Actor Li Baotian is known for portraying many film and television roles, but he said that he has only three film and television works in his life that are reasonable - the movie "Ju Dou", the TV series "PoliceMan Lee "Wine Bottle"" and "Clown Daddy". As for the TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo", "Divine Doctor Xi Laile", "Wang Baochang's New Chapter" and so on, they cannot be regarded as works that are satisfactory, because these works are far from his value orientation and artistic pursuit.
Compared with film and television works, Li Baotian attaches more importance to his own art works, because acting is limited by plot, roles, etc., while art is completely self-creation, and expression is more free and self- He said that painting is not a play, it is something that has to be expressed.
"I knew a lot of profound truths before, but at that time, the level was low, I couldn't understand it personally, and today, I understand it better, I can better shape the role, but I am older and have fewer opportunities." Fortunately, I can also play a role in the painting - to think of the grass and tree in the painting as myself, and to regard myself as the grass and tree in the painting. This is equivalent to the accumulation of experience in acting, and because painting is more free and less restrictive than acting, it is more enjoyable and happier. ”
Today, Movable Type Jun shares with book lovers The art works of Teacher Li Baotian, selected from his only book work published in the mainland, "Self-Talk and Self-Painting: Li Baotian". For people with artistic sensitivity, they can thus glimpse one of their thoughts, emotions and artistic pursuits.
Author Li Baotian
"Self-Talk and Self-Painting: Li Baotian" by Li Baotian, Version: Movable Type Culture | Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Triptych Bookstore March 2022
"Laughter of Bitterness"
"Bitter Laughter" fountain pen
Bitter Laughter, pen
This self-portrait was painted during the filming of the movie "Ju Dou", and the eyes are melancholy, which is somewhat similar to the eyes of the photo I took when I was born a hundred days ago.
Stills from the movie "Ju Dou"
When shooting "Ju Dou", my situation was basically upward, but there were also times when I was unhappy, although I was working hard, I didn't know what the future would be, and I couldn't see a clear future for work, career, and art, and the "upward" was not satisfied. For example, participating in the filming of "Ju Dou" is much happier than not participating, but this is only a stage of happiness, and it does not mean that it is really completely happy, which is impossible.
Calla Lily
I hadn't seen real calla lilies in the 1950s and 1960s, when cultivation was not yet widespread, and everyone was engaged in political strife, and I had only seen a bouquet of calla lilies in the photograph of Mao Zedong greeting Zhou Enlai at the airport. It was then that I became interested in calla lilies.
"Calla Lilies" is heavy
Calla Lilies, heavy color
Later, when I went from Xuzhou to Beijing to study and work, I saw the real calla lilies in the market. Around 1998, I bought a few calla lilies and drew some sketches with a pen, and I thought I should refine it to make its image patterned and abstracted a little. Later, I felt that the refinement was not very satisfactory, so I tried to draw a feeling of "twisting". It cannot be said that the calla lily itself does not have the possibility of this twist, because the horn of the calla lily originally has a little twisting feeling. I blended this twist a little with the figure of an Indian dancer. Then, from 1999 to 2003, I painted it for almost five years. I think that calla lilies have erotic and seductive meanings to enter the painting, without these things, I would not paint, because many people are painting calla lilies, and I do not want to imitate the superficial image of calla lilies.
Only if something stimulates me and seduces me, I draw it so that I can express it. As for whether I'm doing well or not, I don't know.
"Sheep Skull and Calla Lily" triplet (partial) heavy color
Goat Skull and Calla Lilies, triptych, heavy color
This one of the skulls is a bit too exposed and straightforward, trying to express the contrast between life and death. Birth includes sex, birth is sex, sex is birth, without sex where there is life?
"Residual Lotus"
"Residual Lotus" triptych pen
Withered Lotus, triptych, pen
Why do I like residual loads? This may be related to age.
Residual Lotus Pen (Partial)
Withered Lotus, pen
At a certain age, on these withered things, you can see the aging of your own life. They seem to be a mirror, and I use it to look at myself, maybe gu ying self-pity. The result of Gu Ying's self-pity is that when you are old, you must also have a little spiritual head, and this spiritual head is the dignity of old age and the dignity of living.
Residual Lotus Pen (Partial)
Withered Lotus, pen
Wood relief of "Fuxi and Nuwa"
Wood relief of "Fuxi and Nuwa"
Fuxi and Nuwa, relief woodcarving
In 1988, when my wood carvings "Fuxi Nuwa" and "Joyful Buddha" were exhibited at the Gallery of the National Art Museum of China, I remember a man who saw the exhibition, in his forties, and said with some anger: "What is this thing?" In fact, this kind of defender does not necessarily dislike nudity in his bones, but when he sees the performance of nudity, he will definitely scold the street.
"Watching Mime Has a Feeling" paper cut
"Watching Pantomime with Feeling", paper cut, 1986 Lining (54 x 43cm x 2)
Thoughts on watching Pantomime Opera,
papercutting, 1986, gasket paper (54 x 43cm x 2)
Beauty is a distance. This paper cut is two paintings to summarize the two states of beauty and distance.
"Watching Pantomime with Feeling", paper cut, 1986 Lining (54 x 43cm x 2)
Thoughts on watching Pantomime Opera,
papercutting, 1986, gasket paper (54 x 43cm x 2)
In the early 1980s, when I was studying at the Central Academy of Drama, I watched a Japanese pantomime: a bored man saw a beautiful and vivid female body in a glass cover. He lifted the hood and approached her, and the female body became like noodles, and she couldn't lift it up, and as soon as she lifted it up, she let go of her hand and softened again. Finally he was sad and put the glass cover down again, and as a result, the female body returned to fresh beauty. He lamented outside the glass cover, and then lifted the glass cover as it was. My understanding of this is that beauty must have a distance, and no distance means the death of beauty. At the same time, desire must be restrained.
If you want to get close to beauty and possess beauty, you will not only not get beauty, but you will also kill beauty. Gender relations also contain this logic. This is true of the relationship between husband and wife and lover. As the old Chinese saying goes, long goodbye to new marriage means that desire cannot be in desire forever, otherwise, desire will die.
origin
My paintings and sculptures have a strong sexual element, which may also be related to my adolescent experiences.
My wife was a cadre in the health system. Probably in 1953 or 1954, when I was in the first and second grades, the municipal health system held a maternity exhibition in order to encourage pregnant women to give birth scientifically in the hospital, with texts and pictures, and a row of medicine bottles soaking fetuses in different months. This exhibition is not allowed to be seen by people before marriage, my mother is on duty on Sunday to deliver food, I will watch, because I am a small child, my mother is a leader, others do not care about me at all, according to which I am also considered a "premarital man". I not only watched the hilarity, but also understood some knowledge. This experience must have had an impact on the germination of my sexual consciousness.
At that time, women gave birth at home, and the midwife delivered the baby. In this exhibition, the midwife is painted as ugly as a witch, holding something like a scale hook in her hand, which means that the midwife will use the hook to hook the child out during difficult childbirth. The purpose of the exhibition is to encourage everyone to go to the hospital to give birth and to give birth scientifically.
Poverty in China at that time was unimaginable to today's young people. Babies don't have diapers, they can only put on the sand, pee, pull, change the sand. When my mother gave birth to my brother, my nanny also told me that she would go to the loess soil of Nanguan to plan your brother. At that time, I still laughed at her in my heart, and I was a little dismissive, because I already understood the matter of having a child. From that time on, I became somewhat interested in people, the human body, where people come from, and what happened to people, and then I slowly learned that people are the product of male and female intercourse.
By the time I was thirteen, I dropped out of school and joined the drama team. When the old artist and we, the little students, slept in the same bunk as the rural performance, and as long as the lights were turned off at night, the old artist asked, Are the children asleep? The children did not say a word, and the old artists began to talk nonsense, telling all the stories of men and women and stealing, and we all listened to them in our hearts. At that time, young actors got married, and it was still popular to go to the "listening room". In short, the drama team is this set all day long, and we teenage children soak in this atmosphere, making us familiar with Q color prematurely, which will make puberty very painful.
On the one hand, the old artists are talking nonsense, and on the other hand, the moral appearance of people and politics is very calm, and the contrast is so great that it is almost perverted.
There are many stories of talents and women in Chinese opera works, such as the story of Su San, the story of Du Shiniang, etc., these themes are performed on the stage, in the play, it is legal, it is reasonable, and it is often a good ending for a lover to eventually become a family. In real life, we are so depressed, so boring, so limited in steps. Boys and girls say two words, who has a good feeling for whom, will be laughed at and reprimanded by others. When the teachers had a family member come to visit the class, the whole group would make them a spiritual meal. In such an environment, how can you not be precocious? How can you not be too curious about gender relations too early? And it's all unhealthy, undesirable curiosity.
The cover is Li Baotian's painting "Day" & "Night" heavy color
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