What kind of spark can ancient ceramics and Chinese paintings collide? How can different art disciplines be reflected in each other? The art exhibition "Porcelain Rhyme Danxin - Collision of Cai Zangguan Kiln Porcelain and Chen Qi's Calligraphy and Paintings" unveiled at C3M North Bund Art Museum today makes people feel the surprise that comes to them.
The "Porcelain Rhyme Danxin" in the title of the exhibition is taken from the harmonic sound of "Porcelain Rhyme Danqing", but it is more connotative, and in addition to the artistic conception, there is more mood. A total of 30 pieces of Cai Xuanmin's official kiln porcelain and Chen Qi's paintings painted with this as creative materials are exhibited in this exhibition. This unique art exhibition lasted more than two years from planning, creating and exhibiting, and its initial bud can be traced back to more than a decade ago. It is an enlightening and creative new attempt by Cai Xuanmin and Chen Qi, collectors and artists who have a long history of porcelain and calligraphy and painting art, to express how traditional Chinese classic culture can be modernized in the current context.
Cai Xuanmin is currently the Special Dean of the School of Ancient Ceramics Art of Ningbo University and the Dean of the Huaxia Ancient Ceramics Science and Technology Research Institute. The best objects selected for this exhibition are his favorite top collections. Cai Xuanmin bought back a large number of national treasure-level objects lost from the Yuanmingyuan and the Forbidden City in Europe, and specifically asked the other party to go through the public auction channel, so that the artifacts returned to "orderly circulation", corresponding to the ancient book records "well-documented". In the collection and arrangement, he slowly formed an idea, selected the top official kiln ware in his collection, looked for an excellent calligraphy and painting artist, and used these official kiln porcelain as materials for artistic re-creation, spreading China's unique porcelain culture to today's audience.
Chen Qi, vice chairman of Shanghai Artists Association and director of China Artists Association, specializes in flower and bird painting. He also studied the collection of ancient porcelain and was also interested in the combination of official kiln porcelain and Chinese painting and calligraphy.
At the beginning of their acquaintance, the two of them hit it off on the concept of the collision of official kiln porcelain and calligraphy and painting art, and they talked happily.
The 30 top official kiln porcelain in this exhibition are all national treasure-level porcelain that Cai Xuanmin bought back in Europe, which was lost in the Yuanmingyuan and forbidden city. From conception to creation, Chen Qi changed his manuscript several times and kept improving, and 30 works took more than two years to complete. In the research and practice of porcelain painting creation, he has been pursuing the combination of official kiln porcelain and calligraphy and painting creation, or recreating according to the shape, pattern, color and spirit of official kiln porcelain, which is the first attempt. How to grasp the relationship between the spirit of the object and subjective feelings, the relationship between porcelain characteristics and personality style, and the relationship between artistic creation and artistic re-creation are all problems that Chen Qi needs to think about and solve in her creation.
As a representative figure of contemporary Hai school calligraphy and painting, Chen Qi's painting style that he has worked hard to polish contains two "qi" characters, one is magnificent and the other is meteorological. The ink lines of introverted and external release, inner and outer looseness, and inner and outer qualities reflect the vitality of Chen Qi's art. Faced with 30 pieces of official kiln porcelain, the artist chose to pay tribute to a Chinese painting of the same size— 2.1 meters in length and 0.6 meters in width, as the fruit of the soul. In fact, just by virtue of his brushwork, that is, the strength of the ink line and the various colors born of the heart, even if it is a small page, he also feels the majestic momentum like a small view. In fact, the "weather" of Chen Qi's paintings is the variety, versatility, and variability of the brushwork, as well as the diversity and richness of the pictures caused by the extension.
"The combination of official kiln porcelain and calligraphy and painting creation, or the re-creation according to the shape, pattern, color and spirit of official kiln porcelain, is the first time for me." In the creation, it is also impossible to paint gourds in the same way, so it loses the creative significance of the collision of official kiln porcelain and calligraphy and painting. Chen Qi said. Before creating, he first studied and sorted out porcelain, understood the characteristics of porcelain, historical background, evolution process, and tried to focus on traditional calligraphy and painting forms in conceiving the entire exhibition framework and display method. The way the works are presented is also very special, the mounting method of calligraphy and painting is also the traditional court mounting technology, mounting style, and even the decorative shaft head is specially drawn by him in Jingdezhen according to the content of each work.
Qingqianlong blue and white guqin
"Green Chrysanthemum Afterglow"
Porcelain of each era has its own characteristics, and different porcelain also has different kiln quality, porcelain sense, color and other characteristics. Chen Qi's creation can be said to be a unique Chinese painting tailored for each piece of porcelain.
For example, in the face of the "Qingqianlong Qinghua Guqin" with chrysanthemums wrapped in branches, Chen Qi created the "Qingju Afterglow Map", which filled the picture with quality white chrysanthemums, and the expression method was filled with hook lines, mainly blue and white colors, and the theme form, style and porcelain style complemented each other.
Song Jian kiln partridge cup
"A Little Plum Blossom Heaven and Earth Heart"
For example, in the face of the extremely rare spotted partridge spots of the dot-color kiln partridge", Chen Qi created "A Little Plum Blossom Heaven and Earth Heart", taking the expressive method of my big-scale ink plum, dotting the plum blossoms, large branches, traditional dots and lines, plus the expression of modern ink language, and its artistic expression effect is similar to the porcelain effect of the partridge.
It is extremely challenging to create a number of modern paintings in the face of beautiful ancient porcelain, which is an artistic re-creation process based on the artistic creation of the ancients. The resulting paintings and porcelain complement each other and have a unique style, such as the intersection of Jinlan, and the dialogue between them is also like the dialogue between the ancients and the present, telling the strong history and culture behind the porcelain. Contemporary calligraphy and painting works and the corresponding official kiln porcelain reflect each other, which not only has a sense of historical immersion, but also a smooth and vivid exchange of ancient and modern time and space.
Wang Yonghao, vice chairman of the China Literary and Art Critics Association and vice chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, pointed out that although ceramics are out of mud and fire, they are in harmony with water, and many times they rely on painting, and only when they are in harmony with paintings can they be elegant and gain weight. Therefore, people can see the linkage between the prosperity of flower and bird painting and the underglaze painting of Changsha kilns, and the Gongbi painting has more resonance in all kinds of porcelain below the Song Dynasty. As far as the Tang Yue kiln celadon of a thousand peaks of emerald color to the Songguan kiln celadon of ice victory jade, every more "skillful bright moon dyeing spring water, gently swirling thin ice green clouds" of the grace and charm, sometimes as green as the sky, thin as paper, the so-called "ancient pottery heavy green products", the pursuit of nothing more than the beauty of the painting and ink that people are known for. Even the kiln-changing glaze, which is full of illusionary effects, is like "sunset purple and purple suddenly becoming a lan", which is also similar to the ink blending of traditional paintings.
Wang Yonghao believes that the 30 paintings that Chen Qi was invited to create this time convey the charm and beauty of porcelain in detail, "there are such admirable shapes as "Yuan Qinghua Fish Algae Pattern Auxiliary First Jar" and "Encounter with Blue and White Flowers", and there are also informal ornaments such as "Song Jian Kiln Partridge Cup" and "Dotted Plum Blossom Heaven and Earth Heart", which show its allegorical spirit from the kiln porcelain sense. And the image of the trees with different postures is even more unique to him. Such a famous painting and a famous porcelain exhibition are not only the most compatible, but also the most rare. ”
Author: Fan Xin
Editor: Xu Yang
Editor-in-Charge: Wei Zhong
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.