Zhai Chaohui, a reporter from the Economic Daily, reported that in the face of the development of digital and new media, how can photographic art be correct and innovative, and the "Painting-Shadow" art exhibition of Chinese photographer Wei Xiang, a Chinese photographer in Hungary, held in the gallery of the Hungarian Photographers Association in Budapest on January 3, 2022, with the theme of "Memories of Hometown", may be able to give an answer.
The Hungarian-Chinese oil painter and photographer Wei Xiang and his photographic paintings. Photographed by Zhai Chaohui.
The art exhibition selects 35 works by Wei Xiang in recent years to recreate the art of taking documentary humanistic photos in many parts of China, and Wei Xiang calls this art form of combining photography and painting "photographic painting art".
For the creation of this new form of art, Wei Xiang said that from the day he came into contact with photography, he preferred documentary photography, liked the authenticity and sense of life conveyed by photography, and although he tried to choose the best angle and the most appropriate moment to press the shutter, he still could not avoid many accidental factors that interfered with and destroyed the picture. While enjoying photography, he was also a professional painter with formal oil painting professional training, and after gaining considerable experience in the two different fields of art, painting and photography, he began to think about how to combine the two.
Wei Xiang further explained that in recent years, different methods of re-creation have been tried, such as like photographers a hundred years ago, directly on the printout of the photo and then finely depicted, as well as with heavy oil paint to cover the body of the photo, only to retain only the most important parts of the image in the photographic work, and tried different carriers such as paper and cloth. But these physical, chemical or digital means still produce photographs, and their reproducibility becomes a constraint on artistic originality, and it will not yet form a large market development.
He then thought of integrating oil painting techniques into photography, through the use of color and the re-emphasis of the theme, and strive to retain the documentary value of the photo, but also to carry out the author's subjective interpretation of reality, so as to achieve the uniqueness of the work. For example, this painting "Playing Chess" uses oil painting to re-adjust the composition and sense of light, highlight the various actions and expressions of the characters in the atmosphere of chess meditation, remove too many cumbersome details and unsatisfactory places around, make the moment more exciting, and make the photographic works have both a sense of oil painting.
Wei Xiang said that it is not easy to launch breakthrough and innovative works, and this exhibition can be said to be a useful experiment and stage summary of his own exploration of photography art over the years.
The art of photography and painting aroused great interest from the audience. Members of the Hungarian Photographers Association and nearly 100 Chinese-Hungarian people who love cultural exchange attended the event. Photographed by Zhai Chaohui.
Hungarian art historian Ur Gabriela spoke highly of Wei Xiang's photographic painting art, saying, "As a Chinese artist who has lived in Hungary for a long time, Wei Xiang has skillfully brought this life experience into the Hungarian contemporary art stage through photographic art, through these works, you can see the intersection and influence of Europe and China in the field of contemporary art." These works are not simple photography + painting, it has the author's strong re-creation of its theme, and it is not a simple covering and beautification of the photo with the help of modern digital technologies such as Photoshop, but through the reprocessing and re-creation of the picture theme, composition and light sense, the new artistic presentation after reinterpreting the work and highlighting the theme of the photo, and making this art unique compared to the photo. ”
Teacher Wei Xiang delivers a speech at the opening ceremony (first from the right)
Zhai Chaohui (first from left), a reporter from the Economic Daily, interviews Bachi Peter, president of the Hungarian Photographers Association.
Baki Peter, president of the Hungarian Photographers Association, said, "Wei Xiang not only created a new visual language that integrates painting and photography, but he also used the art of photography to successfully build a bridge of cultural exchange between Hungary and Hungary." Holding photography exhibitions for each other is an effective way for audiences from the two countries to get to know each other well, and can more intuitively enhance mutual understanding. We look forward to more people-to-people exchanges between Hungary and China. ”
Wei Xiang is currently the executive director of the Hungarian Photographers Association, and the only Chinese member of the Hungarian Art Association, in recent years, by promoting Hungarian photographers to go to China many times to collect style, so that more Hungarian people have the opportunity to understand the multi-angle Chinese and society, of which the "Silk Road Mirror" photography exhibition has become a brand project of cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Hungary.
Wei Xiang said that although the epidemic in Hungary is still very serious, the art exhibition is still held, the purpose is not to let the epidemic have too much impact on Cultural Exchanges between China and Hungary. From the first time in 2013 when six Hungarian photographers were brought to Beijing, Sichuan and other places to collect their style, every year an art exchange activity with contemporary Chinese and Hungarian society as the background has been held, and its influence has become increasingly large.
Hungarian media coverage of the exhibition ↓