Dazhong Daily reporter Liu Lanhui Lu Peng
A person's spiritual wilderness must always have a landscape, accompanied by clouds and clouds, with childhood memories, setting off the background of life.
Old tree painting, few strokes. A faceless man wearing an old-fashioned long shirt and a top hat interprets the life of contemporary people in a classical landscape background.
When you first see Liu Shuyong, the author of "Old Tree Painting", you will feel that his image temperament has a huge contrast with his painting style. The old tree painting is fresh and flowing, the protagonist long shirt faceless man often has a little laziness, and the old tree Liu Shuyong is a typical Shandong Han, with strong arms, thick voice, and a large bald head. However, when you talk to the old tree and listen to him talk, his rich experience, unique insights, and spontaneous freedom are not lacking in delicate sensitivity... Let the old tree and his paintings gradually merge in my heart.
His paintings travel through time and space, and put individual thinking and expression into the classical landscape, which is both ancient and full of modern feelings. In recent years, Lao Shu has continued to post small ink paintings and harmonious poems on Weibo and WeChat platforms. These works are deeply loved by the majority of netizens, and he has also become a well-known Internet celebrity at home and abroad and one of the most popular artists among Chinese netizens.
"His paintings include mountains and rivers of the past, so that people can use dreams as horses to find the peach blossom source in their hearts; there are daily and complaining, which make people feel heart." He was not an academic, nor did he care whether his paintings were classified as new literati paintings or satin paintings, he abandoned the limitations of techniques and rules, but instead gained the joy and calm of free expression. In 2016, Lao Shu won the Artist of the Year Award of the Year in the "China Annual Cutting-edge List", the award speech said.
Lao Shu has 2.54 million Weibo followers, but few people really understand who he really is. If you think that the old tree is just a teaching gentleman who can draw, you are wrong. He studied Chinese, wrote modern poetry and novels, studied calligraphy, and worked as a bookseller, but he has always had an inseparable feeling for painting. Such a high-quality UGC has made the old tree famous.
Sincerity is both the undertone and the pursuit
In 1979, Kitajima wrote a poem called "Post", "My time is behind it, and suddenly the big drum is beating." In China that year, you can clearly hear the drums of the times suddenly beating. That year, the old tree was 17 years old, and his world also "suddenly beat the big drum". He was admitted to Nankai University, packed his bags, set off from Linqu, Weifang, the hometown of calligraphy and painting, left the protection of his parents, stayed away from all familiar things, and began to face the world alone.
At that time, there was a collection exhibition of Xu Beihong, Huang Binhong and Qi Baishi on the Fifth Avenue in Tianjin. Before going to college, the old tree living in the countryside could not even see the album, and suddenly saw such a good original, he described himself as "knocked down by the punch of the painting." That exhibition ignited the artistic flame in his heart, he began to paint wildly, and even once wanted to transfer from Nankai University to Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, there were also kind teachers to help him, but after tossing for half a year, he finally gave up for various objective reasons.
"That kind of power is extremely powerful," said the old tree, even for him at that time, painting was a luxury. At that time, he had a monthly stipend of 22 yuan, seventeen or eighteen years old is the time to eat, the old tree at most eat 9 steamed buns, but in order to paint, he made the meal as simple as possible, set aside five or six yuan a month to buy pen and ink paper.
Later, with the help of his classmates, he consulted liangqi, Wang Xuezhong, Huo Chunyang and other famous teachers. "A good teacher doesn't just teach students how many things, but can help students discover some kind of talent, work hard in this direction, and you may become." 」
After graduating in 1983, Lao Shu became a teacher at the Central University of Finance and Economics. His idea was that he could see a lot of art exhibitions in Beijing and have time to paint when he was a university teacher without having to sit in class. Later, the old tree had a studio underground, locked himself in a basement with no signal, and let his thoughts go wildly as his daily state and compulsory course. "At that time, I said two words to myself, the first word: sincerity, sincerity to myself and the world; the second word: freedom, content and form must be free." 」
Regarding the creed of sincerity and freedom, the old tree has always adhered to it. For the old tree, painting is a very real emotional solution. He also said that people should not have too strong sense of purpose and purpose, they must go with the flow, experience is particularly important, as the years grow, suddenly one day as the "Altar Sutra" said, "enlightenment is like the bottom of the barrel", then everything will be understood. This is also a kind of sincerity to oneself and to life.
During this period, old tree painting was mainly copied, and every family learned it. At first, people said that he really painted like Qi Baishi, and Lao Shu felt very happy, and he was finally able to use his pen and ink like Qi Baishi. "But then it didn't work, people said that you painted too much like Qi Baishi, this is swearing, where is your own style?" Later, he began to feel that there was no point in imitating people all day. Moreover, after watching more art exhibitions in various parts of Beijing, Lao Shu began to have a strong sense of inferiority - he had not been systematically trained by the Academy of Fine Arts, and so many painters who had received systematic training had not been painted in Beijing.
In 1985, the old tree gave up painting and did not touch the brush for more than 20 years. Of course, there is a very real reason: he is married, has children, and needs to live. Painting can't earn money, he has to spend money, he has to support his family.
"Cross-border, what is cross-border, you eat pancakes and eat steamed buns, it is cross-border?" In my mind, there is no question of the profession, where to go is counted. Old Tree's hobbies are casual and broad, and he laughed and said, "In those young years, I did what I wanted to make money, and I did ten trades in succession." ”
He was a teacher for 38 years; in 1985 he began to make ceramics; in 1984, the 22-year-old Lao Shu published his first review of the movie "Red Sorghum" in "Contemporary Cinema", and later, he wrote many reviews of "Fifth Generation Films"; in 1992, he went south to Guangzhou to compile "New China Expo", and then set up a book company to publish; he wrote novels and poems, and published novellas in "October"; he did graphic design, illustrating literary publications such as "People's Liberation Army Literature and Art", "Beijing Literature", "October" and so on. The cover of Liang Xiaosheng's "Floating City" is also from his hand; he also carved purple sand and made woodcuts... The complexity of the experience and the number of disciplines involved are in the eyes of The old tree is to go with the flow: "I am doing research on visual language and visual form, so there is no cross-border problem at all, and everything related to vision is in my research scope." ”
Lao Shu is a native of Shandong, benevolent people love people, push themselves and others, traditional thought and culture give him sincerity, the landscape of his hometown naturally nourishes his frank freedom, he uses various forms of artistic expression to clearly and strengthen sincerity and freedom. Shandong people especially talk about "filial piety", and so do old trees. He regained his paintbrush and opened the new world of "old tree painting", which was also caused by "filial piety".
In 2007, Lao Shu's father suffered from cancer, and the natural blood connection with his father made him feel at a loss in the face of his illness. "I thought my father would always be tall and could always hold up a piece of heaven for himself, but then I began to realize that my father was an ordinary person and he would get sick." The old tree told reporters. After a long night and a hard time sleeping, he thought of drawing something to sort out, and at that time he didn't know what to draw, so he casually painted it. "My father's surgery was successful, the old man is now fine, and after a few days I suddenly saw the drawing paper again, and I looked at it." Looking at the drawings on the paper, the old tree has a great feeling, which is the faceless man in the long shirt who later swept the Internet. Since then, he has regained his brush and returned to painting.
Danqing has a heart, not a famous artist; no heart to splash ink, but because of a small painting has become a million big V on Weibo. On the surface, the old tree retreats into literati painting, indulging in landscapes and imaginatives, but in reality, he is trying to do more constructive things. He said that each individual has his own mental journey, and the old tree uses the cathartic outlet of painting to see what life looks like.
Paint as you please
Watching the old tree paintings, vivid and simple, interesting. Someone asked the old tree, "How can you paint so vividly?" He replied that it might be related to age.
Someone asked you if you were a member of the Artists Association? I'm not; which academy of fine arts did you graduate from? I'm not in the Academy of Fine Arts; then you must be a member of the Council of Artists. I'm not; then how can you be a painter? I'm not a painter.
One day, a person on Weibo suddenly commented, "The old tree is neither uninitiated nor in the door, he has worn it." The old tree felt that this man could be counted as his confidant. Lao Shu said that in the middle of more than 20 years, he did not touch the brush, and many of the techniques and exquisite techniques and exquisite techniques he studied on painting were forgotten, which made him less disciplined and more free in his expression.
In the eyes of the old tree, his painting is actually painting himself, painting a real self, in the rolling red dust, sending love to the landscape and flowers, anxiety, sorrow, want to be lazy, drunk, thinking of old friends, thinking of flowers, but still have to work, live, and support the family. Sincerely depicting a real self, without concealment, resonates with thousands of "selves". The man in the robe and hat seemed to have a sound and smile, and lived, and many people filled in their own "emojis" for him in their hearts.
"Because you can't do it in reality, you live very small and concrete, and you feel that anything is possible in the painting, and you can live a big life there." There are many cultural symbols in Lao Shu's paintings, although there is a traditional literati painting style on the outside, but his paintings are contrary to the "birth" and "unworldliness" of traditional literati paintings, which are very "world-oriented", and he pays attention to precisely secular life and secular people. The ethereal mood, coupled with humorous poems, allows the viewer to have both aesthetic pleasure and empathy.
The reporter asked the old tree, what is the allusion to the man in the long shirt? The old tree laughed and said that at that time, he had drawn a figure in a long robe, and at first he did not wear a top hat because he was bald.
Lao Shu liked the feeling of men wearing long shirts during the Republic of China period, and many intellectuals at that time left photos of wearing long shirts. In addition, there is the word "cloth", which refers to the common people. At the beginning, Lao Shu made a chronicle of the history book "The Great Exposition of Old China" (1900-1949), and flipped through the old publications of the Republic of China in the museum, "Liangyou", "Beiyang Pictorial" and "Modern Pictorial". He said: "An important inspiration for me by the culture of the Republic of China is the question of how people live on their own. One should think about who I live for and what I am doing. At that time, his room was plastered with 40,000 or 50,000 black-and-white photos of the Republic of China period, and after making this book, his mind was full of the situation in the photos. Some people say that the portrait of the old tree is Feng Zikai, and the old tree says that he respects Mr. Feng Zikai very much, but it does not matter much about painting, "In fact, what I paint is the photo of the Republic of China."
Not only do cultural symbols come from photographs, but the composition of old tree paintings also stems from the study of photographs. "It's not important to paint itself, it's important to learn to observe." Lao Shu said that he was "working" every day, and he would usually carry a camera when he went out, observing and recording at any time. Sometimes, he would suddenly remember something he had seen before and paint it into the painting.
Observing a flower and a drop of water, the old tree carefully caressed every detail of nature in its heart. This time in Qingdao, even on the way to dinner, he was carefully observing Qingdao's old buildings. He also deliberately ran to Qingdao Badaguan to observe pine trees, "I often sit in the pine forest to observe the various postures of trees. Sometimes I just stare at a tree for half a day, watching the branches and leaves interspersed."
Lao Shu learns from photography, and the composition method breaks through traditional painting. "The perspective of Chinese painting is limited, there is only a three-distance method, and photography is a great extension of the human perspective." He said, "Many people think that my paintings look comfortable and transparent, but it is difficult to say clearly, in fact, the very important reason is to paint according to the perspective of photography, which is very much in line with the visual experience of modern people, including the relationship between proportions and the treatment of scenery are different from traditional paintings."
"The camera has brought us closer to the outside world." Lao Shu had carefully studied the traditional techniques of Chinese painting, including repeatedly reading and copying the "Mustard Garden Painting Notation". Later, Lao Shu found that the flat image that accompanied photography was a two-dimensional visual product close to the visual experience of people, and any photo was richer than painting. When looking at ancient paintings, there is first a layer of "diaphragm". However, the composition of the photo is very special, and the re-transformation of what the public has ignored into a strange photo, which has a great attraction to people. Defamiliarization brings a sense of novelty, which is the difference between photography and everyday experience.
For the painting of the old tree, everyone not only likes the vivid picture depicted by Danqing watercolor, but also the small poems in the painting are often like tickling, stirring people's or numb nerves, which makes people can't help but be funny. The free mood described in the poem is even more fascinating. In fact, by listening to the interpretation of the old tree, I can know that the small poem has a very important role, which can be called the key to the "traffic password" of the old tree painting.
"Language should be a bridge from which you can get to the other shore." Years of experience in visual research have made Lao Shu realize that most people's visual accomplishment has a lot of room for improvement, people's perception of the world and understanding of knowledge are first realized through text reading, and there is a habit of seeking meaning.
The relationship between color, texture, texture, and the magic of space... Many people do not know the techniques of painting, etc., but everyone knows the words, and can lead the reader into the painting through words, so that they can appreciate and understand the painting. The profound study of communication science makes the old tree painting through the boat of words in the hearts of the viewer.
"I have a lot of poems in my mobile phone, and I write half-cut poems, and I keep changing them, often writing very elegantly at first, and then changing them to the customs." The first two lines of my poem are very elegant, and the last two sentences must be very vulgar. I love this sense of dislocation. I usually write poems in six words, and the rhythm is a little uncomfortable but there is a sense of strangeness. There are a lot of considerations in it, related to communication studies, including my understanding of media, images, and words. The old tree said that writing an interesting oil poem in each painting is an interpretation of one's own situation. Through the arrangement and combination of language images, a sense of space is evoked in the viewer's mind and enters its own three-dimensional psychological space.
Who does not afford to be in the garden
Walking between heaven and earth, climbing mountains, wading through the water, is a person's private geography, those places are picturesque, simple and charming, they are still in place, waiting for the king to revisit. The old tree, which is now nearly the age of obedience, often thinks of the mountains and clouds of its hometown.
In the article "Mr. Republic of China", Lao Shu mentioned: "I have always lived with a person in the Republic of China, and this is my grandfather. "Grandpa was a teacher training student in the early 1930s, with extraordinary temperament, erudite and enlightened, and the old trees and children mainly lived by Grandpa's side.
Grandpa taught the old tree to practice writing in his childhood, and often said to him: "To be a person, you must have the appearance of a person." Old Tree also knew from his grandfather that a person's "loss of tutoring" is a very serious problem. Old tree to Tianjin to go to college, one year summer vacation just arrived home, the meal has not been finished, grandpa will carry a shovel, take him to see the rain on the hillside farmland, in the field Grandpa spoke to him a word of English, the old tree was a little surprised. Grandpa wanted to tell him two things: first, no matter where we went, don't forget your feelings for the land, we are farmers at all, don't forget Ben; second, when you go to college, you must learn foreign languages well.
Friends commented that the most wonderful thing in his paintings was crops, painting corn, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and taro, and painting them with great vigor. All this stems from childhood experience, and the old tree has a heartfelt love for the old garden.
Grandpa died in 1998, and a few years later, the memory of "Mr. Republic of China" turned into a symbol, and the man in the long shirt entered the painting, to some extent, although the flesh is old, the cultural symbol can be immortal.
The old tree has returned to his hometown more often in recent years. Spring Festival, Qingming, May Day, National Day... Taking the high-speed train from Beijing to Qingzhou, his family drove to pick him up. During this year's National Day holiday, he especially wanted to see Fa Xiao Baozhu, when Baozhu's mother died, but Baozhu still came. Baozhu and he ate a meal of braised pork, talked a lot about childhood memories, and the old tree's heart was full of mixed feelings. For the sake of getting together, it is not far away. Fear is only afraid, things are not human. Heaven forbid, there will always be people absent in the future.
Lao Shu plans a book called "The Old Garden", which tells the story of his hometown, Ping'anyu Village, Linqu County, Weifang City. Most people have lived in the world once, they are ordinary people, and no one remembers him except his children. "He's not great, but I'm going to write about hundreds of millions of people, one of the billions, who lived." Leave him behind through words, pictures, paintings, even though his flesh has vanished. "The pictures taken by the old trees, about people and things, a lot of them are the only photos in the village. Someone said to him, "My father is indeed like the picture you looked like", and the old tree was very touched to hear this.
"The painting is full of feelings and experiences, and when you see the mountain, you will remember who you came to collect firewood with at that time, what happened that day, and even if you can't find water to drink, you can't even find water to cross a mountain to find a spring." 」 During the interview, he repeatedly mentioned the old events in his hometown. He recalls going up the mountain to dig up medicinal herbs as a child, and he is still impressed by the "Atlas of Chinese Herbal Medicine" seen by his peers, and recently he is painting a map of Chinese herbal medicine.
Qilu's water and soil nurtured the old tree and shaped him from all aspects. Lao Shu also has a special affection for the culture of Shandong and the people of Shandong. He has long been concerned about supporting Shandong's photographic talents, such as Wu Zhengzhong in Qingdao, Li Baijun in Yimeng Mountain, Huang Liping in the Yellow River beach area, and Yang Ming and Ning Zhouhao in Jinan. In 2001, Lao Shu and his friends planned and organized China's first international photography festival "Yipin International Photography Festival" in Dongying, and also curated a series of photography exhibitions related to Shandong, such as "Shandong Photography Ten Exhibition" and "Night Qingdao". This time in Qingdao, he was the academic host of "A Man And His City - Wu Zhengzhong Photography Retrospective Exhibition", and he came to "work".
Talking to the old tree, it is easy to feel his inextricable concept of homeland. There is a saying in the movie "Dream Quest", "Death is not the end of life, forgetting is." "In the 2015 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, accompanied by Mo Wenwei's singing of "When You Are Old", the painting of the old tree told the past in a shallow chant.
A friend once commented on Lao Shu: "For an artist, as much as he experiences, he has as much emotion as he has; how much pain he has in life, how much pleasure he has in art... He was born with a delicate and sensitive mind, and he could feel the tiny fluctuations that others could not feel; he could remember the small details that others could not remember. So it accumulates into a very rich and thick, very detailed and very passionate person. ”
The old tree, who is nearly 60 years old, meets memories every day. He said that everyone will slowly begin to understand what life looks like as the years pass. Painting, photography and other arts are an extension of life, a way of language, and a tone for old trees. Old trees painting mountains and stones, pools, villages, trees, etc., are no longer the feeling of painting, but with the help of painting to evoke memories and constantly return to childhood.