When I met him in Wu Xue's studio, he had just finished writing two letters that his friends had asked for, and placed them on the wall to dry ink. The early winter afternoon was already a mesmerizing scene, everything was quiet outside the window, and his studio was already inky. We admired the new words on the wall, and the lines of books fluttered and made people shake. "Write every day, and what is missing on this day without writing." Wu Xue smiled.
This can be understood as the daily practice of the artist, or the natural dependence of the writer on pen and ink, and I think of Wu Xue in one of his writings, especially mentioning the self-consciousness of writing. "If a book writer does not have the will to write, can he write a good work without embarrassment?" ...... The boundaries between art and art, art and Taoism are related, and subjective will and textual cognition are also integrated. ”
Li He's ancient poem - South Garden
Artistic creation is the nature and instinct of the artist, to create as the strategy, to art as the source of livelihood, such a person is happy.
Wu Xue may be such a person.
Calligraphy and Philosophy
Wu Xue was born in Bozhou, Anhui Province, under the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion of the Mengcheng Confucian Temple and the Ji Kang Pavilion commemorating Ji Kang, one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest". When he was a child, his father Wu Xue practiced calligraphy, from his own ignorant letter writing to the enlightenment exercises in the training class, from the Tang Kai Han Monument to the Xingcao, Wu Xue's calligraphy talent was obvious, he was sensitive to the ink world between black and white tones, for him, lifting the brush, he found the essence and sustenance.
This may be related to his birthplace, that ancient and rich town is known as the "hometown of China's Yanglian", and Wu Xue's calligraphic memories since childhood are also related to the paintings of Yanglian. "Learning calligraphy, writing calligraphy well, and developing calligraphy all require a strong cultural heritage. Calligraphy is rooted in the soil of traditional Chinese culture, which is the background for the survival and development of calligraphy. Therefore, it can be said that culture is the essence of calligraphy. The cultural soil of his hometown is Wu Xue's pride, and it also helps his perseverance in calligraphy.
Spring words
At the age of 18, Wu Xue was admitted to the Department of Political Science of Anhui University. When majoring in the Department of Politics, Wu Xue chose philosophy. "Philosophy and the art I like don't seem to be close, but I think that anyone who studies calligraphy should learn a little bit of philosophy." The neutral beauty of Chinese calligraphy's pursuit is consistent with the 'Taoist nature' advocated by our Taoists and Confucians. Philosophical thought can help us to balance this 'neutralization'."
This pursuit of "the beauty of neutralization" accompanies Wu Xue from teenager to middle age. Whether studying in the Department of Philosophy or participating in the work of government agencies, calligraphy has always been one of the ways for Wu Xue to express himself and the Qingming Dynasty. After years of stealth and hammering, he made the book the focus of his artistic creation.
Wu Xue felt that this was related to his personality. "I have a gentle personality, and I also prefer the rhythm of writing books, which are elegant and calm. At the same time, I think that contemporary books are the most easily accepted by people, and they are also in line with the aesthetic tendencies and tastes of contemporary people. "Wu Xue's writings, with Wang Xizhi as the sect, Sumi as the body, and the strengths of the Ming and Qing dynasties, pursue the integration of the thesis and the stele, and have their own style. For a long time, Wu Xue has taken "striving to be righteous and new" as his creative goal, and he hopes that he can use calligraphy to express the feelings of the times of contemporary people.
The sentiment of the times and romanticism
"Feelings of the times". This is the main core breath in Wu Xue's artistic creation. The combination of traditional art and the sense of the times is the proposition that Wu Xue has been thinking about. In recent years, he has successively held exhibitions and special collections such as "Ink Dance Snow Fly - Wu Xueshu Ouyang Xiu Chuzhou Poetry Works Exhibition", "HanMo Feelings - Wu Xue Calligraphy Works Exhibition", "Spring Story - Wu Xue Calligraphy Works Exhibition", "Chinese Dream - Wu Xue Calligraphy Long Scroll", "Han Mo Tang Yun - Wu Xue Shu Wang WeiShi Works Collection" and other exhibitions and special collections, with the purpose of seeking a breakthrough in the form of calligraphy art through the excavation of calligraphy themes.
Mei Xue fights for spring
In 2013, Wu Xue created a long volume of "Chinese Dream", which expressed the lyrical poem "Chinese Dream" by the famous Anhui poet Yan Jin in the form of calligraphy. "As a literary and art worker, I must dedicate myself to this great dream." Wu Xue's "Chinese Dream" was inscribed by Sun Jiazheng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and su Shishu, vice chairman of the China Book Association. The China Book Association held a special launch ceremony and donated the work to schools, troops, communities and libraries on the spot.
In 2015, the calligraphy group exhibition with the theme of "Gentleman's Wind" ended in Guangzhou in late October, and Wu Xue, together with Lin Yang, Qu Bin and Qiu Shikun, three fellow calligraphers, used Danqing to express the call of positive energy to society. "Inheriting the context, cultivating the body and mind, expressing emotions, and returning to the essence", this is Wu Xue's understanding of the essence of traditional Chinese culture, and it is also a requirement for personal artistic creation.
In addition to the creation of "the theme of the times", Wu Xue's calligraphy is also cultivating his romantic feelings.
In 2014, at the invitation of the publishing house, Wu Xue's "Hanmo Tang Rhymes - Wu Xueshu Wang Weishi Works Collection" was published. The choice of Wang Wei's poetry for calligraphy creation stems from Wu Xue's understanding of the authentic beauty of Wang Wei's poetry. He spent a year obsessed with the chewing and re-creation of Wang Wei's poetry, tasting the different moods in the poet's life, and realizing the writing style and writing language suitable for these poems, and the poems of different types and moods should be matched with different fonts, forms, forms, etc., such as cursive writing for biansai poems, small lines or calligraphy for landscape poems, and lishu, calligraphy or seal books for nostalgic poems... Wu Xue studied well in the complement of books and poems: "Poetry is the true grass in my heart, and poetry is the poetry that is speechless in my heart." For the creator, poetic writing and writing poetry are undoubtedly a kind of enjoyment, which can be described as a happy life. ”
Bring art closer to life
Wu Xue has been working in the Anhui Federation of Literature and Literature for 25 years. The management and coordination work is complicated and complicated, but Wu Xue feels that this does not conflict with his own calligraphy creation. Literary and artistic people and art disciplines in different fields will give different inspirations and inspirations to art creators, and in Wu Xue's view, everything is worth learning. However, he also believes that Anhui has a strong cultural foundation, and at present, in all fields of Anhui culture, there are not many outstanding people who can stand out in the country. This is the problem currently facing the cultural development of Anhui, and it is also the burden shouldered by every artist.
Wu Xue's way of looking at things is similar to the operation of calligraphy, which is clear and consistent. He does not "deify" the role of the artist, believing that the artist should first learn to "be a man".
"Calligraphy is a synthesis of skills, arts and Taoism, and is the embodiment of a person's comprehensive quality and cultivation. A scholar must not only cultivate skills, but also cultivate art, but more importantly, strengthen humanistic cultivation, strengthen personality cultivation, and pursue a higher realm of life. Therefore, a true calligrapher should be both a master of writing, but also a model of personality and a wise man of thought. ”
Su Shi alder roll sticker
In recent years, the Anhui Federation of Literature and Art has organized various activities, such as the "Chinese Dream, Huangshan Soul" National Landscape Painting (Chinese Painting) Exhibition, the country's first migrant workers' theme photography exhibition, and the grassroots activities of thousands of writers and artists in Anhui's literary and art circles, which not only allow artists to maintain a high degree of professional research and display, but also let art and ordinary people integrate carefully, so that art is closer to life.
Wu Xue encouraged artists to get closer to life. "Contemporary art emerges in an endless stream, and people's needs for art are ever-changing, but how to keep up with the times and reflect the times is indeed a serious issue for contemporary writers." I feel that going into life, feeling life, and understanding life should be a compulsory course for contemporary scholars. We should have an understanding, a sense of understanding and discovery of the times in which we live. The problem at present is the disregard and numbness to life, and the lack of passion for life naturally lacks artistic creativity. ”
Wu Xue believes in Shi Tao's phrase "pen and ink should be contemporary": "We are in an era of turbulence, innovation and change. Technological revolutions are changing rapidly, and social change is surging forward. In such an era of challenges, opportunities and hopes, can calligraphy remain indifferent and get away with it? ”
He has high hopes for the development of calligraphy art in Anhui, whether it is the vigorous vitality of the calligraphy circle in Anhui in recent years, or the construction of the "Chinese Calligraphy Building" in Hefei, which indicates more beautiful possibilities for the development of calligraphy in Anhui: "Market value, etc. is not a problem that should be considered in the creation of calligraphers, and more efforts are still to be studied in pen and ink and personal cultivation." Wu Xue said, "At present, many scholars are actively and effectively exploring and trying, and we have seen a hot current surging forward." I believe that in the near future, Anhui calligraphy and Chinese calligraphy will be more full of flowers and hundreds of boats. ”
After the speech, the sunset is entangled, and there is the sound of children's sports frolicking outside the window of Wu Xue's studio. Time passed, and the tea in front of us was warmed up again.
Source: Jing Ya Art Network