@ Guangzhou International Art Fair
Wang Shaolun
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The multitudes looked for him a thousand times
Looking back
But the man was in the middle of the night.
After chatting with Teacher Wang Shaolun's "tea room" with you and me, this sentence of Jia Xuan suddenly came to mind.
It is a story about a calm and determined search for "God" in the midst of years.
Number of characters ≈ 4700 characters
Reading Duration ≈ 11 min
Wang Shaolun, a native of luoyang, the ancient capital, grew up in a family that loved literature and art. Her mother was skillful and good at embroidery, and her father was a middle school teacher, who dabbled in qinqi poetry and painting a lot, and her early paintings often fascinated young Shaolun. One day, Wang Shaolun asked how one of the portraits of his grandfather was drawn. Father Wang replied: You need a little sketching foundation, and then borrow a tool called "Nine Palace Grid". Soon, Wang Shaolun received a gift from his father for the "Nine Palace Grid" for the proportion of the sketch. The encouragement of his family has a subtle influence on the formation of Wang Shaolun's interest in painting.
《Home Mountain》
200X136cm
Entering primary and secondary schools, Wang Shaolun's painting skills became more and more prominent, and he was valued by art teachers. While receiving after-school tutoring from teachers at school, he also received formal training in the training class of the Cultural Center, especially contact with some art school students, which opened his eyes. Wang Shaolun gradually clarified the future professional direction. Admission to the Academy of Fine Arts became his dream.
In the absence of preparation materials and information, for this dream, Wang Shaolun spent four years, during which there were many twists and turns, but in the end he got what he wanted. In 1985, Wang Shaolun was admitted to the Chinese Painting Department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts with excellent results, and began a four-year academic life: dazed, wonderful, and exciting.
Dragon's Back
68X136cm
At that time, the economy was open, the thinking was changed, and the "Eighth Five-Year Plan Thought" swept through the academic circles and institutions of higher learning. Western modernism, postmodernism, contemporaryism, Schopenhauer, Kant, Nietzsche and other philosophical ideas have dazzled students today. The strong collision of Western ideas and traditional Chinese culture has shaken the hearts of young people who are hungry for knowledge. Wang Shaolun clearly remembers the assertion in "My View of Contemporary Chinese Painting" that "Chinese painting has reached the end of the road", and remembers that the denial of tradition, the pursuit of "self" and the publicity of Western conceptual art in the article have become the mainstream. In the excitement, he and his classmates also tried to make conceptual art with great interest. Wang Shaolun is looking forward to finding his own artistic "god" in his novel ideas and surging passion.
The Dance of Meng Chun
180X90cm
What calms down the enthusiasm for art is not the iron wall of the outside world, but the inner strength of a young man, and the confusion that grows quietly. Wang Shaolun realized that if there is not enough knowledge and connotation support, the so-called "avant-garde art" is just a novelty and self-appreciation.
In the environment of drastic changes, the teaching of the college still insists on following the steps, and has not changed because of the influence of new ideas, the Department of Chinese Painting should copy the Song paintings, and the li Xiongcai's textbooks should be studied as well. Wang Shaolun and other young students are moving forward in this extreme contradiction. Like curious and wandering tourists, standing in the middle of the bridge, one end is a brightly lit, busy traffic, cheerful and noisy street scene, and the other end is like a bean candlelight, the lights are dimmed, and the shadowy Washe Academy stands quietly on the night of the moon.
Where do I go?
Red Cloud
68X68cm
In 1989, Wang Shaolun graduated from university, which was a fork in his life, and the four years of life at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, the initial formation of the art concept and the deep friendship between teachers and students made him finally choose to stay in Guangzhou.
The "sea fever" brought about by reform and opening up has attracted many people to plunge into gold panning, and there is no shortage of cases of getting rich around, however, Wang Shaolun's original intention is unswerving, after the baptism of collision between new ideas and traditional culture, coupled with the self-exploration after entering the society, reality and rationality tell him to return to the traditional classics, integrate into the creation of natural teachers, and precipitate and condense the self-value of Chinese painting creation in both. When he was faced with many opportunities when he graduated, he did not hesitate to choose a stable job in a central enterprise, which would help him explore the art in his spare time.
"Trail of The Heart"
Wang Shaolun consciously arranged for himself to go out to sketch and copy classic training, and he wanted to slowly make up for what he had missed during the four years of college.
He wants to reconstruct the understanding of "tradition, nature and self", and then shake his spirit to find and create what is in his heart.
In 1993, Wang Shaolun was invited by the Hong Kong Land Publishing Company to participate in a special exhibition of oil painting, and he sincerely lived a "oil painting addiction" to make up for the regret of not being admitted to the Zhejiang American Oil Painting Department that year. At that time, he had just returned from Dunhuang, and his heart was shocked by the strong beauty of Mogao Grottoes art, so the impulse to create the "Oriental Foguang" series of oil paintings was logical, and several of the works were based on the Longmen Grottoes in his hometown. The thick soil of the hometown, the memories of childhood, and the solemn Buddha statue seem to herald the sudden appearance of the inspiration many years later.
One of the "River Lo Yi Feng"
136X68cm
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 2
Around the turn of the millennium, Wang Shaolun began to consciously comb through his works in preparation for more in-depth creation. In 2003, just as the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts was recruiting the first batch of graduate students, Wang Shaolun was preparing to start a new creation, hearing the news, he immediately applied for the exam, and after being admitted with excellent results, he stepped into the familiar campus again and began to study for graduate school.
Wang Shaolun chose to go to graduate school in order to continue his previous goal of "making up for what was missing before". Under the strict requirements of his mentor, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the study of the nature of the teacher, the ancients of the teacher, and the classics of the teacher. Huang Gongwang's "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" gave him great inspiration. In repeated observation, copying, correction, and thinking, Wang Shaolun gradually understood the effects of the use of different materials, the use of tools, etc.; he opened his emotions and imagination to figure out the author's creative state and state of mind at that time, and only at the beginning of "Fuchun Mountain Jutu", he repeatedly painted five or six times. After learning to paint like cultivation, he basically broke that hurdle, and he spent two weeks to bring down the long scroll of "Fuchun Mountain Jutu" in one go.
Please enjoy it in landscape
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 15
180×60cm
"After completion, I no longer only stay on the surface of the appreciation of the ancient works, in the careful copying I see the subtleties that I usually can't see, I feel that the expressiveness of Chinese painting is very great, a few lines can create a space, not allowed to be repeatedly altered, this is kung fu."
Through the classics of the teacher's method, Wang Shaolun deeply realized the unique indifference and self-confidence of Chinese painting, the tension and the virtual reality, the black and white thickness, showing the beauty of the brilliant and eternal art of Chinese culture, and the spirit of excellence and perfection is fascinating.
Walking far away from himself, he did not slacken off, and Wang Shaolun was still moving forward.
Please watch horizontally
Heluo Yifeng No. 16
180X60cm
In 2011, "Houtujiashan - Wang Shaolun's New Works of Chinese Painting Exhibition" was successfully exhibited in Guangzhou, "Houtujiashan" with hometown feelings, landscape pictures to convey affection, moving lines and flowing landscape patterns, has shown Wang Shaolun's unique, eye-catching artistic language.
The exhibition ended and the crowd applauded. Wang Shaolun felt a little empty, and this familiar state reminded him: can't stop, continue to walk, art is most afraid of self-repetition. An exhibition is only a summary of a stage, and he must look for new topics, new concepts, and new breakthroughs.
In 2012, Wang Shaolun became a visiting scholar at the China Academy of Arts and packed his bags and went to Beijing to study under the supervision of Mr. Jiang Baolin for a year.
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 4
China's highest art temple broadens the boundaries of Wang Shaolun's knowledge. On a daily basis, you can attend classes with doctoral students and listen to the wonderful lectures of famous teachers in various art disciplines (music, art, seal engraving, calligraphy, film, etc.). Wang Shaolun was hungry for the nutrients and thought he was very lucky. However, the original intention of studying in Beijing was to change himself, and now he does not want to repeat the past, and Wang Shaolun, who is suffering from not seeing a new road, is once again confused and confused. He simply put down his paintbrush slightly, and for almost half a year, he was writing calligraphy, listening to lectures, looking at exhibitions, reading painting theories...
In the middle of winter, the ice is stronger, and the ground begins to be clumpy. Everything lurks and recuperates.
To Mengchun, the east wind thaws, and the stings begin to vibrate.
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 9
One day, Wang Shaolun chatted with two of his colleagues, one was a professor at Southwest University, the other was a doctoral student at Central American, and during the conversation, he germinated the idea of returning to his hometown to play, so he sent them an invitation, and both of them were very interested in responding. Wang Shaolun is not the first time to guide friends, he first took people to tour the Zhongyue Song Mountain, visit songyang academy, climb the mountain imperial village, tour the ancient temple Shaolin, the thick Song mountain culture deeply touched everyone's heart, it is really worth the trip. However, Wang Shaolun had a vague feeling in his heart, and the two colleagues were still unsatisfied, so it was logical that they would turn around and go straight to the Longmen Grottoes.
Figure | Wang Shaolun sketched at The Dragon Gate
The Longmen Grottoes were built during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty and finally at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and are the longest-built Buddhist grottoes in China, with the Tang Dynasty's cave carving activities being the most prosperous.
When he was a child, Wang Shaolun often went to the Longmen Grottoes to play, at that time there was no ticket, the eyes were relatively desolate, under the big Buddha of The Fengxian Temple in the Tang Dynasty, the protruding stone platform had a person-high wild grass, which looked eerie, and the huge and majestic Lux sculpture looked down on the comers, and the atmosphere was mysterious. In Wang Shaolun's childhood memories, the Longmen Grottoes are like strange neighbors living in simplicity, and when he was young, he did not understand its Zen Buddha history, but still deeply remembered the inexplicable palpitations it brought.
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 11
Revisiting the old place, the two classmates walked in front to watch, and Wang Shaolun followed behind. On this trip, his heart pool was already quite rippled; at this moment, he looked at the oncoming sculpture, and he could no longer move his feet, and the ripples in his heart suddenly became monstrous waves, hitting him hard. Wang Shaolun immediately stood in the same place, a flash of inspiration, he thought: What else to find? Isn't it right in front of your eyes!
Daigo empowerment, if there is a divine encounter.
Eighteenth of "River Lo Yi Feng"
As soon as he returned to Beijing, Wang Shaolun painted seven or eight works on the theme of the Longmen Grottoes. After completion, the mentor Jiang Baolin sat on a chair, stared at the painting for a while, and said: "Wang Shaolun, you said, how did this come about?" Tell us what you think. Wang Shaolun explained the idea of creation in detail, and after Teacher Jiang listened, he said: "That's right! You just draw like this! ”
The teacher's affirmation gave Wang Shaolun great encouragement, and the students all said, "You came to Beijing this time and found yourself!" ”
For Wang Shaolun, this visit to Beijing is worth it.
The first batch of works only painted a general impression, in 2017, Wang Shaolun returned to Longmen to "station" for more than ten days in order to go deep into the new topic of "Longmen Grottoes". Every day, he carried painting tools, brought a pot of water, brought a little dry food, and went into the cave to sketch, unknown day and night.
Just like the previous copy of "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map", it changes the viewer's perspective and is close to the creator's mentality. In this sketch, Wang Shaolun no longer takes the perspective of tourists, but observes in a targeted and selective way, carefully restores and imagines the scene of the artists opening caves and creating statues in those years, travels through the time tunnel, and once again talks with great works, and seems to hear endless echoes.
Occasionally, Wang Shaolun looked at the dragon gate sculptures after the rain gradually drying up in the sun, showing an unusual spirit and charm, and couldn't help but feel that they were gifts from god. In this sense of happiness that has determined the direction of progress, he has always followed his own concept to capture and create the "River Luo Yifeng" in his heart.
Heluo Yifeng No. 12
"Heluo Yifeng" is the subject set by Wang Shaolun for the "Grotto Landscape" series of works, the picture often contains the elements of Buddha statues, Buddha statues should belong to the category of characters, And Wang Shaolun mainly expresses the concept of large space in landscape painting. "Heluo Yifeng" breaks the reality of time and space to reconstruct the picture, the line-based language symbols are eye-catching, different from the moving lines in "Houtujia Mountain", Wang Shaolun integrates the connotation of Wei Bei's rigidity, giving the work a sonorous and powerful and colorful sense of rhythm, only using pastels to apply Chen, highlighting the shape, not deliberately revealing the pen and ink, appearing clumsy and hazy.
The overall look and feel of "Heluo Yifeng" is as its name suggests, it is a calm and distant retrospective of the land of Heluo, the Zen meditation buddha intention chiseled in the wind a thousand years ago, slowly presented by the painter's brush after a thousand years, not reducing the beauty and ethereal spirit of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and still having the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty.
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 13
Wang Shaolun talked about the attachment of the countryside, he said that the influence of hometown on everyone's life, especially childhood, is the deepest. He often dreamed of playing in his hometown when he was a child, and after reminiscing, maybe this is "haunting the dream". For him, the dream is not only a dream, but also a reflection of the subconscious, he must express it in painting, which is the bottom of the heart. Wang Shaolun summed up: "People say that painting should have a divinity, and this divinity is the continuation and presentation of people's hearts. ”
Therefore, he does not pursue realism in painting, he believes that realism can be handed over to photography, and the most important thing for him is to let the work have the power to touch people's hearts, he wants to paint the impression of the grotto buried in childhood memory, and the deep touch that arises in the heart many years later.
Painting with emotion, beauty in the creation.
"Heluo Yifeng" No. 8
"The Buddhist caves, the beauty of this intertwining of nature and humanity, are themselves a shocking existence that dazzles me and shakes my heart." Wang Shaolun wants to expand the creation of grotto landscapes, taking the Longmen Grottoes in his hometown as the starting point, and in the future, he will gradually expand the scope of exploring "grotto landscapes", such as Yungang Grottoes, Mogao Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes, Dazu Rock Carvings, etc., as well as some related grotto sites abroad, he strives to use the corresponding artistic language to describe and express different grotto objects, getting rid of stylized and cookie-cutter single expression.
If "Houtujia Mountain" is a biography of the hometown landscape and is infiltrated with the creator's local concepts and feelings, then from the perspective of "Heluo Yifeng" and the future creation plan, Wang Shaolun draws strength from the childhood local memory, and breaks the limitations of time and space from this and there, from local attention to special research, and begins to consciously learn from the local view. In the process of comparing and refining the Buddhist cave culture with different regional characteristics and expressing it, it is pursued and approached to a certain inner and unified ink art expression language, and this unified visual style and artistic charm have already shone brightly in Wang Shaolun's flexible flowing lines and the pen and ink of the situation.
Wang Shaolun was born in 1965 in Yanshi, Henan. In 1989, he graduated from the Department of Chinese Painting of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts with a bachelor's degree. From 2003 to 2005, he studied the equivalent degree of graduate student of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. From 2012 to 2013, he was a visiting scholar at the China Academy of Arts and was tutored by Professor Jiang Baolin.
In 1990, in Guangzhou, the "Wang Shaolun Chinese Painting Exhibition" was held;
In 1998, in Guangzhou, he held the "Wang Shaolun Color Ink Painting Exhibition";
In 2011, in Guangzhou, he held the "Houtujia mountain - Wang Shaolun Chinese Painting New Works Exhibition";
In 2015, in Guangzhou, he held the "Traces of the Heart of Wanyuan - Wang Shaolun Chinese Painting Exhibition";
He has published "Wang Shaolun Painting Collection", "Basics of Landscape Painting", "Research on the Works of Contemporary Chinese Painting Masters Wang Shaolun - On the Thick Soil", "Wan Gu. Traces of the Heart - Wang Shaolun's Collection of Chinese Paintings
His works such as "Autumn Night", "Eight Views of Yangcheng in the Qing Dynasty", "Heluo Yifeng", "Morning Dream of the Old Garden" and many other works are collected by many professional colleges and institutions such as Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Peking University, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou Art Museum, Guangzhou National Archives Bureau, Shenzhen Archives, National Taiwan University of the Arts, and The National Assembly of Korea. He is currently a researcher of the Chinese Painting Creation Research Institute of the Art Development Center of the Ministry of Culture, the deputy secretary-general of the China Railway Artists Association, the president of the Guangtie Calligraphy and Painting Institute, the director of the Guangdong Artists Association, the visiting professor of the School of Fine Arts and Design of Guangzhou University, and the deputy director of the Landscape Painting Art Committee of the Guangzhou Artists Association.
This article was first published at the Guangzhou International Art Fair
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