Born in Beijing in 1944, artist Wang Huaiqing received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (now the School of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University). Back in the 1970s, he was known for his accurate and well-formed illustrations. In terms of technical concepts and spiritual enlightenment, Wang Huaiqing was deeply influenced by Mr. Wu Guanzhong, and was called "a fierce general who followed Mr. Wu" by art critics, practicing the exploration of the language form of modern Chinese art supported by Wu Guanzhong's concept of "kite continuous line". His early travels in Europe and the United States strengthened the artist's belief that the inheritance of Chinese culture can and should be regarded as a living water for the expression of contemporary art. He creatively interprets Chinese furniture in the form of images, abandoning the creative method of natural realism and spreading the core soul of the object itself on the picture. From the earliest deformation composition to the old garden of Shaoxing, and then to the deconstruction of Ming and Qing furniture, he experienced three exploration stages of "structure-deconstruction-construction" in art, and finally broke the boundaries of the frame of the picture, from pure oil painting to the intervention of materials and the expansion of the flat surface, from the two-dimensional plane to the space. He uses pure painting language and material language to convey a heavy sense of history and culture, and what we read from his pictures is the memory of an ethnic group, the experience and vicissitudes of a nation.
Wang Huaiqing
From the end of 2021 to the end of March 2022, Wang Huaiqing returned to the Art Museum of Tsinghua University, his alma mater, with 76 representative works from various periods, to hold his first solo exhibition in Beijing, "Zongheng - Wang Huaiqing Art Exhibition". From this, the author had a deep conversation with Wang Huaiqing.
From either perspective, artist Wang Huaiqing can be a case study in the contemporary art world, and his works of art are often sought after by the auction art market because of their challenges, uniqueness and creativity. Despite this, the 78-year-old Wang Huaiqing is still reclusive. The fading out of the outside world and the painstaking loneliness of the Chinese cultural spirit have given Wang Huaiqing an undisturbed space for self and the perspective of others, which is an important basis for wang Huaiqing's plump and distinct artistic personality, and it is also an individual life wisdom that enlightens the audience.
The exhibition site of "Vertical and Horizontal"
Think of the chair as an expressive subject
Wang Huaiqing's first solo art exhibition in Beijing, "Zongheng", was highly concerned when it was exhibited at the Art Museum of Tsinghua University. A number of works in the exhibition feature chairs as themes, narrating the artist's process of continuous exploration and expression from the 1980s to the present day. The chair has a profound significance in traditional Chinese culture, and is the iconic furniture that Chinese transformed from sitting on the floor to sitting on the foot. The appearance of the chair not only changed the way Chinese lived, but also changed the way literati and inkers wrote from hanging wrists to bowing their cases.
Since ancient times, it is not uncommon for the chair to be the background of the painting object in the works, but few artists regard the chair as the subject of expression, push it to the center of the picture, and become the protagonist. Not knowing whether his father's early career as a carpenter had a direct impact on him, Wang Huaiqing found a sense of stability in the depiction of the chair.
In fact, Wang Huaiqing has had a fine taste and observation of wood since he was a child, and the experience of making a stove when he was a child made him enjoy the moment when wood with a pine smell crackled in the flames, until the wood turned into ashes under the action of fire. From architecture to furniture to chairs, Wang Huaiqing's creation has also undergone a process of deepening layer by layer, and in his eyes, there is not much difference between architecture, furniture and chairs. They are the isomorphic aliens of Chinese large wooden works, with a sense of stability supported by tenons and tenons, and have a unique spiritual connotation. Wang Huaiqing's writing of buildings, furniture, and chairs through the strokes of spiritual integration is not just a "meaningful form", but also a true portrayal of the aesthetic psychological structure of contemporary people. Wang Huaiqing was pleased to find that when the artist no longer directly represented the object and directly entered the spiritual direction, the creation entered the realm of freedom, and the expression image was also rich and diverse.
2021 artist Wang Huaiqing is in the process of creating
Determination after disobedience
In China in the 1980s, everything recovered, pioneering and pure. In the context of reform and opening up, many artists have gone abroad to reinvent themselves. Wang Huaiqing, who was not confused, also joined the upsurge of going abroad.
Wang Huaiqing, who went abroad, enjoyed the artistic nourishment of Western masters in museums and art galleries. For Wang Huaiqing, who had received nearly two decades of professional painting training at that time, this was the birthplace of oil painting after all. After a period of time, the perceptive Wang Huaiqing found that there was an unavoidable problem that had to be faced, except for "water and soil dissatisfaction", everyone was faced with the decision to re-choose and position in front of art. Wang Huaiqing reflected in the process of sucking, and gradually understood the true meaning of art truth-seeking: "The noblest art is the most authentic art created by yourself. In the face of the world's huge cultural base, it is crucial for artists to choose a good cultural foothold. Only when the cultural coordinates are positioned well will there be a steady stream of nutrition to support the blood of the artist, and only then can there be strength. Otherwise, the artist will slowly dry up and become more and more unable to lift up. ”
"Green Rain", oil on canvas, 96×75cm, 1981
At that time, Wang Huaiqing rejected the revision of Chinese aesthetics by foreign cultures and resolutely returned to China. Despite the clear sense of cultural return, where to stay as a foothold for creation still requires a process of exploration. This authentic Beijinger has lived a solitary and secluded life in Beijing, diving deep into the relics of traditional art and constantly retracing, absorbing and abandoning. The work "Sanwei Bookstore" is like a mind map of Wang Huaiqing's period, recording the process of his quest.
Sanmi Bookstore
"The Old Garden" finds an artistic foothold
In 1986, the work "Old Garden" not only let the world know Wang Huaiqing, but also made Wang Huaiqing more sober about himself. In the architecture of Jiangnan Garden, for the first time, he strongly felt the foothold of his artistic creation. In the picture, several beams and pillars construct an emotional space with a sense of depth, no people, no furniture, no scenery, and no imprint of Jiangnan water town, only unspeakable mourning in the light and shadow. Wang Huaiqing was fascinated by this clear and non-rigid written line and the creation of cultural metaphors with life experience, and the objects expressed expanded from architecture to furniture and chairs.
Old Garden Oil on canvas 160×140cm, 1986-1989
Ming-style furniture is the peak of Chinese furniture, revealing the classical beauty of simplicity, simplicity and elegance between the squares, and the sense of fitting with the body is soaked with the humanistic care of craftsmen, and the essence of Chinese art is condensed. In 1991, Wang Huaiqing created the work "Daming Demeanor" based on the Ming-style official hat chair, which won the gold medal issued by the China Oil Painting Society that year, which became another milestone work of Wang Huaiqing. The dignified squareness of the chair in which it sits coexists with the agility of the curves. Wang Huaiqing, who has a strong sense of self, is not paranoid, and he always tries to find a kind of balance and balance beauty in the pull of black and white, strength and weakness, and virtual reality. At the same time, while describing some specific spaces, he also gives these spaces a strong sense of virtuality and malleability. In this nearly perfect picture, the foot behind the chair shows a broken and broken defect, projecting Wang Huaiqing's nostalgia, sadness and helplessness for the gradual drifting away of traditional culture.
"Great Ming Demeanor", oil on canvas, 145×130cm, 1991
In 2002, Wang Huaiqing took the bed in the famous painting "Han Xizai's Night Feast" (Song Dynasty facsimile) from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of China, removed the characters and scenes of the loose bed, and created the work "Room in the Room - Han Xizai's Bed". In ancient China, the bed was not a semantic understood by contemporary people, but an activity space for the hall and the study to sit and sleep, suitable for resting between banquets and enjoying antiquities. Wang Huaiqing sketches in simple lines, dismissing Han Xizai as a picture, pseudo-sounding wisdom and loneliness forever in the picture. This contrasting feature of contrasting "movement" with static contrast and constant reflection of "passing" makes the picture full of tension that directly hits the truth.
"Room in Room- Han Xizai's Bed", oil on canvas, 200×300cm, 2002
Give order to a chaotic world
Chinese painting is an art system that has both aesthetic logic and systematic thinking, not only has the form of technology, the state of art, but also has the appearance of culture. Technology can be diverse, art can be diverse, and culture must be inherited, rooted, and unspeakable inner resonance that Chinese flows in the blood. Any artistic language without cultural support is pale.
Between 1999 and 2003, a number of works such as "Right Angle", "Chair and Chair", "A Certain Year and a Certain Month and Day", "Self and His Shadow", "Line", "Four-in-One", "Red" and so on came out one after another. In this batch of works, people can no longer see Wang Huaiqing's excellent sketching skills, the ability to shape the portraits of characters, and the beautiful and simple poetry, leaving only a more cold and rational schema and brushstrokes. These deconstructed images of "physical form" allow the audience to directly cross the object and enter the aesthetic of the rhythm and structure of the staggered lines, which triggers deep thinking about the relationship between man and heaven, man and earth, man and man, and man and himself. Wang Huaiqing tried to give the power of order to this chaotic world.
Chairs and Chairs Oil on canvas 130×145cm, 1999
Wang Huaiqing often emphasizes that the lines and wooden blocks in the picture are not simply superimposed and collaged, but have an intrinsic bite with the spiritual culture expressed. The artist is like a surgeon, using emotion as a line to connect these fragments of thinking and bring them to life. During this period, the use of red, which symbolizes vitality and vitality, further shows the transformation of Wang Huaiqing's focus from things to people.
Breakthroughs and updates to old forms
Wang Huaiqing unswervingly expresses Chinese thoughts and emotions, aesthetic tastes and profound minds. However, the profound cultural tradition is a double-edged sword, and respecting the ancient does not mean the mud ancient. Many artists delve into tradition, often never going back, and the deeper they dive, the faster they disappear.
Wang Huaiqing has always been vigilant about this, and he made an interesting analogy, implanting a chip into the brain before diving into the sea, selectively absorbing something worth circulating, and then digesting it bite by bite. This chip is always a reminder to transform the classical traditional spirit into the contemporary context, saying what should be said in this era. When he said this, Wang Huaiqing's eyes shone with light, and his tone also became louder: "The artist must find this feeling, and the master at this time is no longer standing in front of you, but standing behind to support you." Because you already have your own appearance. ”
Wang Huaiqing did not fully accept the tradition, nor did he completely subvert the tradition, but completed the breakthrough of the old form of the tradition in the context of transformation. Around 2005, he created works such as "Tiangong Kaiwu", "Bump", "Ten Thousand In a Lifetime", "Big Opening and Great Union", "Pattern", "Labyrinth", "Crane Head Staff" and other works that show Wang Huaiqing's ability to self-renew. At this time, the chair is no longer a chair, and the table is not a table, he fragments, flattens, and symbolizes the object, abstractly expressing the origin of ancient artifacts and the vicissitudes of artistic hardship. In the words of an art critic, Wang Huaiqing moved from deconstruction to reconstruction and variation. He is breaking down his inner barriers and moving towards a more free place of creation.
Let the materiality stand on the canvas
Those who know others are wise, and those who know themselves are wise. Wang Huaiqing has never been chaotic in the torment of artistic creation. While embracing traditional classic arts, Wang Huaiqing also has a strong sensitivity to new things. He firmly believed that what is vivid is not limited by structure and logic. The pluralism of language and the breadth of means of expression can transform new perspectives and thus discover a new world.
Since 2010, Wang Huaiqing has begun to try to create a series of folding sculptures using metal aluminum plates, such as "Three-legged Standing", "Yi ZhuoXiang", "Grid" and so on. Wang Huaiqing transforms the concept of shaping into the spatial relationship between "line" and "surface", changes the direction and angle of the object through folding, and pursues the consciousness of "emptiness" in the volume, thus forming the flow of space. Three-dimensional sculpture dissolves the meaning of traditional sculpture and gives interesting souls to "lines" and "faces". Because the aluminum plate in the work has a written cut, the lines that should be hard do not have the thickness and majesty of the ink lines, showing a flexible flexibility, thus obtaining independent aesthetic value.
Lattice Aluminum alloy 200×100×25cm 2011-2012
There was a period when Wang Huaiqing even gave up the expression methods of "painting" and "sculpture", and directly entered the painting with wood, allowing the materiality to express the chest on the canvas, forming a number of installation works such as "Out of the Mountain", "Pine Bamboo Plum", "Eye", "Yongzi Eight Laws", "Mu" and so on. These works have given an old man a new creative practice. Although his body was slightly unwell, wang Huaiqing was very happy with the process of doing it himself, and he felt that his work was always responsible for himself.
The novelist Kafka said in his notes that writing was "forced by inner pressure", and he wrote it when he wanted to write. The same is true of Wang Huaiqing's creation, the change of means is not just a formal exploration, but an internal need, a certain impulse formed by the squeeze of the external world on the inside. Those images that seem to exist or not are the purification and sublimation of Wang Huaiqing after removing the appearance.
Only bones and bones are left, leaving no fur
"Nest" and "Zhibai" are a series of works created by Wang Huaiqing during the epidemic period, which supports the broad spatial structure with only a few lines in the huge picture, and the simple and neat, thick and vast, calm and calm ink lines stand up with the spirit of Chinese and full of vitality, poking at the imprint of the aesthetic psychological structure of Chinese imagery.
"Nest-2", oil on canvas, 300×240cm, 2020
Chinese art pays attention to leaving white but does not paint white, it is not a contest between black and white and area and proportion, but the mutual definition and complementarity of black and white in a space, and the charm that flows out in the relationship of interdependence. Unlike Mr. Wu Guanzhong's brisk and agile beauty, Wang Huaiqing's black and white world is dignified and thick, permeating the texture of the monument. The epidemic has returned artists to the inner world of ordinary people, and they need to express quiet and immortal spiritual support in their works. The monologue quote "Only bones and bones, no fur" on the exhibition wall also made a footnote to Wang Huaiqing's inner domineering. This kind of freeness of truncated thoughts and ordinary feelings, the leaves do not stick to the body, and the confidence of "persimmon ripe". Even if the pen is not pen, ink is not ink, painting is not painting, there is "me" in it.
Zhibai-2 Oil on canvas 300×230 cm 2021
Wang Huaiqing said frankly: "I don't have to be pessimistic, nor do I need to be modest, because I didn't stand still, but took a small step forward, making the original objects more spiritual, the language cleaner, but dispensable, art can not bear all out of the picture, leaving unquestionable, non-negotiable, non-negligible things." The fewer things, the easier it is for people to chew, digest, and see clearly, thus improving spiritual taste and realm. ”
Mr. Wu Guanzhong, the mentor, greatly admired the painting method of Shi Tao, a painter in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties- "one reason is possessed, and all reasons follow". Shi Tao believes that painting should return to one painting, from one to ten thousand. All things are connected and endless, and the connected things are different, so there is a potential; there is a potential, and there is a movement that moves against each other, thus becoming a great beauty. Undoubtedly, Wang Huaiqing took over the mantle of Shi Tao and transformed thousands of worlds in "one painting".
A Cloud, oil on canvas, 112×67cm, 1998-2011
epilogue
The opening of the pool does not wait for the month, and the pool comes into the moon. Wang Huaiqing is a persistent and simple person, there is no thrilling story in his life experience, he thinks of it, he does it, it starts, it is a lifetime. Wang Huaiqing, who lives elsewhere, tempers his mind in time and nurtures the energy of movement in the deep dive, "not losing weight, being able to fly" is Wang Huaiqing's most sincere summary of himself. He silently corrects and completes himself in the coordinates of the two horizontal and vertical lines.
If you have a wish, you are about to do it. Wang Huaiqing calmly and calmly let the years be cast, waiting for the moment of "breaking the cocoon and turning into butterflies". Perhaps, the moment has arrived. (Editor-in-charge: Sun Xiaoning)