Looking back on his career, Japanese contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara, whose Chinese new book "Yoshitomo Nara: Beginning in an Empty World," said: "Embarking on this path of continuous creation is a way of life for me. My life has always been accompanied by the desire for freedom and praise. ”
In Shanghai, veteran journalists Gong Xinhan and Jia Shumei held an exhibition to present "so many delicacies in the country" with 70 photographs. A solo exhibition by Vietnamese artist Le Chao Dian depicts the rise and fall of life in the Mekong Delta. Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the Uk will welcome curator Claire Lee. BTR, who focuses on urban writing, allows art to pour into urban reality in his newly published novel Shanghai Capsule.
The Paper, Art Review, "Art Figures of the Week", reports and analyzes art topic figures and hot events at home and abroad.
Japanese contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara
Chinese new book published: Every Day of Craving Free Painting
Yoshitomo Nara
In March this year, Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara's first solo exhibition in China will be held in Shanghai. Recently, the new book "Nara Michi: Starting from an Empty World" was published by Purui Culture and Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House.
"Nara Michi: Starting from an Empty World" [Japanese] Nara Michi / by Yuan Jing, Tang Poems / Translation
Purui Culture, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, January 2022
Yoshitomo Nara's work stems from the "empty world covered in snow" in the depths of his heart. Childhood memories, music, literature, time spent studying and living in Germany (1988-2000), his exploration of himself, contemporary art from Europe and Japan are his inspirations. In the book, Yoshitomo Nara looks back on her creative career.
Yoshitomo Nara was born in December 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. After spending his teenage years of rock 'n' roll, fighting, and drawing, he took a nude sketching class by chance and decided to make a living by "drawing". After graduating from Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts, he went to study at the Art Institute in Düsseldorf, Germany. Published in Europe, Asia, the United States and other places.
The new book consists of an autobiography, Half a Life, in-depth interviews from seven perspectives (growing up, art, music, literature and film, pottery, travel, and connections with others), recent exhibitions, photographic works, chronology, etc., as well as his life photos, classics, and latest works.
In the book's "Self-Introduction", Yoshitomo Nara writes, "I... Just because I like to draw, even if I am over 30 years old, I still study in art school. I was not satisfied with the education in Japanese schools and went to Germany to study. When I graduated from school in Germany, I was almost 35 years old. I'm not escaping from reality, escaping from society, I'm just craving every day when I can paint freely. Now, this book, which records half of my life, has been published in China. What should I say to the readers of this book, who have not held any purpose or purpose in life all these years? I never used painting as a means of making a living, nor did I see it as my profession. Yes, embarking on this path of continuous creation is not a career choice for me, but a way of life. My life has always been accompanied by the desire for freedom and praise. (Finishing/Hatamachi)
Shanghai | Veteran journalists Gong Xinhan and Jia Shumei
70 photographs presenting "so many delicate rivers and mountains"
Gong Xinhan
Jia Shumei
Gong Xinhan and Jia Shumei, who are eighty years old, are two senior journalists, publications, propaganda and cultural workers, and also photography enthusiasts, who have taken a large number of photographic works in their long-term careers, going deep into reality, going deep into life, and going deep into the masses.
On January 22, they jointly launched 70 photographic works and held the "Exhibition of So Many Delicacies in Jiangshan - Gong Xinhan and Jia Shumei Photographic Works" at the North Bund Art Museum of the China Book Court in Shanghai.
The photo exhibition revolves around the theme of "so many delicate rivers and mountains", and selects 70 photographs created by them. From these works, you can appreciate the splendid colors of the land of Shenzhou and the beautiful scenery around the world, and some humanistic works are full of profound cultural connotations. Gong Xinhan and Jia Shumei have participated in many photography exhibitions, and have published "Gong Xinhan Calligraphy Photography Collection" and "Jia Shumei Global Photography Essay Collection", and the two veteran leaders of the press have dedicated their years of photography to their friends who love art, so that everyone can feel so many delicacies in their lenses and taste the scenery of the landscape.
Gong Xinhan's "Heavy Snow Pressing Qingsong (Heilongjiang Yabuli Ski Resort)" photography
Gong Xinhan "Phoenix Island (Sanya, Hainan)" photography
Born in 1940, Gong Xinhan joined the Liberation Daily newspaper after graduating from the Department of Journalism of Fudan University in July 1964. Since July 1983, he has been the executive deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. In April 1993, he was appointed deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department and deputy head of the National Leading Group for Double Support. After his retirement, Gong Xinhan continued to work hard, holding personal photography exhibitions and calligraphy exhibitions in many places, and participated in the production of 100 episodes of biographical documentaries such as "One Hundred Years of Masters".
Jia Shumei was born in January 1941 in Binzhou, Shandong Province. He was the executive vice chairman of the All-China Journalists Association (China Journalists Association) and the chairman of the Shanghai Journalists Association (Shanghai Journalists Association).
Jia Shumei "Spring to Shanghai" Photography
Jia Shumei "Yu garden golden autumn (Shanghai)" photography
At the exhibition site, the second from the right is Jin Binghua, former secretary and vice chairman of the party group of the China Writers Association, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and deputy director of the Science, Education, Culture and Public Health Committee
Jin Binghua, former secretary and vice chairman of the party leading group of the China Writers Association, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and deputy director of the Science, Education, Culture, and Public Health Committee, said in his opening speech: "Comrades Gong Xinhan and Jia Shumei have long been committed to the news and publication and cultural undertakings of the whole country and Shanghai, and have made positive contributions. They are the leaders of the first batch of journalism majors trained by Fudan University in New China, and Chen Wangdao and Xia Zhengnong are the predecessors here. The photographic works on display this time are a reflection of their love for life and love for the new era, and have a high level of photography, showing the basic skills of 'one pen' and 'one camera'. (Text/Li Mei)
United Kingdom | Curator Claire Lea
He was appointed new curator of the Sculpture Park in Yorkshire, UK
Claire Lea
Clare Lilley has been appointed as the new curator of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the United Kingdom, and she will take over as the opening director, Peter Murray, who has been the director of the museum for 45 years since the park opened in 1977.
Claire Lee graduated from the University of Manchester in Art History and has extensive experience in planning public sculpture exhibitions. Previously, Claire Lee was the Project Director of the Sculpture Park, where she curated solo exhibitions for artists such as Damian Hirst, Shirin Neshat, KAWS and others. She is currently planning the first major Exhibition of British Sculpture by the late American artist Robert Indiana. The exhibition will "explore the subtle qualities of Indiana's work and his perception of the dark side of the American Dream, where acceptance and love are themes that run through Indiana's work and that are still relevant today," the Yorkshire Sculpture Park statement reads.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
"We are all facing the environmental and social challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and I am confident that Yorkshire Sculpture Park's outstanding team, directors and patrons will be well positioned to cope with future crises, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to make Sculpture Park more dynamic and resilient." Claire Lea said.
Currently on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, there are exhibitions of sculptures and tapestries by British artist Annie Morris, "When Happy Things Come", and Rachel Kneebone's "399 Days". (Text/Qian Xue'er)
Shanghai | Vietnamese artist Le Chai Dian
From the individual to the society, the solo exhibition depicts the rise and fall of life in the Mekong Delta
Lai Chao Dian
Recently, Vietnamese artist Lê Tri u i n (born 1943) solo exhibition "The Edge of Memory" was held in Shanghai. The nearly 20 works in this exhibition, all created from 2020 to 2021, the artist combs through his memories, recent thoughts and emotions by depicting the rise and fall of life in the Mekong Delta, and explores the social and cultural attributes contained in the individual's existence from the perspective of the self.
"I was born and raised in the Mekong Delta, a land that is a melting pot of cultures: Ch n L p, Ch m, Khmer, Hoa and Vi t. The traces of wars, reclamation, open land, the establishment of villages, the construction of stupas, the living places of each region and people are condensed in every stroke of memory. Li Chaodian introduced. His "memory" contains both a review of his personal upbringing and a "cultural memory" of delta development. Lê Chao Dian's narrative techniques incorporate images, patterns and ancient scripts of various ethnic groups and religions that permeate the daily life of Vietnam, conveying emotions in layered abstract expressions.
"The Edge of Memory" exhibition site, Du Mengtang (Shanghai)
In the Mekong series, the artist connects his feelings with the historical changes and social life of the Mekong Delta. The alluvial-filled river flows through mountains, lakes and fields, continuing many cultures and ethnic groups within the realm. The intertwined blue-green-purple and red-brown-yellow blocks in the background of the work are like the epitome of the alternating morning light and the changing seasons in the delta region. Strange graphics and symbols are a collection of ubiquitous boats and bullies in hats, rice paddies and orchards bounded by river channels, crowded floating markets, Buddhist temples and dwellings attached to the banks of the river. (Finishing/Qian Xueer)
Writer and contemporary art creator BTR
The novel "Shanghai Capsule" is published: art pours into urban reality
btr at the "surging afternoon tea" scene. Liu Yichen Figure
An exhibition can become a novel, creating a fictional situation in real space; a novel can also become an exhibition on paper, weaving fictional components into real life.
Recently, the Republic of China and Beijing Daily Publishing House published BTR's novel "Shanghai Capsule". Like collecting objects for a museum, Btr watches, imagines, wanders in his novels, and always slyly slides into another space in those moments of epiphany. Art intervenes between man and the world, and the 19 stories are like 19 mirror halls reflected in the virtual reality, and 19 journeys involving the virtual and the real are intertwined, preserving the wonderful capsule full of myths for the urban life of this era.
Shanghai Capsule btr by Republic of China Beijing Daily Press, January 2022
Born and living in Shanghai, Btr is a multi-habitat creator who writes novels, translates novels, compiles magazines, takes photos, paints, curates, reviews contemporary art, literature and film, publishes works such as Shanghai: Notes on Urban Life, "Lost Nerves", "Mini", paul Auster's "Loneliness and What It Creates", Saatchi's "Cruel Minimalist Thinking", Zach Roque's "Story Museum", etc., and has served as the curator of the Literature Section of Loud Exhibition and Zhu Hao Photography Exhibition "Like a Movie".
Writer Sun Ganlu commented, "BTR is an Asian city observer. Everything on the street, from the messy wires to the dirty dumpsters, from a light in the middle of the buildings to a piece of scrap paper in the corner, is touched by his contemplation, thus appearing poetic and ambiguous; he finds Asia everywhere, or he reveals an Asian perception everywhere. A vast locality, a self-transcendent everydayness. ”
The 19 stories in the book include The Night of Red Carp Horn, shanghai capsules, adventures, and night labyrinth. In BTR's pen, the reader can expect that somewhere, art suddenly pours into reality, changing it. (Finishing / Hatamachi)