Zhonghe Sun Yongkang
Video loading...
As the Year of the Tiger approaches, 93-year-old renowned artist Ding Liren began to present dozens of his paintings at the Mio Art Center in Shanghai on January 22, 2022, "Fu Hu Ascending - Ding Liren Art Exhibition".
"I painted more than a hundred tiger paintings, when I painted while looking, I saw the place where I was satisfied, and my heart was naturally happy, this happiness was only the happiness of myself, and the happiness of being alone was at best 'solo music'. Now these tigers all 'stand up', run out of the cage, climb up the wall of the exhibition hall, light up, meet with the audience, let the public appreciate, and enjoy the public, which is called 'all the music'. Ding Liren said.
Ding Liren with a tiger toy designed according to his work
Ding Liren is 93 years old, with a large body, shaking his hands, walking between the exhibition halls full of tiger paintings, and seems to be a tiger and a tiger.
For painting tigers, his eyes are unable to hide the happiness, he said that he tossed alone, painting, cutting, pasting, sometimes until late at night, "I painted more than a hundred tiger paintings, when painting while looking, see the place where the heart is, the heart is naturally happy, and now these tigers are all 'standing', running out of the cage, climbing on the wall of the exhibition hall, this is called 'all music'." ”
"I have always been free and loose, painting is fun, I have to draw myself, what material and what way, you can try, it is too interesting, for painting, or ordinary to understand." 」 Ding Liren said.
"Tiger Coming" Collage on Paper 52×58cm 2021
"Heavenly Girl Scattered Flowers" Collage on Paper 41.5×58cm 2021
Ding Liren is a native of Taizhou, Zhejiang, in the 1950s was admitted to the East China Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Fine Arts), dropped out of school, after working in Shanghai in the 1960s and 1970s, he had more contacts with Liu Haisu and Mr. Guan Liang, and his art was extensive, whether it was Chinese painting, folk art and even African wood carving and Western modern art, often paying attention to the childish and naïve side, from the subject matter to the technique, there is a simple and mellow atmosphere, and the painting works have a great influence on opera figure painting, including painting, carving, paper-cutting collage, printmaking, etc.
Sun Yongkang, the curator of this exhibition, is also a student of Ding Liren, he said, "Teacher Ding with a native mentality, the tiger of nature into the tiger in the heart, so the production of hundreds of tiger pictures in this museum debuted, the exhibition is all new works, it can be seen that the teacher still treats painting with an interesting and playful mentality, free swing, tools, materials are also changed to scissors and colored paper, cut and paste, whimsical, smart and interesting, all say that painting is like its person, the teacher in front of him is a childlike old man. The teacher's aesthetic feelings for Chinese and foreign folk art have influenced my direction of art collection and management. ”
Ding Liren Zodiac bull
In addition to painting tigers, the exhibition site also includes zodiac cattle works, sculptures, etc., as well as tiger toys designed by folk artists combined with Ding Liren's tiger image.
It is reported that the exhibition will be exhibited at the Shanghai Mio Art Center until March 6, 2022.
The opening scene of the exhibition
Dialogue | Ding Liren: The pursuit of a lifetime is the state of childhood
Sun Yongkang (hereinafter referred to as Sun): I have been thinking in my head that there have been many people interviewing you in the past, and all kinds of questions. Today we will change the perspective and conduct today's interview in a free form. The earliest to follow you as a student, the most interesting, you know.
Ding Liren (hereinafter referred to as Ding): On Xishuangbanna, in the primeval forest.
Sun: Yes, in the primeval forest of Xishuangbanna, there are bolder people who go to the Border of Daluo together, that is, cross the border to Myanmar...
Ding: This kind of place is full of exotic atmosphere, and you can shoot more.
Sun: We used to go to see burmese temples. I don't know much about this, at that time Teacher Ding, you must have first understood the local cultural things, and there are special pottery for worship in the Burmese Temple, which is very interesting, which makes me very impressed. Back to our previous topic, can Teacher Ding introduce himself in the simplest form?
Ding: I introduce me, that is, my childhood, I think that a person's life has a childhood, childhood is a condensation of a lifetime, what a person is like, childhood has been expressed. I give you an example, I liked to draw very early, my father said you paint to find a teacher, there are many teachers around, the uncle is Shanghai Art College, the cousin is Shanghai Beauty College, and Wang Bomin, also my uncle's classmate, lives in my home, Wang Bomin has a good friend Chen Mansheng is also Shanghai Art College, please ask which one to teach me is good. I don't want to, why not? I have seen their paintings, I don't like them, I like to draw myself, I have been painting Journey to the West since I was a child. I have had ideas since I was a child, taught myself, painted my own, and didn't like to learn from others.
Growing up, admitted to the Hangzhou China Academy of Fine Arts, after being admitted, I think Lin Fengmian is here, I can learn from him, but also about Liang, Wu Dayu are very good, a test into the three people are on the side, then the western painting of the side, Chinese painting is also on the side, Wang Binhong, Pan Tianshou are on the side, I only have self-study, I do not learn, automatically quit school. Every experience when I was young was a copy of my childhood. So I say that a person's life, childhood has been decided.
Sun: Childhood is still very important, my own family, the environment at home, I have the impression that There is a small stage in Teacher Ding's home...
Ding: There is a drama team.
Sun: It is true that the influence of a person's environment on him from childhood can determine the long road in his future life, and even change his destiny.
Ding: It will definitely change, but the theme has not changed.
"Rain Hits Basho" Collage on Paper 36×50cm 2021
Sun: Teacher Ding, the theme of your life is your love of art, which you have been pursuing.
Ding: One of the themes of my love of art is native art, the most powerful.
Sun: Is it that I understand, Chinese and foreign folk art...
Ding: Folk art is also a native art, native art is even more expanded than folk art, no culture, no painting, no college, are all native art. So Matisse said, I can only return to the child state, and the pursuit of my life is the child state.
When I was reading, I liked primitive animals the most, single-celled animals, I didn't like higher animals, insects were more complex, lower than other animals, that is, like bacteria, microorganisms, all single-celled, all protozoa, I just like this thing. Grasshoppers, one cell, are very simple, but fully functional, it is really incredible.
Sun: Single-cell state...
Ding Liren "Playing Flower Drum" Collage on Paper 36×50cm 2021
Ding: The eyes can't see, to see the microscope, there is exercise, diet, mating everything, you see it is small, it is all complete, it has no brain, the brain is not formed, what to think? How to live, who directs it, is very mysterious.
Sun: When did Teacher Ding start to discover these things and like them?
Ding: I have loved bugs since I was a child, and after I went to middle school, there were two teachers who had a great influence on me, one was Mr. Lu Fuchuan, Mr. Lu's teacher was Zhu Xie, Zhu Shi was the director of the Institute of Experimental Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he studied in France, the famous French biologist Badrong was his teacher, and he was a proud protégé of Badrong. After he returned from studying in France, he taught in his hometown, Teacher Lu was his proud protégé, Teacher Lu taught me biology, and I was greatly influenced by him.
After graduating from high school, biology classes were gone. Later, a professor yin from the biology department of Shandong University, he went home to recuperate, and went to Taizhou Middle School to take biology classes on behalf of others. I had a good relationship with him, and I used to go to his school dormitories to look at the microscope and read his biology books. The influence of the two teachers was very great, so I did not take the entrance examination to the Academy of Fine Arts after graduating from high school, and went directly to the Biology Department of Nanjing University.
Tiger Pear Collage on Paper 36×50cm 2021
Sun: At that time, I didn't care about plastic arts, but more about science.
Ding: Art is also for curiosity, there are a lot of curious things in biology, very interesting things, the same.
Sun: So in your artistic creation, you attach great importance to fun and playfulness. Your art has become more comfortable and more casual...
Ding: Right.
Works by Ding Liren
Ding: You came out with a lot of artists in the book "The Gallery of Capital", and "Art Wall Street", you are very knowledgeable, and these two publications are very well run. There are a lot of good paintings in it, and you get to know a lot of artists.
Sun: Yes, there are a lot of ...
Ding: I have seen a lot of paintings in these two publications, not only at home, but also abroad, there are Australian, Australian aboriginal, in short, through your publications, I have come into contact with a lot of artists...
Sun: Thank you Teacher Ding for so much time, from the number of people, from the qualifications, from the experience, from the achievement of painting, in fact, Teacher Ding is the real everyone. I'm thinking, in these, you can talk about your most memorable and special experiences based on your experience, so many years.
Ding: I still go back to the state of children, my parents did not care about my painting at all, generally speaking of children, he has no idea, there is no way to master himself, all are directed by adults, you go to apply for a name to learn art, or learn piano, learn calligraphy, all parents are the master, children are passive. But my parents don't care, they play with themselves, they probably gave birth to me in their 20s, my mother is less than 20 years old, or young, they play by themselves, they have a lot of things themselves, they can't control me.
I am self-taught, self-taught what you draw, generally speaking, when I see people painting very well, I will learn from them, I did not. My father asked me to appoint a teacher and I would not learn from him. I heard my wet nurse talk about "Journey to the West", which was very interesting and began to draw. I'm going to draw Journey to the West. Because I've forgotten about it, I'm going to leave him behind. Painting "Journey to the West" is the starting point of my painting, and it is also a very important thing in my life, which is very important. My process of learning to paint is a little different from others, one is self-taught, the second is from "Journey to the West" to start painting, the third is to listen to the story and want to paint, first there is content and then there is a form, these three points are not the same.
Sun: So you have a stage to create the "Journey to the West" series, which shows that the stories told to you by adults in childhood are very important and are the source of your creation.
Ding: Right. In this, it is important for adults and elders to tell you stories, but also to see what stories are told. And my grandmother is talking about "Journey to the West", full of fantasy and magic, which has a great impact on me, not only affected in childhood, until I am old, naturally it will affect painting, the schema is more flexible, and I am full of curiosity.
Sun: Teacher Ding, you once said that Chinese and foreign folk art has a great influence on your painting creation, especially the Chinese folk stove painting this pattern has a greater impact on you, when did you start to contact this kind of work?
Ding: I think many things in life are elusive, such as stove painting, I have never thought about stove painting, of course, it is impossible to find stove painting, they are all accidental, so the wonderful experience of life is wonderful in this place. How did I come across the stove painting? Also related to insects, insect research institute often go to the countryside to catch insects, catching insects is not to catch a look, is to investigate the situation of insects, what it looks like, is the larval stage, or the adult stage, three days two ends to the countryside to investigate. Once, the weather was very hot, the mouth was very thirsty, went to the farmer's house to beg for water, pushed open the door between the stove, the stove was very small, the light was very dark, one side of the stove was very white and conspicuous, and the painting on the stove wall was the stove painting. Yo, as soon as I look at this painting, I am engaged, no matter his subject matter, the method of expression, as well as the composition, the brushwork, which is exactly what I want to paint. His theme is ordinary things, fish, lotus, lotus, and some others, some of which are written words, what fire candles are careful, the world is peaceful, and there are more than one year, five grains and riches, all are auspicious, and the words are not like a serious calligraphy, they are all casual, they are all original. Painting is also not learned to paint people paint, is the stove of the mason painting, the mason naturally did not learn to paint, after the plasterer built the stove, but also to make the owner happy, the wall painting, lively and lively. When cooking rice, there are good things to see, three strokes and two strokes are good, this casual work is the reason for my heart, so I was very touched when I watched, I even felt more wonderful than the Dunhuang murals. This painting will affect my current painting style, so this unintentional encounter is very big.
Sun: It is also very important that you came into contact with a lot of paintings when you were young, and you saw a lot of Impressionist and Fauvist things from your uncle's studio, including German Expressionism, these things in your childhood, plus the folk stove paintings you came into contact with later, these things blended together to form a multi-faceted expression of your own, which is not easy...
Another problem, paper cutting is your best trick, and a large number of collage works have been produced in recent years. There is still your unique way of expression on this, which is quite amazing. I saw a tiger in your work some time ago, the tiger is standing, the body has the English letters cut and pasted from the printed material, and I suddenly felt that this work is flexible and forms an international context, which is quite interesting.
Teacher Ding talked about when you began to tend to collage, and what is shown in it, what is thought, and the inspiration is played without boundaries, which is quite unique.
Ding: The production process of collage is also paper cutting, cutting paper, putting paper together, his source is paper cutting, paper cutting I started in 2000, it has been 22 years, time passes quickly!
Entering this house in 2000, there is no furniture, it is empty, just a table in a small room, there is a pair of scissors on the table, there are a few pieces of paper in the drawer, I want to draw now there is no condition, there is nothing, then cut the paper. Cut for more than 2 months, probably cut more than 100 pieces, all hands, a subject matter, nothing else.
Sun: The number of creations is quite large.
Ding: Later, at the platform in Beijing, China once came to me and said that this was good, and I could hold an exhibition, and I went to hold an exhibition. Later not much cut, until 2019 cut some colorful hands.
Sun: Later I started cutting and pasting insects...
Ding: I like insects themselves, it is very convenient to cut and paste, the more cuts, there are more than 100 pictures.
Sun: Cut-and-paste insects can't be harvested, and then cut and paste cattle...
Ding: The Year of the Ox has been sheared. In the year before the New Year, in 2020, the Museum of Contemporary Art also came to me, and if they didn't come to me, I wouldn't think of cutting cattle.
Sun: The cows sheared are also quite wonderful...
Ding: They came to me to provide the image of the cow, I cut the cow, my cow has never been cut, and then it was cut out like this. At the end of last year, 2 or 3 months before the year of the tiger was cut, and it will soon be the year of the tiger, and I think it is not interesting to cut cattle again...
Sun: Yes, yes, cutting tigers... The Year of the Tiger shears the tiger, red and red, blessed and rich.
Ding: Then I will cut the tiger, but the tiger is blank in my mind... Because, I've never cut a tiger.
Sun: But now I see that the tiger picture you have made is quite rich...
Ding: I now find that before I cut a blank, can be changed, as long as the brain moves, he will not be blank. After I cut the paper of the cow and the tiger, I have this feeling, as long as your heart is put in, there will be many images that will come, so my article says that the heart is successful, the heart and the hand are corresponding, this heart is very important, and the brain is very important.
Sun: When the heart arrives, the work is established.
Ding: Yes, the heart must arrive first.
Sun: It's quite interesting. Teacher Ding is highly respected, what do you have to say to the artists who are now young and engaged in artistic creation?
Ding: It is very important to maintain the state of childhood, see the world's things are very rich, very fresh, are the first time to see, then your creative subject matter is no problem, everything can be painted, the style does not pursue him, he will come by himself, the problem is not to paint old, to continue to innovate, to keep moving forward, courage to move forward is very valuable, do not look back, everything will pass. I think art is actually like that.
Sun: You don't need a serious book, it's just painting...
Ding: Yes, it's not about creating, it's about painting and playing, so in life, artists and painters are paintings, and it's very easy.
Sun: You wrote in a picture book a few years ago: "There is no difference between a peasant and an artist, except that one uses a hoe, one uses a paintbrush, one is in the land, and the other is on the canvas, leaving his own mentality."
Ding: Yes, why don't farmers cultivate the land?
Sun: It's okay to have this state of mind, there's no need to pretend more, and now there are a lot of artists who pretend to be above this and have a high self-esteem. But what you have come through along the way is the true thing, the self thing, the fairly free thing, which is very precious. How many people can stay the same for 90 years, always energetic and have been insisting on hand painting. In Teacher Ding's current works, there is still more humor and fun, and the childlike heart is still there.
Ding: In fact, there is a kind of humor in painting, like this tiger I painted, this is humor.
Sun: Yes, like this tigress on the wall behind me playing the piano, it's a kind of humor in itself, quite interesting.
Ding: Artistic life is alive, and if you paint it in a serious way, you will freeze to death.
SUN: Yes, yes.
Ding: It's fun, it can't be a frozen thing, cows can also play the piano, right, people say play the piano to cows.
Sun: Yes, people say that playing the piano against the cow is playing the piano indiscriminately, but the cow plays it to you, and this is a kind of humor. Don't be fun.
General artists are more conservative, there is only one style, but your style is always changing, and there is a very important point in the constant change, that is, others always feel that this is Ding's work, not that it is someone else's, or Picasso's, Matisse's, so it is not interesting. It is to learn from others, and no matter how you change, in the end it is your own style of work, this is not easy, can you explain why this phenomenon occurs.
Exhibition site
Ding: Why do I want to change, it is not that I change for the sake of change, I think a person's life is very short, the earth is 4.5 billion years, life is at most 100 years old, some people can't get there, like Zhu Zhengeng is 9 years younger than me, very early to go, like Lu Shen left, Zhou Shicong also left. I think living every day is precious, to be worthy of life, you so-called painting, all day painting one thing to do, painting to be rich and diverse, to keep changing, the more the better, even you don't necessarily paint, do anything else, all kinds of things can be. But it is not idle, you have to read and study, when you read and study, I learn the piano and learn the violin, that is, I will use the limited life as much as possible. The same style is not interesting, not only change the style, but also the materials to be diverse, the tools are diverse, the production methods are diverse, you see I not only paint, paper cut, carving, materials should also be diverse, so rich worthy of their own life.
Editor-in-Charge: Lu Linhan