I always think that the great saint of the hide-out series is Wang Ruilin himself. From the work itself, this quiet, formidable and powerful aura is undoubtedly his own. It seems that Wang Ruilin himself is also happy to hide this energy under a calm appearance, like the sea of ​​gentle wind, the undercurrent surging but quiet.


“Circus” series of works

He always remembered the first time he was touched when he saw Xu Beihong’s “Running Horse” when he was 4 or 5 years old. In his eyes, it was a subtle fusion of Eastern detachment and Western reason. Coupled with Wang Ruilin’s love for horses, horses gradually became the theme of his creation in a period of time, and eventually formed a series of “horse drama”. He blended the life energy of this animal into a quiet gesture, creating a wonderful tension in the work.

infinite charm of art

Wang Ruilin believes that once the work is completed, he will exist in a completely independent form, no longer under the author’s control. In the face of viewers, different life backgrounds and hearts, the original intention of creation is no longer important. Wang Ruilin believes that once the work is completed, he will exist in a completely independent form, no longer under the author’s control. In the face of viewers, different life backgrounds and hearts, the original intention of creation is no longer important. Of course, people will try to understand the work with their own values, world view, and aesthetic consciousness. The harder you understand, the more you focus on your feelings. Different feelings are also connected through the same work. This makes us viewers also become participants in the work. This is the meaning of his existence and the infinite charm of art.


“Circus” series of works


If music is a flowing art, then sculpture is still music. Wang Ruilin’s work may not be the best in China today, but it can be said to be one of the most moving works.

Art is not just an ornament, but a window. When we gaze at it, we gaze at the great moment that the world once had.

Categories
LAVORATO 当代 纵观艺术 艺术家

Contemporary | Ren Han: Reality with a Mirror

Ren han, male, was born in Tianjin, China in February 1984. He is currently living in Tianjin, a contemporary artist.

Ren han the definition of art

Ren han said: “the definition of art has been changing, such as the one of painting. The interpretation of Mona Lisa in different eras and topics, is different”

“Mirror” by Ren Yi

He graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Vera Arson, France in 2011. As an artist, he has participated in exhibitions around the world, including the Paris 104 Art Center, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the Berlin Chinese Cultural Center, the Nice Asian Art Museum, the Beijing Today Art Museum, the Times Art Museum, and Taikang Space. He has also held solo exhibitions at the Less Is More Projects Gallery in Paris, C-Space, LAB47 and Qimu Space in Beijing. He is also the co-founder of the Renewable Space Program, which asks artists to organise and to expose in non-display spaces such as ruins.

he ambiguous nature of human nature

Ren han used pencil as the main material to carry out an orderly study in the field of plastic arts. Using graphite’s essence to present reflection and texture, and through the outline of his painting, we see a two-dimensional plane, but the artist’s special treatment of the picture makes us feel a sense of volume, as it happens with sculptures. His works often use mirrors, labyrinths, water, and virtual landscapes to reveal the ambiguous nature of human nature, explore the boundaries of sketches and sculptures, and the possibilities.

“Maze” by Ren han

The power of art is to wake up the soul. The reason why art can support us to seek truth is that art can play down the self-center. It requires us to observe and understand, and to do our best to express and gain valuable experience.

Untitled Work
Untitled Work

In “Mirror” series, he said that he chose it because the mirror will have a reflection when it is photographed, it is visually similar to the graphite texture. With white as the base, the relationship between black and white is more confusing in the Mirror.The line gathered in the center is like a road to the exotic world. Infiltrating, hitting the wall, and reflecting, lead the viewer into a spiritual space of meditation.

“Mirror Seires” by Ren han

“I don’t have rules in the form of works. I set myself the rule of not creating new images, but reducing, reorganizing, and copying ready-made images and ready-made products. Because it is realistic or abstract, as long as it is hand-made.. I choose to be a developer and implementer of ideas.” He said

“Mirror Seires” by Ren han
Side view of “Skull”

In the world we live in, every item is unique. They have different self-expressions and they hold different emotions and hopes. Only by doing everything possible to faithfully restore every seemingly ordinary item will people see the purest beauty in the world. That kind of beauty will lead people and be brave in themselves.

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LAVORATO 传统 艺术家

Tradition | Master of Chinese Painting “Qiao Weiming”


The master of Chinese painting Qiao Weiming

Chinese painting emphasizes him as an excellent artist, who needs to learn from the outside world and get the source from his heart, in order to have the wonderful feeling of creating the gods, mountains and rivers at the same time. Helping artists understand the true meaning and essence of art.
Canzone d’autunno 
Chinese art requires saving the intention with the pen first, when the painting is finished the existence of the intention is still here. Emphasize the dissolution of things, create an artistic conception, arrive at drawing mien with form, form and spirit that must be established together.
Silenzio

And him, he did it. He is the outstanding Chinese artists – Qiao Weiming, born in 1961 in Luo yang Xiaolangdi. He is the member of China artists association. The researcher at the Chinese poem calligraphy institute of fine arts. The visiting professor of Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts. Hebei Academy of Fine Arts and PLA Information Engineering University, the expert of cultural relics appreciation.the member of Luoyang CPPCC. The dean of Luoyang University Painting and Calligraphy Institute, and the art teacher of Luoyang Institute of Technology.

Chinese painting

Untitle

His material comes from the flowers and birds in his hometown. The composition of painting is a concrete embodiment of years of experience. For example, the basket series of paintings. All of which are mainly composed of baskets, are composed in the middle. However, the most annoying part of the composition of Chinese painting is that the main body is placed in the middle. which is precisely because the basket series is placed in the middle, which makes it very comfortable to look at. It breaks the limitation of the traditional painting composition from Song dynasty to modern times, which also forms its personal characteristics.

Fish Basket
Childhood Fun

In 1982, the work “Underestimating the wealth”, won the first prize of the Army Art Exhibition.

Red and fragrant peony

In October 1988, he held his solo exhibition in the Cultural Center in Tainan City, Taiwan.

In 1992, the work “Red and fragrant peony ” won the bronze medal in the International Chinese Painting Grand Prix.

In July 1993, he was graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Xinjiang Normal University.

From September 1993 to July 1994. he studied master’s degree in flower and bird painting at the Chinese Painting Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. His creation “Red Kaki” was collected by the college.

In October 1994, his work “Reminiscences of Childhood” was selected for the 8th National Art Exhibition and won the first prize of Henan Art Exhibition.

In July 1997, his work “People in the Country” was selected by the China Artists Association, which held the Exhibition of  welcoming Hong Kong return to the Chinese artists .

In November 1997, the work “The Nest” won the second prize of contemporary Chinese meticulous paintings organized by the Ministry of Culture.

In August 1999, the work “Return” was selected by the China Artists Association which held the “welcome Macao to return to China’s calligraphy and painting exhibition.”

In October 1999, the work “Homeland” was awarded the Achievement Award by the China Artists Association for. “Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China”.

In November 1999, the work “Bumper Harvest” was selected into the National Second Flower and Bird Painting Exhibition organized by the China Artists Association.

In February 2001, he participated in a joint exhibition of eight paintings and calligraphy organized by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China to Egypt, Britain, France and Italy.

Hometown
Flowers

SEE FOR DETAILS:http://qiaoweiming.orgcc.com/works/v3710.html

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LAVORATO 对话 当代

Contemporary | Artist Xia Yan: Hometown of Heart

Xia Yan, born in 1975 in Guizhou, is a famous contemporary artist. He graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Guizhou Normal University in 1998 and is now an associate professor at the Fine Arts College of Guizhou Normal University. In recent years, his works have gradually been recognized by collectors at home and abroad. K11 Art Space, Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu Blue Top Art Museum, Singapore Simin Art Garden and other important institutions have exhibited and collected their works.
Xia Yan’s works revolve around the relationship between human beings, nature and festivals. His painting style has some fairy tales, giving a sense of dreams and innocence, but also revealing reflections on the environment.

Artistic introduction
Born in Guizhou in 1975.
In 1998, he graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Guizhou Normal University (now the Academy of Fine Arts) and stayed at the school until now.
In 2005, he graduated from the Department of Painting, Department of Painting, Central Academy of Fine Arts.
2006 Entered Guiyang “Urban Parts” Contemporary Art Studio
2012 Graduated from the Digital Media Department of Xiamen University Software College with a master’s degree

Afforestation 150x250cm oil on canvas 2012

ARTbaiguan: How do you balance teaching work and personal artistic creation with so many years of coaching career?
Xia Yan: Teaching and creation seem to conflict with working time and space, but in fact, the two are complementary to each other. Teaching and creative practice are the best knowledge-transforming relationship;

In the same festival 60x60cm oil on canvas 2014

ARTbaiguan: We see some characters appear on your screen. Does this have anything to do with your life or your relationships?
Xia Yan: Some are related, some are fragments of images I downloaded from the web. The current works pay more attention to things in the public environment, and all the roles are almost irrelevant to their own life circle;

Mr. Pushing Stone 90x90cm 2016

ARTbaiguan: There are many people who like your Soshan series. What is your creative inspiration?
Xia Yan: Childhood memories, it is a nostalgic homesickness.

Four or five white stone 100x150cm cloth oil paint 2013

ARTbaiguan: Which period of art or artistic activity has the most influence on you? What is reflected in your work?
Xia Yan: After the Second World War in Europe, I really liked the works of art with realistic criticism. The forms and language of the works of artists such as Kiefer, Richter, and Tuymans have influenced the establishment of my value judgment and creation system.

Obedient 90x60cm 2016

ARTbaiguan: How do you choose new ideas derived from the creative process?
Xia Yan: The new idea is more to take, not to be…

ARTbaiguan: Do you think that a work that combines traditional culture is more meaningful than a purely contemporary work?
Xia Yan:  It depends on the context in which the works are displayed. Some people use a good license to play the game. The works must not be simple binary opposition. The problems of tradition and contemporary, conservative and open, black and white are not directly comparable to right and wrong, good and bad. They are a rich complex of dimensions that are interpenetrated;

Support wall 90x90cm cloth oil color 2016

ARTbaiguan: Many people now believe that painting on the shelf is bound to die, and that installation art and new media art are the future development trends. What do you think of their views?
Xia Yan: This is the law of development. As for the assumptions about the future, I can’t play the role of the prophet.

Cai Wei’s beautiful scenery 90x90cm oil on canvas 2015

ARTbaiguan: Whether it is painting or other art media, you will face the problem of effective expression between language and thought. How do you think about solving these problems?
Xia Yan: Thought is the first. Language is more of a service for the mind. Of course, the validity of the expression of the purely linguistic form cannot be ruled out. I think that the development of society needs more truth than beauty. Therefore, in the current works, I am more and more inclined to intervene in thoughts, rather than the shaping of pure form aesthetics;

“Yu Hang-1” Linseed Oil Color 150x150cm 2010

ARTbaiguan: How do you think about the impact of the social behavior of “circles” on artistic creation? Does the advantage outweigh the disadvantages or do more harm than good?
Xia Yan:Many problems cannot be treated with advantages and disadvantages. The WeChat circle of friends is the most effective way to spread today. This is also a kind of “circle”. It is difficult for us to reject this highly efficient way of communication. As for the interpersonal circle of reality, what I want to say is that if we have no way to circumvent it, then we should use it well. After all, the circle is an effective way of communication.

ARTbaiguan: As an artist, what do you most want to tell the general public?
Xia Yan: Hello! I am Xia Yan

Solo exhibition:
Painted Visual Personal Works Exhibition (Guiyang)
2007 Unknown Mountain – Xia Yan Solo Exhibition (Jinse Gallery, Chongqing)
Group exhibition:
2011 broke into Taiwan (An Desheng Art, Taipei)
Suddenly (Wafu Gallery, Shanghai)
Mixed-up image–China Contemporary Oil Painting Invitational Exhibition (Xi’an Art Museum, Shijiazhuang Museum of Contemporary Art, Hubei Art Museum)
2010 Field Spread (Celebrity Art Institute, Shanghai)
Mixed-up image–China Contemporary Oil Painting Invitational Exhibition (Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen)
Field Spread (Blue Top Art Museum, Chengdu)
Varied landscape (Moon Lake Art Museum, Shanghai)
Vipassana (798 St. Space, Beijing)
Leading in 2009–Nomination Exhibition of Chinese Art Critics (Beijing)
The Theme Exhibition of the First Chongqing Young Artist Biennale “Cultural Imagination of Contemporary Art” (Chongqing Convention and Exhibition Center, Chongqing)
Chinese Situation–Contemporary Art Exhibition (501 Art District, Chongqing)
2008 Desire Reality (Sin Yi Yuan, Singapore)
Southwest Power – Contemporary Art Invitation (Roving) Exhibition (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu)
The Waves Program – Sino-German Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition (Sichuan University Art Museum, Chengdu)
The 4th Youth Art Exhibition of Guizhou Province (Silver Award) (Guiyang Art Museum, Guiyang)
Landscape – Seven People Exhibition, 800 Art Museum (Shanghai)
Post-Pioneer China Contemporary Art Exhibition (Hong Kong)
Shanghai Spring Art Salon (Shanghai)
“Art is a kind of work” Southwestern Contemporary Art Studio Invitational Exhibition (Shanghai Mengnali Art Center)
“Animal Carnival” Chinese Youth Artists Exhibition (Chengdu Sichuan University Art Museum)
“The Quartet of the Oral Voice” The 3rd Guiyang Oil Painting Biennale Guiyang Art Museum)
2006 “New Power—China” Contemporary Art Biennale Beijing Invitational Exhibition (Beijing TS1 Contemporary Art Center)
Urban Parts—Contemporary Art from the Summer Capital (Chongqing Jinser Gallery)
“New Power—China” Biennale of Contemporary Art (Shanghai Yuangong Art Museum)
Urban Parts Contemporary Art Studio Works Exhibition (Guiyang Taste Space)
“Playing in the 60s and 70s” Art Exhibition (Guiyang)
“Lan Yi” Oil Painting Exhibition (Guiyang)
2005 The “Baihong Imagery” Theme Exhibition of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Academy (Beijing)
2004 “China’s New Vision”—Chinese Youth Artists’ Works Exhibition (Shanghai)
2003 The First Shanghai Spring Art Salon Exhibition “Joint Exhibition of Young Artists” (Shanghai)

Categories
当代 艺术家

Contemporary | “Stubborn and Enduring Illusion” Surrealist Artist-Liu Di

Surrealist artist- Liudi

Self Weight
Self Weight

Liu Di is a Chinese artist born in 1985 in the province of Shanxi, China.
In 2009 he graduated from the Department of Professional Photography of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and just one year later, in 2010, he won the Lacoste Elysee Award for his series entitled “Animal Regulations”.

Liu Di - Animal Regulation IV No. 4
Liu Di – Animal Regulation IV No. 4

Liu Di is an artist who, to create his works, uses digitally manipulated photographs to investigate the friction between the natural world and the inhabitants of cities in China.
Use digital tools like Photoshop to relate human and animal figures and the landscape, changing its proportions. In fact, the distortion of the proportions of his subjects places them within the urban and natural landscapes of his land, China.

In 2012 he created one of his most famous and important series playing with the juxtaposition between the disproportionate human nudes and the natural environment.

Exhibition
Exhibition

“By violating the rules of common sense, we can break the hypnotic trance induced by the family reality”

Liu Di - The Weigh of Oneself No.1
Liu Di – The Weigh of Oneself No.1

In 2013 he creates one of his most recent series, evolving to the previous series, “Animal Regulations”.
The series features a series of exaggeratedly large, cartoon-like wild animals, such as the giant rabbit in Animal Regulation No. 7, sitting amidst the destroyed landscapes of residential neighborhoods. Their heads are disproportionately small in relation to their massive bodies giving them a caricatural comic effect.

Liu Di - Animal Regulation No.7
Liu Di – Animal Regulation No.7

Liu Di conceived the project for the first time while walking through the crowded outskirts of Beijing, a city that was very familiar to him.
“Looking at the decrepit living blocks, I had the vague but strong feeling that something was missing between the ground and the sky”

Liu Di - Animal Regulation IV No. 18
Liu Di – Animal Regulation IV No. 18

“I felt the urge to add something that would push people to look at familiar scenes with a new and long look”

“Something powerful and impossible to ignore, but not something that would make people panic. … In the end I decided it was supposed to be a huge animal”

Liu Di - Animal Regulation IV
Liu Di – Animal Regulation IV

Thus, using Photoshop, she re-proportioned a panda, a rhino, a monkey and a frog and placed them in gigantic dimensions in squalid urban contexts. By making these heavy-bottomed beasts locked up in the back streets, in the yards and in the courtyards of social housing, she highlights the relationship between nature and human society.

Liu Di – Animal Regulation No.17

These works look at a mutually destructive relationship through the ruins of both human and animal life spaces. Her photographs distort the banality of reality to provoke the viewer to review her urban surroundings.

Stubborn and persistent hallucinations

Through the images, composed of over-sized subjects set in suburbs, settings like residential complexes, Hutong neighborhoods and scenes of demolished houses, transforms the urban landscape into a surreal playground on which towering massive inflated animals, but confined by the surrounding environment.

Stubborn and persistent hallucinations

Exhibitions:
2010–2015 reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today – A Travelling Exhibition, the Musee de I’Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland
2010 History Lessons, Pein Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2009 Niubi Newbie Kids II Exhibition, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2009 Journey of A Thousand Miles–2009 CAFA Excellent Graduation Works Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2009 Young Artists Promotional Exhibition — 2009 Beijing 798 Festival , Beijing 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
2009 CAFA Graduation Works Exhibition, China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2009 Cograda Word Design Congress 2009 Beijing , CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China

References:
https://www.artsy.net/artist/liu-di?page=1&sort=-partner_updated_at
https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/liu-di/
http://www.whiterabbitcollection.org/artists/liu-di-%E6%9F%B3%E8%BF%AA/
http://www.artnet.com/artists/liu-huaishan/biography
http://pekinfinearts.com/en/artist/liu-di/
https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Liu-Di/37510B7EED388BD6
http://www.artlinkart.com/en/artist/overview/0faazArj

Categories
对话 当代

当代 | 张向明：用极度写实捕捉灵动之美

Zhang Xiangming: The Inner Vividity Hidden in The Hyperrealism

Among the artists based in China born from the 1950s to the 1970s, many of them are famous for the female portraits works in realistic style. The artist Zhang Xiangming, who is born in Shandong Province and Graduated from Shandong Normal University art department in 2003, defines his women portraits as a realist style, but actually it is shown quite clearly on the paintings the artist’s observation and refining of the inner world of these figures. In these faces and eyes, the characteristically vivid beauty of Chinese girls escapes from the classic close-up portrayals of hyperrealism which seems no easy to catch, but is presented by him on canvas with great clarity.

The series called Beijing Girls is the artist’s experiment and exploration for the beauty of oriental women. Among them some early works are portrayed with headdresses and make-ups originated from Chinese opera, which have also been added to the later works as “unreal details”, tending to display the hazy implicit nature via featured oriental elements.

Artbaiguan: We noticed that some of your works have typical marks of Hyperrealism, is this the main direction and technics of your career?

Zhang Xiangming: Yes, my works tend to be realist, like the series Basketball created in 2014, but I had to suspend it after completing the 7th piece because of some limitation unexpected.

Artbaiguan: Beijing Girls should be one of your most acclaimed series in China as well as in other countries, Could you talk with us about your intention for it?

Zhang Xiangming: Depicting female portraits is always my passion. I have never tried to paint portraits like these before 2006, but in my works I found myself partial to depict the face expression, so I gradually removed the body and focused on the closed-up faces. I named them Beijing Girls because my studio is in Beijing and all the painting models are based here.

创作《北京女孩》系列的初衷还是由于我个人的兴趣点在这里吧，我2006年之前没有画过大头女孩，后来在创作中比较偏爱对人物神态的表现，所以我在画面构图上逐渐把身体部分去了把人物面孔放大了。《北京女孩》这个名字当时也没有考虑太多，当时工作室在北京模特也都是北京的就定了个《北京女孩》作为我这一系列的名称。

Artbaiguan: It is regarded as a portrait work from the first sight, but we can find some special artistic effects in it. What is your intention for them?

Zhang Xiangming: Zhang Xiangming: Each one of my work is originated from the photo of a real person, but my aim is not just to depicting them. I reconstruct and integrate the facial features, trying to present in my paintings the inner feelings of the oriental women that I perceive, and construct my interpretation of the beauty.

Artbaiguan: We found that some of your portraits are based on images of public figures and stars, aren’t they?

Zhang Xiangming: Yes, I also choose images of celebrities as references.

Artbaiguan: Which part of your work do you think is the most painstaking one that takes you most of the time and energy?

Zhang Xiangming: For me the most challenging part is not dealing with technical details, but to be able to grasp the people’s emotions and feelings in that very moment, it is the crucial point of the whole work but also most difficult to complete.

Artbaiguan: The dimensions of this series are all huge, is it an advantage o disadvantage for your depiction?

Zhang Xiangming: It is an advantage, for sure. Because usually a painting in large size leaves to the viewers a strong visual impact and deep impression, making it more than just a painting.

Artbaiguan: What do you want the viewers see when they look at your paintings?

Zhang Xiangming: I hope they can be touched by every figure’s inner spiritual nature hidden in the eyes and under the face, not just be surprised by my painting techniques.

Categories
对话 当代

专栏 | 艺术家郑路 – 东方古韵和当代语汇

Zheng Lu: Reconstruct the oriental culture with a contemporary expression

“Creation now for me is a part of my life, every one of my work is like one of the tiny pieces of my life. I blow it up because it is importante to me, and I interprete it in an unique way.”

——Zheng Lu

Zheng Lu, Sculptor, born in Chifeng in Inner Mongolia in 1978.

In the artist’s own words, he has been brought up in a family who lived a life close to the texts, both in work and off time. The family atmosphere gave him such a strong influence that the texts from Chinese literature once became the core of his sculpture creation and the source of the inspirations.

Chinese Ancient Literature as A Starting Point With Contemporary Expression

In childhood Zheng Lu has spent lots of time staying with texts, he helped his father to copy his articles when 6 years old. Based on this experience, the audiences should not be too surprised to think about the artists idea when looking closely at his metal work, Water in Dripping(2015), constructed by “words”. Actually these texts are from the Chinese ancient poem Wan Zhi Shui written by the realist poet Bai Juyi in Tang Dynasty. It talks about the metamorphosis of the water between the statical and dynamic status as an metaphor of principles for conducting. The artist intended to present the drastic moment of the water, interpreting both the static and dynamic aspects of it with the whole text of the poem.

According to Zheng Lu, the Wan Zhi Shui by Bai Juyi is to some extent the continuation and development of the thought of Zhuangzi, the ideologist, philosopher and representative of Taoism. Today, it comes to him to reinterpret the thoughts of these grand ideologists using contemporary languages and expressions on the base of his own observations and reflections, trying to give the oriental classic culture a contemporary appearance. This is highly thought of in the field of Chinese contemporary art.

The Uniqueness May Become the Limit

When everything is rapidly developing, taking a look back can actually be another way of moving forward.

——Zheng Lu

In Zheng Lu’s point of view, one big question of the process of sculpture creation is how to break the traditional rule fixed at the beginning of professional studies, which always requires the artist to start from a concrete object. For example some of his works are based on texts, an object quite concrete, which for him is to some extent a kind of limitation against the creation. Being willing to and good at breaking the old way of thinking and the fixed method of creation is hard but extremely necessary for the artists.

The Crossover Concept Should Fulfill the Need of Expression, But Not to Be the Starting Point

Zheng Lu believes that, the trend in the future will no longer be based on single media o material. The world changes rapidly at every moment, the everyday information is in an explosive growth, all these require that the artists should catch the pace of the world. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t let the trend to limit his creation.What he concerns about is not the media, due dimensional o three dimensional is not so important, what he is doing is to consciously give up the inherent awareness and way of expression, keeping the creative state through the continuous self- criticizing.