Wu Weishan: Cast the soul for the times for the statue of history

Wu Weishan Guangming Pictures

【Approaching the Writers】

He is an outstanding sculpture artist, with a pair of warm hands to shape a warm soul, and with his own sculpture works as a link, build a bridge of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. To complete a sculpture, it is to seek art, but also to ask. He said: "When I am old, look back at my life, and then look at the mountains of sculptures, that is the trajectory of my life, my self-statue. ”

He is a mountain. The soil is a mountain, and the wind and rain are thriving. Decades of creation in the field of art have long made him a mountain of art. He is the well-known Sculpture Artist Wu Weishan.

As the proposer of the theory of "freehand sculpture" in China, Wu Weishan's creative practice and theoretical exploration process are very rich. He is diligent and self-disciplined, often resting at one or two in the morning, getting up at five or six in the morning, practicing and exploring in the field of sculpture art for decades, and has created more than 600 excellent sculptures.

Wu Weishan's works not only have deep Chinese cultural roots, but also use the world sculpture art language, and have been highly praised by the art circles at home and abroad, among which "The Unity of Heaven and Man - Lao Tzu" and "National Memorial Monument - Nanjing Massacre Group Sculpture" won the New China Urban Sculpture Construction Achievement Award, and he also became the second Chinese artist who was elected as a corresponding academician of the French Academy of Arts after Wu Guanzhong.

Wu Weishan comprehensively and systematically studied the history of Chinese sculpture, and summarized eight major styles, including the original simple and humble imagery style, the charming abstract style of the Shang Dynasty, the realistic style of Qin figurine decoration, the Xionghun freehand style of the Han Dynasty, the ideal style of Buddhist modeling, the style of song dynasty folk sentiment photography, the exaggerated style of the imperial tomb program, and the folk simple expression style. He also systematically studied foreign sculpture theory, and visited the site many times to inspect famous Western sculpture works. "Alien Traces" records his artistic walking experience abroad, from which you can hear his exclamation of "Unfortunately I know Degas, Degas does not know me", and feel his surprise when he listens to the sculptor Robin say "I know you, you know me".

Mr. Ji Xianlin's evaluation of Wu Weishan's sculpture art is very pertinent: "Professor Wu Weishan is a heroic and unique way to create statues for the times, for cultural statues, and for cultural people. Integrate the cultural spirit into the endless river of historical development, promote the chinese culture, and open a new heaven of statues. ”

Wu Weishan used his own sculptures as a link to build a bridge of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. His large-scale sculpture "Ask" stands in the Chinese Cultural Center in Singapore, the National Gallery of Belarus and other places, "Smiling Coubertin" stands at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, "The Great Walker - Marx" stands in Trier, Germany, "Dialogue Beyond Time and Space - Leonardo da Vinci and Qi Baishi" stands in the Leonardo da Vinci Museum and Library in Italy, "Divine Encounter - Dialogue between Confucius and Socrates" is located in the heart of Athens, Greece, the ruins of the ancient market, The sculpture "Centennial Monument" commemorating the 100th anniversary of the work-study movement of the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries in France stands in France, and the "Portrait of The Hidden Zen Master" settled in Japan... Sculptures reflecting the spirit of Chinese culture stand on the land of different countries, telling wonderful Chinese stories. Ancient and modern Chinese and foreign masters have "dialogued" across time and space in Wu Weishan's sculptures, promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and interpreting the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

In 2016, Wu Weishan was hired by the Central Propaganda Department and the Information Office of the State Council as a "cultural exchange messenger who tells Chinese stories well". He said that it is necessary to use sculptures full of vitality to help the spread of Chinese culture, connect peace-loving and art-loving people, show the world a credible, lovely and respectable image of China, show the great spirit of the Chinese nation, and build a community with a shared future for mankind with the beauty of art.

Wu Weishan is also an excellent art educator. In 1983, he was admitted to the Decorative Sculpture Department of the Special Arts Department of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts and the Fine Arts Department of Nanjing Normal University. Because of the influence of his father and the ideal of teacher training, he finally chose to study at Nanjing Normal University, and after graduation, he stayed in the school to teach and became a people's teacher. Since then, he has never forgotten his original intention, and has not given up his pursuit of education and his love for aesthetic education.

Wu Weishan has always insisted on educating people with beauty and drumming and shouting for art education. He believes that aesthetic education is intangible but important, is a fundamental education, is the education of the soul. Aesthetic education should be a course that transcends utilitarianism and is not designed for further education and examinations. He proposed that every art creator should be committed to making the essence of national culture a resource for public aesthetic education.

After serving as the director of the National Art Museum of China, he regarded the National Art Museum of China as an important aesthetic education classroom, and beautified people through public education projects such as "Masters Talk About Great Beauty", "Night of the National Art Museum of China" and "Cloud Classroom of the National Art Museum of China". He has invited Pu Cunxin, Yu Hai, Hai Xia, Liao Changyong, Wu Bixia and other celebrities to enter the National Art Museum of China, and use their social influence and superb artistic level to carry out sound and colorful aesthetic education for the audience. Together with his colleagues, he invited children with disabilities and children of migrant workers to the National Art Museum of China to paint with them and let them accept the influence of beauty.

Wu Weishan's achievements have benefited from his years of study and practice, as well as the infiltration of the spirit of the great figures he once sculpted. In a book, Wu Weishan once described the mental journey of his sculptures of Confucius, LaoZi, Cao Xueqin, Lu Xun, Fei Xiaotong, Ji Xianlin, Zhou Weizhi, Rao Zongyi, Chen Yongkang, Yang Zhenning, Zhang Mingshan, Qi Baishi, Lin Sanzhi, Xiao Xian, Wu Zuoren, Gu Jingzhou, Xiong Bingming, Su Tianci and other masters: on the one hand, he created the image of a master with both form and god through specific materials; On the other hand, the masters helped him grow with their own charisma.

Wu Weishan once said that he would not make a statue of himself, because each work is a projection of his own soul, "When I am old, look back at my life, and then look at the mountains of sculptures, that is my life trajectory, is my self-statue."

Wu Weishan really does not have to make a statue of himself, he himself is already a statue - it is those great figures who sculpt a unique Wu Weishan; It is under the inspiration of the spirit of those great figures that Wu Weishan has sculpted a best version of himself.

(Author: Zhu Yongxin, Member of the Standing Committee and Deputy Secretary-General of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy)

Source: Guangming Daily