Author: Li Hui Source: Jiangsu Literary and Art Critics Association 2024-04-01 16:40
The pen is full of smoke and smoke in the mountains
——Remembering the landscape painter Yang Yaoning
Text | Li Hui
Yang Yaoning, a famous contemporary landscape painter, was the vice president of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Painting and the director of the Landscape Painting Research Institute. Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Traditional Chinese Painting is the birthplace and important town of the New Jinling School of Painting, and has always been famous for its new landscape paintings. Backed by the towering tree of the Provincial Academy of Chinese Painting, Yang Yaoning did not sit on its name, but always shouldered the mission of inheritance and innovation, and strived to explore the modern transformation of contemporary Chinese painting, forming a majestic atmosphere, strong colors, and a painting language that integrates Chinese and Western paintings.
Yang Yaoning's landscape paintings often make the viewer feel like they are in the mud of the landscape, smoke and rain, and they can't tell which piece of the picture is the forest and snow mountain, but they can clearly feel the rushing rivers and rivers rushing straight into the sky; although they don't see birds and beasts walking, they only feel full of vitality and vitality. Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" has a saying: "In a trance, there is an image, and in a trance, there are things in it", in the realm of art, Yang Yaoning is like an ignorant newcomer just created by Nuwa, facing the vast universe and beautiful mountains and rivers with the most authentic perception, and issuing the purest aria and praise.
Yang Yaoning is a denial of traditional landscape painting.
The richness of color in life is a gift from nature to all mankind. Yang Yaoning believes that "color is the most important thing for visual impact", and he boldly affirms that color plays an important role in painting, denies the saying that "ink and wash are supreme" since ancient times, and decisively walks out of the color taste of the ancient literati who "carry ink and have all five colors". The colors he uses not only come from the traditional "pigment library", but also use many imported pigments, which are eye-catching but not vulgar, heavy but not sweet, showing rich textures and natural emotions. His love and use of color gives his works a strong visual impact, which is more in line with the spirit of the times and the aesthetic needs of the people.
Chinese painting uses lines to express the shape and texture of objects. Yang Yaoning's painting techniques negate the routine of line modeling, and the common constituent elements of landscape painting: mountains, rocks, clouds, water, buildings, pavilions, etc., are dissolved one by one, and the various methods commonly used in landscape painting: draped linen, big axe, small axe, raindrops, etc., are discarded. He uses large brushstrokes and large color blocks to model, which seems to have no definite brushstrokes, but it is both affirmative and flexible, and the artistic conception is majestic and wanton, full of beautiful rhythm and rhythm.
The ancients said that "the teacher creates the nature", and painting is the process of reproducing or typifying natural objects, such as Jing Hao's Taihang Mountain and Zhao Mengfu's Quehua Mountain. Yang Yaoning tried his best to get rid of the concretization of traditional landscape painting and proposed to "recreate nature". He uses landscapes as props, collage them wantonly, and sublimate them. Yang Yaoning's landscape paintings are not confined to the details of objects, and the images tend to be abstract freely, close to the mysterious mental image, which is a contemporary and expressionist painting.
Yang Yaoning rebelled against the traditional methods of landscape painting, and his rebellion was not based on tradition, but on the expansion of tradition.
Yang Yaoning joked that he was "looking around". Since the 70s of the last century, he has spent more than ten years studying Chinese painting systematically, laying a solid foundation for the tradition. At the same time, he also studied and researched Western oil painting, photography, printmaking, and contemporary art. Forty years ago, when Yang Yaoning saw Zao Wou-ki's paintings, he was greatly shocked and established an artistic expression that combines Eastern and Western painting arts. Due to his rich life experience and extensive cultural knowledge, Yang Yaoning has many new words and sharp words in his speech, and is inclusive and learning of new things and new concepts.
Yang Yaoning is a resolute supporter and promoter of the spirit of Chinese painting. "Vivid charm" is the lifeblood of Chinese painting in the world of art, and all the methods of painting revolve around "vivid charm". Yang Yaoning combines the essence of Chinese and Western art in order to show the Chinese atmosphere and Chinese spirit more freely. In his creation, he draws on the color consciousness of Western painting, and still pays attention to the characteristics of rice paper, so that the color and ink are integrated and collided, which is both thick and layered, and the water vapor is dense and hazy, which is in line with the direction of landscape creation. He borrowed from the light and shadow expressions of Western paintings, giving the picture a sense of etherealism, space and mystery. The content of his works tends to be abstract, reflecting the momentum of all things in the universe, natural and vivid, with great vitality and appeal.
Shi Tao of the Qing Dynasty said that "pen and ink should be with the times", and in the sixties of the last century, it was quoted by the New Jinling School. However, "brush and ink with the times" is often understood by the world as an innovation in subject matter, ignoring the innovation of aesthetic schemas and techniques by the ancients and previous artists. Yang Yaoning personally explores the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese painting, and his works are splendid, showing the purity of art, the height of thought and the contemporary aesthetic spirit.
Artist Profile
Yang Yaoning, a famous landscape painter, was the vice president of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Traditional Chinese Painting and the director of the Landscape Painting Creation Research Institute, a first-class artist, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and an expert enjoying special government allowances from the State Council.
About the Author
Li Hui, associate researcher, second-level researcher of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. He is a member of the Chinese Literature and Art Critics Association, a director of the Jiangsu Literature and Art Critics Association, a member of the Provincial Writers Association, and a deputy director of the Cultural Work Committee of the Jiangsu Democratic League.
- END -