"I often wonder, if Chen Yifei were still alive, what would he have done in the past 15 years?" Chen Yifei's younger brother, painter Chen Yiming, said.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the death of painter Chen Yifei. On the evening of November 29, conductor Long Yu conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Lanzhou Concert Hall Choir, joining hands with baritone singer Liao Changyong and soprano singer Huang Ying to perform Gabrielli Foley's Requiem in D minor. On the stage, flowers surround a portrait of Chen Yifei, with a sideways face and a smile.
Chen Yifei
Why commemorate a painter with a concert?
Baritone singer Liao Changyong
Soprano Singer Huang Ying
Chen Yiming still remembers that on the fifth anniversary of his brother's death, the Shanghai Art Museum held the "Chen Yifei Art Exhibition", borrowing 58 oil paintings of Chen Yifei from all over the world, which was the largest and most complete exhibition held since his death. The exhibition also looped chen Yifei's four film clips of "Old Dreams at Sea", "People About Dusk", "Escape to Shanghai" and "Barber".
Since then, there has been no large-scale exhibition of Chen Yifei's paintings for ten years. "Now the price of his paintings is so high that collectors cherish them, and even if we are willing to buy insurance, it is very difficult to borrow these paintings."
This year, due to the epidemic, the offline activities originally scheduled to be held on April 9, Chen Yifei's death day, can only be changed to online. This concert, in Chen Yiming's view, is a belated commemoration, but in a just right way.
"Chen Yifei loves music very much, and he used to go to the alley near the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with his friends to buy records. He has many musician friends, and music has profoundly influenced his composition. His paintings and films are full of musicality. Chen Yiming said.
Chen Yifei "Musician Series"
After living in the United States in the 1980s, Chen Yifei created the famous "Musician Series" oil paintings. Including "The Flute Bearer", "Quartet", "Harpist" and so on. Most of the paintings are beautiful Western women, either holding musical instruments or playing. He uses realist techniques to depict characters and instruments, and the background boldly uses black to give people endless imagination.
Conductor Yu Long invited Chen Yifei to a concert in Beijing. After the concert, Chen Yifei had a long conversation with Yo-Yo Ma and Yu Long. "The three of us talked about art and life together, and we had a lot of fun." Yu Long had a dream of becoming a painter when he was a child, and half a year before Chen Yifei died, they took the same flight, and Chen Yifei also invited Yu Long to enjoy the fun of painting together.
Chen Yifei", "Ode to the Yellow River"
Chen Yifei,"Yutang Spring Warmth"
Painters Zhou Chunya and Ding Yi also came to the concert site. In the 1970s, Chen Yifei successively created oil paintings such as "Ode to the Yellow River", "Occupation of the Presidential Palace", and "Pacing". When Ding Yi was a student, Chen Yifei's paintings were printed as posters and pasted in the school's studio, becoming a model for the younger generation to learn.
During his stay in the United States, Chen Yifei's works such as "The Relics of Xunyang", "Poppies", and "Night Feast" were born, and he also held solo exhibitions at the Cochrane Museum in Washington and the Venice Biennale, gradually winning a reputation in the world art world. After returning to China, he broke through his identity as an oil painter, shooting movies and starting fashion magazines.
"Chen Yifei is an artist, social activist, a promoter and practitioner of the concept of 'great art', and a person who keeps pace with the times. I believe that his influence on the entire art world will not disappear with his departure. His works have touched many people to this day, which is why so many people from different industries and fields gather in concert halls today. Ding Yi said.
On Chen Yifei's epitaph, there was such a line: "He once touched the world with the beauty of China." This sentence comes from Chen Yifei's friend and writer Yu Qiuyu. Before the commemorative concert began, Yu Qiuyu stood on the stage and said a paragraph. "We should be proud of the city. We are proud of our memory of beauty and proud of our willingness to come to the ceremony of honoring beauty. ”
If Chen Yifei is still alive, what will he do in the past 15 years?
Chen Yiming said: "In the early 1990s, Chen Yifei put forward the concept of 'big art', engaged in clothing, running magazines, and making movies, and some people criticized him for 'not doing the right thing'. Nowadays, everyone in the art circle is playing cross-border and has become an art trend. Chen Yiming believes that if his brother did not die prematurely, he would definitely spend more time continuing to practice and continue to subvert.
When Gabrielli Fore's Requiem in D minor was finished, Yu Long, standing on the podium, did not make the gesture of the end of the usual piece, but stood quietly with his hands folded.
Chen Yifei Memorial Concert
"I hope Mr. Yifei, who is in heaven, can hear tonight's music." Long Yu said, "Art is the spiritual home for all of us. ”
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Zhang Yi Photo Editor: Zhu Xuan
Source: Author: Wu Tong