On December 24, 2021, "Beauty in Guangdong - Exhibition of Cantonese Artists from the Collection of the National Art Museum of China and the Guangdong Museum of Art" and "GDMoA Annual Artist Academic Nomination Exhibition (2021)" opened at the Guangdong Museum of Art. The two exhibitions start from the traditional and contemporary perspectives respectively, and bring more artistic enjoyment to the audience in southern Guangdong at the time of retiring the old and welcoming the new.
The New Year's Eve exhibition of the Guangdong Museum of Art opened.
"The opening time of the exhibition has passed through 2021 into 2022, and we spend the Lunar New Year with us, which is two New Year's Eve exhibitions." Wang Shaoqiang, director of the China Artists Association and director of the Guangdong Museum of Art, said that "Beauty in Guangdong - The Exhibition of Cantonese Artists from the National Art Museum of China and the Guangdong Museum of Art" is more about studying the past, while the "GDMoA Annual Artist Academic Nomination Exhibition (2021)" enriches the present and future in contemporary art. The two exhibitions jointly sort out and show the continuous changes of Guangdong art, so that the audience can understand the changing context of Guangdong art in about an hour.
More than 100 works are collected
Reorganize Guangdong art works
"Beauty in Guangdong - Exhibition of Cantonese Artists from the Collection of the National Art Museum of China and the Guangdong Museum of Art" is jointly organized by the National Art Museum of China and the Guangdong Museum of Art. This exhibition brings together more than 100 works by artists from the Collection of the National Art Museum of China and the Guangdong Museum of Art, including Ju Lian, Li Tiefu, Gao Jianfu, Situ Qiao, Guan Liang, Lin Fengmian, Li Hua, Gu Yuan, Huang Xinbo, Hu Yichuan, Guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai, Yang Zhiguang, Tang Xiaoming, etc. in Guangdong, and some works by invited artists, which better reflects the overall level of Guangdong art creation.
"In the course of revolution, construction, and reform to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Guangdong artists have written brilliant significance in the history of Chinese art in the 20th century with their brushes and carving knives. Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China, said.
Gao Jianfu's "Tomato Bird", Chinese painting, 139.7×45.4cm, National Art Museum of China
Guan Shanyue, "The Great Wall Inside and Outside the Chaohui", Chinese painting, 141×202cm, 1973, National Art Museum of China
Since 2017, the Guangdong Museum of Art and the National Art Museum of China have carried out continuous exchanges and cooperation in academic research and exhibition cooperation, and have repeatedly brought the audience similar academic ideals, different cultural focal points and rich exhibition dynamics in the form of touring exhibitions and invitational exhibitions.
Since the 20th century, Guangdong painting has begun its transformation from traditional form to modern and modern forms, and has also produced a huge radiation force and driving force for the transformation of modern Chinese culture in the overall sense. Many artists have gone out of Guangdong and become active in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places, becoming the pioneers of modern Chinese art.
Many of them are even considered by researchers to be the founders of the basic pattern of the development of modern Chinese art. For example, the early oil painters, the Lingnan School, the Chinese Painting Research Society, etc., all reflected the characteristics and cultural spirit of Lingnan's openness, inclusiveness, innovation and change from different angles.
Portrait of Liu Suwei, Li Tiefu, oil painting, 102×77cm, 1942, Collection of Guangdong Museum of Art
Yang Zhiguang's "Dance of Young Workers", Chinese painting, 115×75cm, 1956, National Art Museum of China
"It is hoped that through this exhibition, the audience can feel the real and concrete artistic transmutation from the rich images, explore the dialectical relationship between social process and art creation, and show the spirit of independent thinking and courageous practice of Guangdong artists in various periods." Wang Shaoqiang said that on the one hand, the exhibition will reorganize and classify Guangdong art works, on the other hand, it will also communicate and interact with the audience through various cultural products.
Build a platform for leapfrog communication
Observe and study the art ecology of Guangdong
Since the 20th century, the Lingnan School of Painting has been the pioneer of "integrating the past and the present, promoting the old and bringing out the new", and the spirit of innovation has always guided the people of Southern Guangdong to forge ahead. The Guangdong Museum of Art has also continuously deepened its academic research system in the history of modern and contemporary art, and has carried out the upgrading and iteration of the exhibition system in the fields of Guangdong art, coastal and bay area art development, contemporary art, and the future construction of talent training mechanisms.
The "GDMoA Annual Artist Academic Nomination Exhibition (2021)" uses a new selection and curatorial mechanism to carry out observation and research on the art ecology in Guangdong and even the whole country, focusing on the artistic context of China's diversified development today, excavating art creators with the spirit of exploration and expression, and building a leapfrog communication platform in the interaction of scholars, the public, and artists.
The exhibition features works by a number of active Chinese contemporary artists, including Cao Fei, Gu Xiaoping, Guo Gong, Jiang Ji'an, Li Bangyao, Li Changlong, Li Yongzheng, Pei Yongmei, Qiu Ting, Wang Yin, Xu Gang, Xu Wentao, Yang Maoyuan, Yin Xiuzhen, Zeng Jianyong, Zhan Rui, Zhang Fangbai, Zhang Wei, Zhang Xiaotao, Zheng Da, Zheng Guogu and others.
Cao Fei "Asia One" Single-band HD image 63 minutes 21 seconds 2018
Guo Gong "Cut Question - Stainless Steel A-1" Stainless Steel 123× 1140× 188cm 2015
Judging from the exhibited works, the works of art are rich in forms, ranging from traditional forms such as painting and sculpture on the shelf to "postmodern" forms such as installations, videos, and concepts.
As one of the earliest explorers of video art, Cao Fei, who graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, paid deep attention to the workers in the factory in his early creations and used them as the protagonists of his works.
Cao Fei's current exhibition "Asia One" is a fictional film that tells the futuristic love story between only two male and female employees in a logistics warehouse controlled by smart devices.
In Wang Shaoqiang's view, Cao Fei is good at using black humor and surreal beauty to express the changes that people encounter in production and life caused by economic growth, urban development and rapid globalization. By fusing elements of surrealism, pop culture and documentary, she creates a unique visual language that constructs real and illusory scenes that calmly reveal the changes in people's understanding and self-perception of reality at the moment.
Written by: Nandu reporter Wang Meisu Correspondent Liu Dani Zeng Ruijie
Photo: Courtesy of Guangdong Museum of Art