Li Yan
Li Yan, born in September 1973, graduated from the Department of Literature and Art of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1996, is a member of the Shanghai Artists Association, a member of the Ink Painting Studio of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, and the director of the Shanghai Meibo Art Museum.
Publications: "Ink Spirit: Contemporary Chinese Painting Masters Series, Li Yan" (Shaanxi People's Fine Arts Publishing House), "Contemporary Chinese Gongbi Landscape" (Henan Fine Arts Publishing House), "Contemporary Green Landscape" (Henan Fine Arts Publishing House)
Houshan series one Li Yan 1016 68cmx68cm
<h1>Paint as you like</h1>
At the beginning of mankind, painting has accompanied people's lives, regardless of skin color and region, its content and form are natural expressions of emotions: the sharing of joy, the joy of harvest, the recording of rituals, the reproduction of scenes... Childish and funny, free and evocative. This is the essence of art that we should think about and pursue, and it is also the spirit of freehand that we are now advocating.
Lin Fengmian said, "The essence of painting is painting, there is no such thing as a faction or a 'Chinese or Western'..." I think there should be: there is no matter the form and no matter the subject matter; there is no matter the means and no material; there is no realism or freehand... It doesn't matter, it's just a state, not to care, not to pay attention, but to require the painter to start from nature, not to deliberately "shape" and get its meaning, not to deliberately "true" and get its rhyme, not to deliberately "art" and get its beauty...
Houshan Series II Li Yan 1016 68cmx68cm
Houshan series san liyan 1016 45cmx48cm
There is no new or old painting, but there is a difference between good and bad. A good painting should be from the surface and the inside, by the elephant business, and its creative process should be "from the heart to desire"... There is interest and taste in order to look intentional at first, and then look at the taste, and look at it for a long time. The fun of painting, in the process, in the pen and ink, in the shape of god...
Painting has two "forms" that exist at the same time, one is the shape of nature, that is, the shape of the eye; the other is the shape of painting, that is, the shape of the hand. How to coordinate and unify the two is a problem that every painter is thinking about and solving. The realist should work the psychic and mysterious; the deformer should be good at realism, cultivate spirituality, and paint at will, which is precious in nature.
Houshan series four Li Yan 1016 45cmx48cm
Magic lies between similarity and dissimilarity, and the scale grasp of "wonderful" determines the character of the work. Good painters often wander on the edge of "similar and unlike", "like" in the grasp, "not like" is also in the grasp.
Seeking the situation in the scene, seeking the intention in the environment; seeking simplicity in complexity, seeking change in simplicity; seeking sacrifice in taking, seeking fun in giving up... It's the direction I'm trying to pursue. The recent "Houshan" series of works has neither the characteristics of the three mountains and five mountains, nor the special reference to the famous mountains and rivers, but mainly the mountains of the homeland, the mountains seen elsewhere, and the mountains of classic masterpieces, which are mixed together to form a pen and ink mound. "Houshan" is just a spiritual symbol, a spiritual sustenance, a writing experience, a state of mind expression...
Houshan series five Li Yan 1016 68cmx138cm
Swim freely between the mountains and rivers, freely express the inner feeling, and freely express the meaning of painting. There is the present moment, personal perception, self-expression. I think, so I'm in...
Old Town Series one 45cmx47cm 2018
Old Town Series II 45cmx47cm 2018
Old Town Series III 45cmx47cm 2018