Simple and Qingqi, Sincere and Natural: A Brief Analysis of Wang Hong's Fine Arts

Author: Li Li (Literary critic, vice president of Liaoning New Poetry Society)

Wang Hong's works are thunderous, and when his eyes touch his northwest and northeast paintings, his heart will subconsciously "cluck", like thunder and souls. The mind that is covered and numbed by the tightened daily life is awakened and has been shaking, and the body odor of various lives intertwined with touch and gratitude is nourishing, making you want to say nothing. This is the state of art.

Specifically, the thunder that shakes the soul in Wang Hong's art works is that he paints the nostalgia in the hearts of many people. Nostalgia is a block in Wang Hong's heart, and painting is dissolving it; at the same time, nostalgia is also the driving force, allowing him to pour all his emotions into the hometown that once nurtured his life and spirit. Fields, crops, relatives, the courtyards where he lived, and the land that had rattled apart from drought that had made him anxious, these familiar things were the thorns that had penetrated his emotions. To draw them is to pick out the thorns that torment his soul, to calm the emotions, and to reset the twisted humanity.

October Frost Red (Chinese painting) Wang Hong

If you look at his works that paint the customs and customs of the northeast, each one is delicate and exquisite, and many details are depicted by a brush: the multiple postures of a corn, the multiple expressions of a branch, the demeanor and eyes of people, the wrinkles that represent the wind and frost of the years... They are all displayed by lines of different shades and thicknesses. Each stroke is like a knife carving, painting Chinese paintings as delicate and exquisite as oil paintings, as elegant and simple as the velvet woven from needle and thread. This not only shows his pen and ink skills, but also reflects the creative theme of writing God in form.

For example, the first painting that touched me, "Autumn in My Hometown", the basis of the picture is the corn in the north, as if it were piled up like gold, and the picture is oblique, as if it is on a hillside. In fact, the painter uses subjective emotions to change the objective real scene to highlight the most moving parts and make the picture stand up. At the top, a peasant couple was highlighted, their expression was serene and deep, the man had some fortitude, and the woman had more kindness in her arms holding her grandson. Behind this calm expression were the sweat, blood and tears that had once existed. In this way, the work is moved by the emotional ups and downs of the painter. Similar works include "Quiet Autumn", which depicts a quiet farm courtyard, but the different stacks of grain show the busyness of the farmers in autumn, and the stones on the walls of the house are of different sizes, which are very curvy and beautiful, which adds to the interest of the work, from which the painter's pen and ink skills can be seen. In addition, there is "Sorghum Red", which fills the heart, and "The Noonday Sunshine", which uses virtual and real to shock the vision and bring people into the realm of truth and illusion.

Wang Hong's Northeast series, although the scenery varies according to the changes of the four seasons, all consistently present a realm of tranquility in the far east, reflecting the characteristics of warmth and beauty. Those pure natural works, several of which are named "silent", "Silent Years", "Silent Snow Falling", as well as "The Land of the North", "The Sky of the Earth and clouds" related to heaven and earth, as well as "Purple Xia", "Autumn Xia in the Wilderness", "Spring comes and goes" with the characteristics of the seasons, etc., these works present a kind of natural courage. It is only in such pure nature that the painter's soul can be purified and sublimated, which contains the painter's mood and desire to convert to nature.

Nostalgia is the common theme and experience of Chinese and foreign artists in ancient and modern times, which is reflected in the creation of individuals and shows different strong personal characteristics, some expressing excitement, sadness, guilt and repentance, and some are just the opposite, reflecting calm, cheerfulness, relief and openness. These different experiences depend on the individual's personality endowments and experiential feelings.

Looking at Wang Hong's northwest sketches with this understanding, we understand that these works on the northwest road are still the continuation and expansion of nostalgia. The basic elements that make up the northwestern sketches are: towering hills and mountains; paths leading to the distance, sometimes downhill, sometimes flat, but very curved; sometimes donkey carts on the road, and the backs of small people; and the water of the Yellow River, stone mills, stone walls that have fallen into disrepair, and warehouses crooked in the middle of the middle. Of course, the most common occurrence is the cave door, the beautiful wooden lattice window on the door, and sometimes you will see the curtain with magpies falling, which makes people feel warm in their hearts and feel that it is home. On the gray sky and background, the swallows that appear many times are like blooming fine flowers, but also like densely lit stars, so that people have a flame rising in their hearts, so the work also has a loud component, and in the soul, it has echoed and communicated with those paintings in the northeast.

But aesthetically, Wang Hongdong's paintings are more qingqi, that is, Qingjun and Lingqi. These sketches in the northwest are partial to the wilderness, that is, casual and free, and a little rough and rough. Their common character is poetry, that is, lyricism. The touching core of Wang Hong's nostalgic works is sincerity. Sincerity makes creation simple, of course, simplicity is not simple, not cutting corners. Simplicity is an attitude that filters out the cumbersome and complex, filters out the hypocrisy and the vaudeville-like ingenuity that many painters are proud of. Based on the truth, based on the truth, and naked as the skill, let the simplicity of washing away the lead naturally appear. Wang Hong's works are therefore not only touching, but also have an exciting power.

Such nostalgic works are in line with the road of art, and at the same time have the true flavor of art. The true taste is light, not modulated, not strongly fragrant and sweet, and not thick and fatty. Just like the mountain wild vegetables in the northeast, it starts out as light as it is almost nothing, then it is slightly bitter, and then it becomes more mellow and long when chewed. This is Qinghuan, the best true taste in the world, and it is not polluted, not only clearing heat and detoxification, but also beneficial to the soul. I understand this as the charm of Wang Hong's overall work, and it is also the taste that rises on the tip of his tongue when I look at his works.

Guangming Daily (11/11/11/2021)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily