As one of the earliest practitioners of abstract painting and installation art in China, Zhu Jinshi's creation is not limited to the medium of art, not limited to the times, he approaches art from a more essential perspective, and takes the impossible as the law, the tangible and the intangible.
On March 20, 2024, artist Zhu Jinshi's large-scale solo exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain" was exhibited at Yimei Art Museum. The theme of the exhibition is derived from the artist's new work this year, and the curator Sheng Wei uses this as a perspective to reveal an interesting fact closely related to Zhu Jinshi's artistic career: as the artist puts it, "There are many stories that can be extended for half a century in the western mountains, the western suburbs, and the west, and I have appeared in these stories occasionally, but they have always been there." ”
"The Wind of the West Mountain" attempts to tell a continuous story, and the exhibition selects more than 40 paintings and installations by Zhu Jinshi since the 21st century, which are divided into three parts according to the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, and the atrium displays the large-scale installation "Du Fu Pagoda". Art is not confined to the frame, color and layer, lightness and heaviness, chance and necessity, abstraction and expression...... A public space for exhibiting and discussing his art is opened.
This year coincides with the fifth anniversary of the establishment of One Art Museum, and the exhibition venue has formed a certain fit with the "Wind of the West Mountain". Located in the Northwest of Haidian, Beijing, the museum presents the achievements of Chinese contemporary art through the selection of excellent art cases, opening up a field of dialogue and conversation in the midst of complexity.
Painting became the product of the study of painting
Painting is like gazing at yourself over your own shoulder. In 1980, Zhu Jinshi completed his first abstract painting with random strokes and limited colors. From the early 1990s to 2012, he gradually established the concept of "thick painting", and after 2000, he resumed painting, which had been suspended for nearly a decade.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
The Nabi painter Maurice Dennis believed that "painting, before it becomes a story, is essentially a flat surface covered by a combination of colors." Four years ago, a video interview with Zhu Jinshi – Accumulation documented the creative process of his paintings, on which he pressed a thick layer of paint like butter onto the canvas, scraping, stirring and pressing...... The canvas gradually fills with this repetitive action.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
The "thickness" in Zhu Jinshi's "thick painting" is different from the three-dimensional sense expressed by the general impasto method, and he emphasizes the texture of the pigment itself. Pigment is not only a provider of color, but also the weight of pigment and the balance of time, and the mutual bearing of the canvas, just as the American critic Clement Greenberg firmly believes that "the purity of the medium is the core", modern art aims to explore and present the essential attributes of its own medium.
Zhu Jinshi, The Wind of the West Mountain, oil on canvas, 180x480 cm, 2024
One can also see Zhu Jinshi's continued interest in landscape from this exhibition. "Weeping Willow Silver Ingot Bridge", "Don't Understand It as a Welcome Pine", "The Wind of the West Mountain" and other works are not direct reproductions of the landscape, but transcend the senses and experience, and understand the world outside the picture.
Zhu Jinshi, Don't Understand It as a Welcome Pine, Oil on canvas, 200x200 cm, 2022
In recent years, small-scale "thick paintings" have become the focus of Zhu Jinshi's creation in recent years. In every square inch, everything is hidden, and the spiritual concentration of the picture is worthy of repeated speculation by the viewer. Rather than being concerned with the importance of "thickness" in the picture, he is more interested in studying the systemic problem of language on a very limited canvas.
The introduction of acrylic is Zhu Jinshi's self-challenge to his past painting practice, and the flow and solidification of the medium itself have produced a confrontation, and the contemporaneity of painting is a proposition that he constantly thinks about.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
The method of "anti-painting" and the concept of "thick painting" are the clues he leaves to the viewer, and they are also the questions he wants to explore.
Art is always in a state of being created
Artistic transitions never happen overnight. In 1986, Zhu Jinshi moved to Germany, and since then he has often shuttled between China and Germany. For a long time, he put down his paintbrush and focused on installation art and conceptual art.
Zhu Jinshi, "Phalanx Project: A Cube of Linen in Berlin", Linen 100 x 100 x 100 cm 1988 (left), "Phalanx Project: A Cube of Xuan Paper in Beijing", Xuan Paper, 100 x 100 x 100 cm 1988 (right)
His first installation was the "Phalanx" art project (1988), in which he juxtaposes the stacked canvases at his home in Berlin against the stacked rice paper at his home in Beijing, but echoes each other. Throughout the ages, rice paper has been closely associated with culture and art, connecting the long and continuous national context. In "Phalanx", Zhu Jinshi used the elements of painting as the material of the installation, and the thickness became a kind of power and language, and at that time, rice paper was no longer just a material for painting, but also a material for art, and a certain reconciliation between tradition and contemporary.
Zhu Jinshi's sensitivity to materials and his interest in "things" increased day by day, and he began to create works with a large number of bamboo, rice paper, wood, stone, etc., which are mostly accessible, easy to find, and inexpensive everyday objects.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
In the atrium of the museum's exhibition hall, Zhu Jinshi's large-scale installation "Du Fu Pagoda" is displayed, with a diameter of 3.5 meters and a height of 12 meters, made of steel frames on the inside and covered with rice paper on the outside, standing in the form of a monument and public sculpture. At the same time, Du Fu Pagoda's sister piece, The Rice Paper Tower, is being performed at the Venice Biennale, just as it was in Berlin and Beijing.
Zhu Jinshi's art blurs the line between installation and painting in a pre-designed, yet open to contingency and naturalness, ignoring the distinction between local and transnational borders. In the continuous improvement of the written art history, under the international perspective of the 21st century, Zhu Jinshi shows the deep thinking of a Chinese artist.
Q&A
Q = 99 Art
A = Zhu Jinshi
Q Starting from the theme of the exhibition, curator Sheng Wei listed some facts related to "West" in the preface, including "The Wind of the West Mountain", "Western Suburbs", "Home in Berlin", etc., how do you view the facts closely related to your art career from the perspective of the curator?
A: Sheng Wei is very familiar with our generation of artists, especially the changes in Beijing's avant-garde art in the 1970s and even today.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q What are the collisions in the cooperation and exchange with curator Sheng Wei?
A: Sheng Wei is a quiet critic, sharp in thought, direct in language, but also very gentle and humorous, we have known since 2006, he has unique insights and research on art history.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q In the exhibition, the paintings are divided into three parts according to the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, does this division provide a different perspective for viewing your works compared to previous exhibitions in the gallery?
A: The gallery's exhibitions are more private collections while taking into account the audience, and pay more attention to the unique charm of each work. The museum's exhibitions interpret the historical aspects of the works from the perspective of art history, so that different audiences can gain a deeper understanding of the works in front of them.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q "Thick Painting" has been creating for more than 30 years, what do you think of the changes in "Thick Painting" and how do you see your own exploration?
A: "Thick painting" comes from the idea of anti-painting, change is the soul, change can be big or small, change can continue, there is no end to exploration.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q Why did you mention that you are more interested in large-scale acrylic paintings and small-scale "thick paintings"?
A: Large-scale acrylic painting can solve the problem of wall in the process of placement. Heavy. The small size of the "thick painting" makes it possible to study the system of language. During the three years of the pandemic, I painted 500 small-scale "thick paintings", which constituted a rich and complex system.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q Works such as "Weeping Willow Silver Ingot Bridge", "Don't Understand It as a Welcome Pine", "The Wind of the West Mountain" and other works come from the logo, color, emotion, and thinking of the works...... What influenced the naming of your work?
A: Painting is a conceptual art. The core of conceptual art is words, and naming is also words.
Q Does the title help the audience better understand your creation?
A: Artists can't think about the audience when they work.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q In addition to your paintings, you also create installation works, how do you use abstract language in different types of works, and what are the different expressive powers?
A: It's not abstract language, it's language, abstract is just a word that can be thrown away right away.
There are no abstract concepts in my thinking system, and I spend more time thinking about concrete working methods, but unfortunately, I hardly discuss working methods with others.
Q As early as 1988, you chose rice paper for your installation "Phalanx" art project, why did you think of using this material, and how do you think about the cultural attributes of rice paper itself?
A: "Phalanx" is generally considered a military term, but for me it is a word composed of dictionary square characters, abbot, direction, method, policy, plan, and circle..... and by studying these words, you will get the action to be taken in the face of a cube of rice paper and a cube of linen.
Q What is the relationship between Du Fu Pagoda and the Xuan Paper Tower, which was exhibited at the Venice Biennale?
A: I prefer the Du Fu Pagoda next to the West Mountain, which is adjacent to the White Pagoda of Dajue Temple.
Installation view of the exhibition "The Wind of the West Mountain".
Q Looking back on your decades of experience, what kind of state or goal do you pursue in your art creation now?
A: Peace of mind.
Q As more and more young artists with foreign education background return to China to continue their abstract art creation, how can we solve the relationship between locality and internationalization in the current era of cultural globalization?
A: Don't worry about them, it's their world in 30 years.
Q In recent years, many young artists have entered the exploration of abstract art, what do you think of the current abstract art creation in China?
A: Eager to try.
Exterior view of Yimei Art Museum
QWhat is a venue for you, and how do you see the relationship between the works and the museum space?
A: From the outside, it is a cultural landmark at the foot of Beijing's West Mountain, and the interior space of the museum has an industrial temperament.
QIntern Art Museum is located in Zhongguancun, how do you think the museum can become a connection and bridge between artists and audiences?
A: This is the challenge that the museum director Lubby and her team are facing, and they have actually been very successful.
(Article from 99 Art)
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