Text, figure/square soil
Artists on "Art"
1 Summarize in the most concise language: What is art?
Without madmen, there is no art. Art should show a kind of lightness, not make people feel tired and hard. To let people read out a process through a relaxed state.
2 What is the essence of artistic style?
Artistic style is a schema, and it is real in close connection with one's own temperament. But sometimes it can also cause standing still.
3 What is a classic?
For example, many things in the West are changing, but suits have not changed. Because they believe that the suit is a classic, after dozens of generations to form such a height, posterity will do the same.
4 What do you think is good art?
High character and style.
5 What do you think is a bad work of art?
Low character, low style.
6 What art exhibitions have you seen recently? What are some of the most impressive art exhibitions?
Liaoning's "Hand-roll Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Landscape Paintings". The ancients rarely painted vertical long scrolls, and even the mountains were painted horizontally, reflecting the ancients' practice of breaking and squashing the mountains, and embodying wisdom in the arrangement. There is also Huang Binhong's exhibition, which cannot be tired of watching. Qi Baishi's large exhibition will also be seen to see his works when he reaches the highest level.
7 What is nature in terms of art?
Nature is the coach, and the artist is constantly challenging. Nature has all kinds of sounds, from which humans can find their own voices and transform them into do re mi, and take some bamboo and wooden strips to beat their own music. Another way is to use pen and ink and line to express through Chinese painting, transforming nature into its own symbolic language.
8 Some say that the essence of art is innovation. What is the difference between innovating and playing tricks?
There's no difference, none too good. Because innovation is not so easy, and tricks have nothing to do with art. Now there are always people who pursue too much innovation and negate too many traditions, which can easily lead to the destruction of the entire army.
9 Some people say that the essence of art is non-art... I was confused. What about you?
That's not something I'm thinking about.
10 What is your attitude towards traditional art?
I still have a feeling for tradition, and grandpa is tradition.
11 Do you have an attitude towards contemporary art?
Can't say it, or rather, he can figure it out.
12 In your opinion, what exactly is art history?
Art history is grafted, and it must be constantly grafted with the pulse of the times and humanistic ideas. There are two versions of art history, one made up by our countrymen themselves, and the other made up for us by foreigners. So this may happen: one version is that artists who foreigners consider "the most Chinese" are the most marginal in the eyes of Chinese. Another version is that some people try to subvert the current political system through art, which shows the lack of confidence of Chinese artists in their own nation and the excessive pursuit of foreign art. These will be reflected in the history of art.
13 Is art history accidental or inevitable?
Inevitable.
Fang Tu: "Years Like Songs", Ink on Paper, 2014, 200cmx179cm, selected for the "12th National Art Exhibition" in 2014.
Attitude towards "idols"
1 Is there an idol? Who is it? Why?
Idols are not static. When I was studying, I liked Wu Changshuo's charm and the momentum of pen and ink, when I graduated, I liked Qi Baishi's fun, and now I like Huang Binhong's reading from being to nothing, reading out of nothing, and I also like Lai Shaoqi's taste in landscape works. But what runs through it is that I have always liked bada shanren and Xu Wei because they have transformed the fun of flowers and birds into a kind of thought.
2 Do you know whose idol you are?
I will worship others, but I don't know if I am worshipped.
3 Do you like the feeling of being idolized by others?
In order to gain the strength to move forward, sometimes you have to know if you are someone else's idol, but I will not force it.
4 Can the cost of sustaining oneself as an idol of others be bearable?
Didn't think about it.
5 Which artists, stars, writers, intellectuals, government officials, and influencers are your favorite? Why?
Different stages vary.
6 Are there any masters of art that you worship?
Different stages are different.
7 What do you think it takes to be a master? Can you become a master through effective learning?
Looking at Monet's bridge, I know what a master is, because he has integrated techniques, ideas, emotions, etc. into the painting. In fact, when creating, you should not always think about how to be great, as long as you don't lose your emotions.
8What do you think are the best Western artists? Why?
Picasso, Monet, etc., their paintings can reflect the social state of the time.
9What do you think is the best ancient Chinese artist? Why?
Eight Congresses, Xu Wei and others. In fact, sometimes I think the ancients are quite bad, because the styles they created have blocked the road of posterity a lot, and it is difficult for people like Qi Baishi and Wu Changshuo to surpass their predecessors.
10Who do you think is the best Chinese contemporary artist? Why?
Lai Shaoqi.
Fang Tu: "Near Coke Africa, Kenya, Masai Mara", 68X68cm on paper, 2008, participated in the "Ode to Peace - Freehand Africa" national tour exhibition (2008-2009).
Reflections on one's own art
1 Can you summarize your art in the most concise language?
I think I should be a piece of material for art. For me, when painting, I don't need to think about how to start and how to paint, because this is a natural process, and everything I learn can be used by me. As a southerner, in terms of the thickness and thickness of the work, it may become clever and slippery if you are not careful, so there is a little regional limitation.
2 Artistically, is there a habit of doing long-term, medium-term and short-term planning? Is it all achieved?
Life cannot be planned, and it is not up to you to plan. One can have a goal because a goal can be a state. Art, on the other hand, should be targeted.
3 Your ultimate goal in art?
I think the highest state of art is shallowness. I want to pursue ancient meaning, but I may not have achieved it yet.
4 What is your art style? How did it come about? Who summed it up?
My own current schema is weak, which can be said to be dynamic and freehand, but my artistic style is not yet fixed.
5 Have you ever had a confrontation or even a fierce conflict with the classics?
No, there should be some reverence for the classics.
6 Do you think your art will be passed on to the world? Why? What are the conditions for passing on the lineage?
Generations are passed on in terms of years. Normally, in ten years, yes. If you want to pass it on, the works should be many and concentrated, but some of the works can be scattered, and the works must have a certain height and difficulty.
7 Artistically, what is the most satisfying place for yourself? Why?
I have a soft spot for ink painting.
8 Artistically, what is the most dissatisfied with oneself? Why?
I haven't found a style that satisfies me a little.
9 How to define artistic success and unsuccessful? Artistically, are you a successful person?
First of all, you must have enough self-confidence. In art, if you keep repeating the same subject, you can't be considered successful. Because the first ten years may not be well drawn, and the middle ten years may be very brilliant, but the next ten years can be said to be creating their own fakes.
10 Regarding your own art reviews, which do you personally think are the most pertinent? Please give an example.
Li Weiming said "and ink and mud", Wang Huangsheng said "ink intertwined".
11 For the sake of art, are there many opportunities to go out in a year?
Many.
12What are your most important artistic perspectives? What artistic questions have you asked that you consider to be of academic value?
Disregard sketching. Indifference is not contempt, it is "to ask in an unwanted way", it does not matter who the person who paints it is, what matters is the pen and ink.
13 Have you gained freedom in art? If not, how will you be free?
Very free. If you are not free, you are self-seeking.
14 Are you pessimistic or optimistic about the future of the art you work on? Reason?
Didn't think about it. Art is looking up, I can't think about it myself, and it doesn't make much sense to think about it.
Square earth works
Ideas for your own creations and exhibitions
1 In what state is the most creative desire?
Between thinking and not wanting, there must be a state or some kind of aura, or when there are high people watching.
2 In what state is it never created?
Next to when someone is affected.
3 What is the hardest creative state?
When I don't feel the subject matter or the object I painted.
4 What time periods do you focus on?
At night. During the day, it is very bright outside, people are easy to lose their minds, and the brightest thing at night is white paper, it is easy to concentrate, and maybe there will be ghosts to help.
5 When encountering creative bottlenecks, how to solve them?
Put it away, go out and play first, and switch the contradiction points.
6 What is your artistic skill?
Using traditional emotions, we fuse flowers and birds and experiment with ink painting.
7 How many works were created in the last year? What is the most satisfying work so far? Cause?
There are many works created. In 1999, "The Past" was selected for the "Ninth National Art Exhibition", and others commented that "as long as you paint, you can watch as long as you want", so I was also rated as a first-class artist. In addition, in 2004, "Friends of Mankind" was selected for the "Tenth National Art Exhibition", and when I was asked what I painted, I replied, "Draw a bird."
8 How many exhibitions a year? Which one was the most successful?
There was no plan, and I didn't feel successful, because success is always short-lived.
9 Where do you most want to hold a solo exhibition?
That's not what I'm thinking about right now. If you use inertial thinking, you think of the National Museum and the National Art Museum of China. But I hope it's best to keep small exhibitions going on.
10 What do you think are the elements of a successful exhibition? How will you facilitate this?
Every exhibition should be rewarding and be able to truly express one's own thinking. So the biggest success is to find the motivation to improve, to summarize the previous path, and to find the direction after that.
Square earth works
Appreciation of square earth works
Fang Tu: Ink Manuscript, Ink on Paper, 68cmx68cm, 1993
Fang Tu: "Dream with Spring Shadow", 136cmx18cmx4, 2009
Square Earth: Poems inscribed on stone walls, color on paper, 68cmx136cm, 2013
Fang Tu: "Heart Wandering in the Clouds", 40x80cm, 2008
Fang Tu: "Everyone Wakes Up And I'm Drunk Alone", Color on Paper, 34cmx46cm, 2010 (for more news, please pay attention to Yangcheng Pie pai.ycwb.com)
Source | Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie
Editor-in-charge | Zhang Yanqin