"World of Art: Me and Contemporary Chinese Art"

Author: Liu Chuanming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Heroes and gods do not need people's adoration; rather, it is we who gain spiritual motivation and elevation, and happiness, from our "" of heroes and gods. When "" becomes a cultural trend, when pairs of commercial hands pick up scattered cultural symbols and hawk them on the streets under the guise of promoting national spirit, the lack of reverence has become a serious illness in society. At this moment, I have compiled articles on art that appeared in books, periodicals, and newspapers over the past twenty-five years into a book, which requires both patience and courage. I don't know how readers will view it in the future, but there is one thing I firmly believe: my respect for those hardworking, wise, and down-to-earth people is sincere, and the continuation of the torch of civilization is extended through their passing on. I hold reverence for tradition and elite culture.
In memory, the first painting I ever read was Bruegel's "The Shoeboy." It was in a worn-out rural cottage by the Chaohu Lake, over thirty years ago, in an old English-language magazine that I came across an illustration. The scene depicts a tired but happy boy resting against a wall corner in the afternoon sun. The colors in the painting are rich and full, and the boy's forehead, face, and chubby hands holding the nail hammer are depicted with such emotion that it seems as if the carefree innocence of childhood and the happiness of the laborer are about to spill out of the canvas. Before this, my only understanding of the darkness of capitalism and the suffering of the working class came from Hugo's Les Misérables, Jack London's The Call of the Wild, and K?the Kollwitz's woodcut Selling Blood. But this painting gave me a completely fresh perspective, freeing me from the constraints of conceptual politics. I must admit that my love for painting stems from literature, as I first entered the world of painting through reviews and introductions to it. For example, with Qi Baishi, I first learned about anecdotes like "Frog Sounds Flowing from the Mountain Spring" before I seriously began to study his shrimp, crabs, flowers, landscapes, and figures. This initial encounter determined my destiny with art and the mission I naturally carried as a critic.
When it comes to my true connection with art, I cannot mention Fan Zeng without mentioning him. It was in the spring of 1980 when he and Zhang Ting had just returned from a painting exhibition in Hong Kong and were invited to Anhui to prepare for the "Luzhou Journey" exhibition. At that time, he was at the peak of his prime, eloquent, and full of vigor. He possessed extraordinary realistic skills, and I have seen him time and again sketch vivid ancient figures with a single stroke on Xuan paper. In portraiture, he was just as decisive, using the central brushstroke like a lamp capturing shadows, with exquisite and precise accuracy. We discussed history, literature, and poetry, we talked about Ji Zha hanging his sword, Bo Ya playing the qin, and countless wise anecdotes from history, conversing with great pleasure. From Fan Zeng and his paintings, I truly felt the transcendent charm of surrealism in art.
After that, I had the fortune to meet other influential figures in contemporary art, such as Liu Haisu, Huang Zhou, Wang Zhaowen, Ya Ming, Wu Guanzhong, and Cheng Shifan. Though their styles varied—some grand and majestic, some simple and unadorned, some gentle