Yang Huishan served as a curator for the first time, curating the "Best Of The Way Forward - Zhang Yi's Creation Retrospective Exhibition". Photo by Zhang Hengwei
On November 1, Yang Huishan recalled Zhang Yi's "glass feelings": the story of Chinese should be expressed with Chinese emotions
Li Jiajia, a reporter from China News Network
"This is my first time as a curator, but it is actually a retrospective exhibition of Zhang Yi." On November 1st, on the first anniversary of the death of Zhang Yi, the founder of Liuli Workshop and the former best director of Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, his wife Yang Huishan, who was also a popular Taiwan Golden Horse Award film queen, appeared at the Shanghai Liuli Art Museum to review Zhang Yi's persistent pursuit of art along the way and his quest to inherit Chinese culture with a "Walking Forward in Perfection - Zhang Yi Creation Retrospective Exhibition".
"Moving Forward with Perfection - Retrospective Exhibition of Zhang Yi's Creation" exhibits many objects of great commemorative significance during Zhang Yi's lifetime. Photo by Zhang Hengwei
Zhang Yi, who published a novel at the age of 19, was hailed as "a rare Chinese writing style after Zhang Ailing and Bai Xianyong". In the 1980s, Zhang Yi continued to be famous in the Asian film industry. In 1985, he suddenly disappeared after winning the Taiwan Golden Horse Award and the Best Director at the Asia Pacific Film Festival for "I Live My Life Like This". Subsequently, Zhang Yi and Yang Huishan devoted themselves to the creation of modern glass art together, founded the Liuli Workshop in 1987, for more than 30 years, the husband and wife scattered thousands of gold, sought their own creation, and devoted themselves to the reproduction of the Chinese cultural treasure of liuli firing technology, and the poet Yu Guangzhong praised it as "cultivated in the fierce", and he was also considered to be the pioneer and founder of Chinese glass art.
The exhibition includes four series created by Zhang Yiliuli, namely "Taihu Stone", which pays tribute to the beauty of nature, "Freedom" of life after overcoming setbacks, "Fireworks Zen Heart" that amazes the French Century Museum, and "A Touch of Red", a new milestone in oriental ink painting. Together with Liu Li's works, there are more than 3,000 explanatory textka manuscripts written by Zhang Yi for his works, as well as memorable objects from his past life.
Yang Huishan guides Zhang Yi's Liuli works "Free" series photographed by Zhang Hengwei
What kind of exhibition form is enough to fully present Zhang Yi's life? This was a problem that plagued Yang Huishan for a long time, "often crying while doing it." In the past, every exhibition in Liuli Workshop was organized by Zhang Yi, who set the theme, gave the concept, wrote the text, and gave the content, but this time it was supported by Yang Huishan alone, "and he could only do it with trepidation."
"I would wear his hat at home because I wanted his wisdom, I wore his clothes, smelled the clothes, and felt like he was still with me." At the tour site of the day, Yang Huishan was also dressed in Zhang Yi's black suit, full of silver hair, the god shape was slightly haggard, and during the tour, she choked up several times when she said that she was emotional, and her eyes were full of tears.
When he was young, Zhang Yi was untamed, "he won the award and was still cursing." In the first part of the retrospective, Zhang Yi's acceptance speech at the 22nd Taiwan Golden Horse Awards was scrolling on a small computer display. It's more accurate to say it's not so much a testimonial as a mixed one: "I think [on the trophy] there should be a line on it... Although the structure is not perfect, especially the back fifth is rough and bad, but the sincerity of the aunt is commendable, single-minded, specially awarded a Golden Horse Award, thank you. At that time, Zhang Yi suffered from the situation of film shooting overrun and was replaced, "Everyone saw that I made sacrifices for the film to gain more than 20 kilograms, all the glory was given to me, and he himself was wronged", Yang Huishan felt this experience and said, "But this is the truth of Zhang Yi, although later he will also sigh 'young and ignorant'".
Yang Huishan guides Zhang Yi's liuli works "Taihu Stone" series Photographed by Zhang Hengwei
Zhang Yi, who likes the Diamond Sutra, once created a series of "a touch of red", which subverts the flat concept of painting, through the transparency of the glass material to let natural light shine into the work, in the glaze rendering, the level of the brush is incomparably clearly revealed, there is always a bubble-like red churning between figuration and abstraction in the work, which corresponds to the theme of the series "Life is like a dream bubble, there is still a touch of red in the heart". Yang Huishan said that Zhang Yi loves all kinds of beauty in life, and that "a touch of red" represents his hope for art, his yearning for Chinese culture and his eternal persistence.
Liuli Workshop has also gone overseas to exhibit, and they often encounter foreign counterparts asking: "Why don't you take an English name and a French name, isn't it more foreign than 'Liuli'?" Every time at this time, Zhang Yi will say: "Liuli is not only a material for us, it is also an artistic conception of national culture, and it is the continuation of the bloodline of Chinese culture." "Even if the exhibition abroad is translated in English, we still use 'LIULI,'" Ms. Yang said.
Zhang Yi's dedication to Chinese culture is also reflected in his views on the development of cultural and creative industries, "He always said that the cultural and creative industries should not only become industries in the end, where cultural creativity is, culture is the first to be explored, and then the industry, otherwise it is the inversion of the horse." ”
It can be said that Liuli is a carrier for Zhang Yi to carry on the beautiful understanding of culture, nationality and traditional ethical values in his mind. Yang Huishan said: "Zhang Yi has always believed that Chinese culture should be expressed in Chinese language technology, and Chinese stories should be told with Chinese emotions, so you can always see his thoughts and thinking as a Chinese between the lines." ”
Speaking of the future, Yang Huishan said that she will not give up promoting the forward movement of Liuli culture, and will continue to communicate with international artists, "If we can always uphold his concept and move forward, then let's continue to do it." (End)
Source: China News Network