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The Beijing News, November 5 2013 Cultural News
Artist's solo exhibition held in Today Art Museum, Chinese contemporary art development condensed into 23 artworks --
Zhu Wei Uses Ink to Start "Cultural Renaissance"
Reporter/Li Jianya
Artist Zhu Wei's creation history is almost an epitome of the 30 years development of Chinese contemporary art. From the day before yesterday, you can review this period of history in Zhu Wei's 23 works shown in his solo exhibition which opened on November 3rd at Today Art Museum. For the first time, this exhibition applies the combination of literature and works for the interpretation of artistic creations over the years. In the view of curator Zhu Zhu, Zhu Wei is one of the few ink painting practitioners who can break through the wall between the traditional and contemporary means of expression. The exhibition will run until November 10th.
90% Works Were Borrowed from Overseas Collectors
The executive director of Today Art Museum Mr. Gao Peng told reporters that this exhibition has undergone three directors' terms of office from the initial plan, and after the effort of previous two directors, now the exhibition finally opens. Perhaps this kind of "difficult labor" offers yet another conformation of Zhu Wei's importance in the contemporary ink and wash circle.
Zhu Wei is the pioneer of contemporary ink painting, and he is also among the very first group of distinguished contemporary Chinese artists recognized by the international art audience in the nineties of the 20th century. Just graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 1993, Zhu Wei brought his painting The Story of Beijing No.3 to an art exhibition in Guangzhou, where he met the international gallery Plum Blossoms and signed a contract with them. From then on Zhu Wei became one of the earliest New China's artists whose faces widely recognized by overseas art collectors. This process is also reflected in the exhibition.
Reporter learned that 90% of the 23 works shown in this exhibition were borrowed from overseas collectors. Except for the three early paintings created in 1988 such as Portrait No.1 derivative from Bada’s landscape brush style, the embryo of Beijing Story which are still in China, the other 20 pieces of works on display were all borrowed from abroad including Monet family in France, Williams College Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. Ullens, Mr. Uli Sigg, etc.
Exhibiting His Creation History In A Form of Literature
When many Chinese artists were working on “political pop” and “ironic realism” oil paintings under the influence of western modern art, Zhu was exploring the possibility to reflect contemporary Chinese political and social life with traditional meticulous ink and wash. In the view of art critic Li Xiaoshan, having a history is very important to an artist, and Zhu Wei is precisely an artist with history.
This exhibition, for the first time, presents Zhu Wei's creation history in a form of literature. Although only 23 paintings are exhibited, they have included Zhu Wei's representative works from the 1990s such as China China, Utopia, The Story of Beijing, Sweet Life and so on. Among them the Portrait No.1 derivative from Bada’s landscape brush style, the embryo of Beijing Story proves Zhu Wei's respect toward Bada Shanren, who has influenced Zhu Wei both in composition and sentiment. While the China China, a portrait of Deng Xiaoping which had been printed on American version of Time magazine, was borrowed from Jack and Susan in New York and appears in the exhibition this time.
In his new painting The Ink and Wash Research Lectures series which was initiated in 2005 and finished this year, Zhu Wei gave up his usual story-telling routine, starting a journey inward. By standing at some distance from the tradition, and looking back to the rules and elegant of traditional ink paintings, Zhu Wei found a new perspective.
Dialogue
"I'm Optimistic about Cultural Renaissance "
The Beijing News: You are very good at telling a story of China and of Beijing, but since 2005 you began entering into The Ink and Wash Research Lectures series, so what led to this?
Zhu Wei: My previous series focused on telling a story, because Chinese society was changing rapidly at that time. But eventually the stories should be told are told, and I started to walk into the inner world of people.
The Beijing News: I noticed the use of curtains as an element in the context of your creation. This element also appears in paintings by another contemporary meticulous painter Xu Lei.
Zhu Wei: I have painted a few curtain series, not much, which was derived from my Utopia series, and now I took it as an exploration. Unlike the earlier figurative paintings, this series express some elements of the characteristics of abstract thinking. I found they are more understandable to western audiences.
The Beijing News: You have another uniqueness which is your ink paintings had been recognized by international market very early. In the meantime, our contemporary art has been considered being manipulated by the overseas market right now.
Zhu Wei: The financial capital has led the contemporary art's nose for seven or eight years. Of course being led by the nose means there is some value lying in it. The market is a thing about commercial business, about financial industry, which is another world. It totally does not belong to the category of art.
The Beijing News: The contemporary ink and wash is extremely popular in China at present. What do you think about it?
Zhu Wei: The contemporary ink and wash is hot commercially in the market, in the price, but from academic point of view, it also proves a rising cultural renaissance, which develops the contemporary ink and wash into a hotspot. After 30 years of reform and opening-up, after we fully absorbed the western culture, now we look back and think our local culture is also nice.
Why do young men today like Guo Degang so much? These young men are growing up eating McDonald's and holding iphones. I think it because the authentic traditional culture in Guo Degang's cross talk.
Similarly, when we have seen enough the western contemporary art, now we suddenly want to see what our local contemporary art looks like. However good the oil painting is, it's still a foreign thing. Now we want to see whether there is any progress in our local thing. Here the ink and wash plays the role of local culture. In the past there was a negative attitude toward local culture, and now suddenly we feel the culture revival is coming. It is a genetic issue.
Now we are more confident about our local culture. I think there is hope in the cultural Renaissance, and I am optimistic about it.
Comments
Zhu Wei brings the traditional techniques into the authentic expression of contemporary themes. By doing so, he developed his unique symbols of modeling, his unique subject and composition, as well as a set of methods of coloring. Some meticulous brushwork painters today merely use their meticulous techniques to imitate the West, however, Zhu Wei follows the principles of flat and decorative in traditional meticulous brushwork, and expresses his feelings in real life. His creation has been filtered through his heart. I think Zhu Wei's painting cannot be ignored in the chapter of contemporary meticulous painting. By: Lu Hong (art critic)
Using the traditional ink and wash for contemporary expression, which sounds easy, but actually is extremely difficult. In the whole picture of contemporary Chinese ink painting creation, it is Zhu Wei who breaks through the barrier between the ancient and the present. By: Zhu Zhu (curator of the exhibition)
《新京报》二零一三年十一月五日刊文化新闻
艺术家个展亮相今日美术馆，23幅作品浓缩中国当代艺术发展——
朱伟用水墨“文化复兴”
记者/李健亚
艺术家朱伟的历程几乎就是一部中国当代艺术发展30年的缩影，从前日开始，你可以通过23幅作品重温这段历程。前日，朱伟个展在今日美术馆开幕。该展首次以文献的形式诠释他多年来的艺术创作。策展人朱朱指出，朱伟是少数几位能打通古代和今天表达隔阂的当代水墨践行者。该展将展至11月10日。
90%作品来源于海外藏家
今日美术馆执行馆长高鹏告诉记者，该展得以举行历经了三任馆长，经历前两任馆长的努力，终于今天能展出。或许这样的“难产”也从侧面证明了朱伟在当代水墨界的地位。
朱伟是当代水墨先行者，他是上世纪90年代最早一批得到国际艺术界认可的中国当代艺术家中的一位。1993年，刚从电影学院毕业的朱伟，带着自己的作品《北京故事三号》参加了广州的画展。这让他成功地与国际艺术机构万玉堂签约，朱伟也成长为新中国最早走海外市场的艺术家之一。这样的历程也反映在此次展览中。
记者了解到，亮相于此次展览的23幅作品，90%出自海外藏家。除了创作于1988年的《用八大山水笔法绘北京故事人物图一号》等三件作品还藏于国内，其他20件参展作品均借自海外藏家，包括法国莫奈家族、美国麻省威尔斯利大学戴维斯美术馆、尤伦斯夫妇、乌里·希克等。
以文献形式呈现创作历程
当大量的中国艺术家在西方现代艺术影响下创作“政治波普”和“讽刺现实主义”作品时，朱伟则开始探索传统的工笔画来表现当代中国政治生活的可能性。在艺术评论家李小山看来，对艺术家来说有历程很重要，而朱伟恰恰就是个有历程的艺术家。
该展是首次以文献的形式呈现了朱伟创作历程。尽管作品数量只有23件，但囊括了其上世纪90年代以来的代表性作品《中国中国》、《乌托邦》、《北京故事》、《甜蜜的生活》等。其中，创作年代最早的《用八大山水笔法绘北京故事人物图一号》中表现了朱伟对八大山人的喜欢。八大山人在构图和情感上都曾对朱伟产生过影响。而上过美国《时代》周刊的邓小平画像《中国中国》此番也从美国纽约杰克和苏珊收藏处借出出现在此次展览中。
在今年的新作《水墨研究课徒系列》中，朱伟放弃之前的讲故事，而开始往内心走。这是朱伟自2005年便开始的系列一直持续至今。在离开传统一段距离后，再回望传统的水墨规制和传统水墨的优雅，又重新给朱伟带来了看待传统的新视角。
■ 对话
“文化复兴，我很乐观”
新京报：你擅长用水墨讲中国的故事、北京的故事，但自2005年以后你却进入了水墨研究课徒系列，这是缘于什么？
朱伟：以前的系列着重于讲故事，因为当时的中国社会变化很快。到后面该讲的故事都讲完了，就往人的内心走。
新京报：注意到你的创作脉络中也有对帷幕元素的运用。这在另一位当代工笔画家徐累那也能看到。
朱伟：我的帷幕系列画得不多，这是从乌托邦系列脱胎过来，其实我是拿它做一个实验。与此前具象不同，是将抽象思维特质的元素表现出来。我发现这个系列的作品还是西方人更能看懂。
新京报：在你身上还有一个独特性是你的水墨画很早就走向海外市场，而当代艺术一直被认为是被海外市场操控的。
朱伟：当代艺术七八年来被金融资本牵着鼻子走。当然被牵着鼻子走证明还有利用价值。应该说，市场是商业的事，是金融行业的，是另一种玩法。完全不属于艺术范畴。
新京报：那你怎么看当前在国内兴起的当代水墨热。
朱伟：市场的当代水墨热是商业上的热，是从价格考虑。
但同时从学术角度来看，文化上也开始复兴，形成当代水墨热。改革开放30年，大家对西方文化充分吸收后，回过头来觉得本土文化也不错。
你看为什么年轻人也会喜欢郭德纲呢？他们可是吃着麦当劳、拿着苹果手机长大的。我觉得这是因为郭德纲身上地道的传统文化。
同样，在看过西方的当代艺术后，现在我们忽然想看本土的当代艺术是什么样的。油画再好也是外来的，而本土的东西这30年有进步吗？水墨画就是起这个本土文化的作用。以前大家对本土文化是否定的，现在突然觉得文化复兴了，这里面有个很大的基因问题。
现在大家对本土文化有自信了。对于文化复兴我能看到希望，这点我很乐观。
■ 点评
朱伟将传统工笔画的技法很地道地转入到当代的表达中，且找到自己独特的造型符号、独特的题材。现在有些工笔画家是用工笔技法简单地去模仿西方。但朱伟遵循着中国传统工笔画平面化、装饰化的原则，却表现了现实生活中感受到的东西，他的创作是经过内心过滤的。我觉得朱伟的工笔画是当代工笔画章节中不可忽略的。口述：鲁虹（艺术评论家）
将传统水墨用于当代表达，说起来简单，但实际很难。在整个当代水墨画创作格局中，朱伟打通古代和今天的表达隔阂。口述：朱朱（该展策展人） |
