At the beginning of the new year, Vientiane is renewed. On the first day of the New Year in 2022, the Hongqiao Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai ushered in the "Looking Back - Shanghai Centennial Events" Character Painting Garden Exhibition. Standing at the historical intersection of the "two hundred years" goal, looking back at the history of the past hundred years, observing the great changes of the Chinese nation from an artistic perspective, examining the past, present and future of Shanghai, there will be a new understanding of the root causes of the urban spirit of Hai na Bai Chuan, the formation of the Shanghai culture, Jiangnan culture and red culture, and a deeper understanding of why the Communist Party of China was born on this land.
The vast river of history is formed by the confluence of specific people living at that time. As a thematic art exhibition, "Looking Back : Shanghai Centennial Events", it is ingenious to sort out the century-old history of Shanghai in the form of figure painting. The exhibition is sponsored by the Shanghai Artists Association, the Shanghai Democratic League Calligraphy and Painting Institute, the Hongqiao Museum of Contemporary Art, and initiated by the shanghai figure painters in the name of "Figure Painting Garden", displaying nearly 100 figure paintings, both newly created by painters and selected from a large number of thematic works they have created in recent years.
What is particularly eye-catching in the exhibition is a set of works "Shanghai Centennial Events", which is also the title of the entire exhibition. "Shanghai Centennial Events" selects a typical location in old Shanghai and revolves around the story that took place at this location, in the picture, there are not only citizens, but also a large number of historical figures and important historical events. This set of works is composed of "Pidgin", "Jiuqu Bridge", "Zhang's WeiYuan", "Sixteen Shops", "Four Roads", "Ai Li Garden", "Paramount", "Big World", "Shanghai Liberation" and so on.
One hundred years ago, Shanghai has become a world-famous bustling metropolis in the Far East, where Chinese and Western cultures collide and collide, and traditional culture and modern culture compete and blend here, leaving countless important relics and stories worth recording. On the one hand, Shanghai at that time was a paradise for adventurers and a world for the rich; on the other hand, the working people at that time were deeply oppressed by the three mountains and gave birth to a strong desire to overthrow the old world and turn around and seek liberation. Because the painters of the Figure Painting Garden have been engaged in the creation of Shanghai-themed works for many years, they have a very deep memory and imprint on the earth-shaking changes in Shanghai in the past hundred years.
Ye Xiong, convener of the Character Painting Garden, told reporters: "The motivation for creating this set of works has a long history, I painted a set of comic strips with old Shanghai themes "Midnight" in the early 90s of the last century, and since then I have always had the desire to continue to create works with old Shanghai themes. In the past, although I painted a group of Chinese paintings "Sixteen Shops", it was weak and did not become a climate. This time, the painters of the Figure Painting Garden worked together to excavate from all angles in Shanghai, and various styles were gathered. The number of people is great, and the grand scene of the great Shanghai jumps out at once. Sang Linkang, a painter at the Painting Garden and director of the Shanghai Artists Association's Comic Strip Art Committee, felt the same way. A few years ago, Sang Linkang painted a "Big World" comic strip and collected a lot of information, and this time, he frankly said that it was equivalent to a concentrated interpretation of more than three hundred comic strips.
Talking about the creative process, Xin Bingyong, a painter at the Painting Garden, said: "The difficulty is really not small! ”。 Although the painters have decades of experience in the creation of figure paintings, and several have won many national art awards, most painters are still the first time for the creation of such genre paintings. In order to paint this set of works, they searched for a large number of historical documents and books, visited the older generation of insiders, and collected various materials about old Shanghai in detail. In the process of creation, he changed his manuscript several times, maintained his unique personality in style, approached each other in expression techniques, and learned from each other's strengths and weaknesses artistically.
Because there are many characters in the picture, there are many storylines to be expressed, and the span of time and space is large, it is relatively difficult for painters to control, so the effort is also very deep. Zhu Xinlong, a painter at the Painting Garden and former president of the Meishan Academy, said: "After the creation of this set of works was completed, we tried to launch it on the public account, and the response was quite good. Experts and scholars in various fields have placed high hopes on us, and while encouraging, they have also put forward many insightful opinions and suggestions. From the height of Zhenxin Shanghai's realistic figure paintings, higher requirements have been put forward for us, which is undoubtedly a great encouragement for the painters of our painting garden."
Yesterday, a seminar on the content of the exhibition and the current status of realistic figure painting creation was held at the Hongqiao Museum of Contemporary Art.
The famous painter Wang Guanqing pointed out: "Painters should have social responsibilities, and social change and progress are promoted by people, which is also the main theme of the work." In this sense, figure painting should attract full attention and widespread attention. "He admits that the current situation is actually a bit embarrassing, under the role of the market economy, there are fewer and fewer figure painters, and even in many exhibitions with major anniversaries as the theme, theme creation and character creation are seriously lacking." In this exhibition, we see the persistence of a group of realistic figure painters. Not only did they meticulously create such a set of difficult and high-quality works as "Shanghai Centennial Affair", but their other figure paintings were also wonderful. ”
This time, Wang Guanqing specially selected a sixty-year-old figure painting "Going to School" to participate in the exhibition. He laughed and said, "Entering the new century, I would like to encourage myself and encourage everyone to learn again and start the struggle again." ”
Wang Guanqing hopes that "Shanghai Centennial Events" can continue to be painted until the present. "Today's first works have made a good start. It is hoped that the creators will continue to work hard to make a contribution to the revitalization of Shanghai's realistic figure paintings; at the same time, influence more painters to get closer to life, express life, and produce more works that praise the era, reflect the progress of human society, reproduce major historical events, and the spirit of the advanced characters of the heroes and models of Everbright. ”
"Shanghai Centennial Events" in the process of creation
Zheng Xinyao, chairman of the Shanghai Artists Association, said: "A group of figure painters in Shanghai who came out of comic strips, with a sense of dedication and responsibility, continued to study and explore on the road of Chinese painting at an old age, and created a group of works with old Shanghai themes and a number of main themes. These works are highly ideological and have distinct themes. We know that as a character painting to show so many characters and storylines have a certain degree of difficulty, they have a breakthrough in the treatment of art, on the basis of inheriting the tradition combined with the treatment of Chinese painting, not only maintain the style of Chinese painting, but also very popular ornamental. The Figure Painting Garden can unite the figure painters, base themselves on Shanghai, and create positive energy reflecting the theme of Shanghai, which deserves support and affirmation. ”
Mao Guolun, a famous figure painter, said: "Shanghai needs such works that solidly express the theme of Shanghai's history. Today's painters, if they have the ability, should paint such works. ”
Xiong Yuezhi, vice president of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the group of works "Shanghai Centennial Events" is very excellent and has become a vivid textbook, from which people can understand the history of Shanghai, interpret Shanghai's red culture, and establish today's cultural self-confidence. "There are works in this group of works that fight against imperialism and works that celebrate the liberation of Shanghai. On the whole, these works conform to the characteristics of the main theme and vividly reflect the sentient beings of Shanghai society. Through these works, we can see how Shanghai developed step by step, and what the social structure of Shanghai was at that time. ”
It is reported that the exhibition will continue to be exhibited after the first exhibition of the Hongqiao Museum of Contemporary Art is completed, and then moved to the Guoji Art Museum in Shanghai. Since then, several art museums have issued invitations to make exhibition reservations. The nine works of "Shanghai Centennial Events" are only the first part of the artists' creations, and in the future, this series will continue, and in 2023, the 180th anniversary of the opening of Shanghai, the audience is expected to see more abundant works of "Shanghai Centennial Events".
Author: Fan Xin
Editor: Zhou Minxian
Editor-in-Charge: Huang Qizhe
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