Exhibition SiteThe Book of Songs and Amusement ParksWelcome to the opening ceremony of the exhibition "The Book of Songs and Amusement Park". I am Wang Dan, the co curator of this exhibition, and I am very passionate about co curating with Ms. Bao Yu, the initiator of the Common Art Center. From the perspective of a "painting reader", I can provide a sensory interpretation of the creative psychology and context of the works of the four artists. Regarding the theme of "The Book of Songs and Amusement Parks", as the name suggests, "The Book of Songs" is the oldest poetry collection in China, recording the scenery, scenery, and lifestyle of ancient times; And amusement parks are places where innocence and happiness are produced and recorded. In the works of four artists with different schools of thought and profound foundations, we can see their tribute and application of classical culture and traditional techniques, as well as their different interpretations and life philosophies of "art for happiness". When poetic and picturesque elements come from ancient times and meet with storytelling, contrast, and drama, there is a natural harmony between the Book of Songs and amusement parks.
Exhibition SiteThe works of the four artists, when first seen, resemble a scene reproduction of classical Chinese literature; Upon closer inspection, it is the composite associative creativity that brings joy to oneself and others. Jin Zhunzhi's works, from a distance, look like "withered vines, old trees, and dim crows", and up close, look like Bruce Lee, who has been trained to a crane like figure under the blooming plum blossom. The super party with rich anime and film elements makes people flow and play in infinite time travel with a sense of curiosity one by one! At first glance, Jiang Jijin's works depict the picturesque landscape of "clouds in the blue sky and water in a bottle", leading us into a transcendent spiritual world and reflecting on the poetry of poverty and the vigilance towards the ecological environment in the folds of jeans. Yu Wendi's phoenix flying, wandering in the traditional ink painting intention of cherishing and loving the past, is like a dream in a garden, fulfilling her respect for classical aesthetics, while the integration of modern trends is another free association and cruising. Zi Peng, who "uses jade as a medium", let the oriental god Luo meet the western Venus in his works, and let the the Taihu Lake Lake stone shine with the spirit of jade eyes. With the surprise of the material effect, he wrote a page of New Stone in the contemporary art history, conveying a unique aesthetic that transcends material and reaches the soul. When we step into this amusement park built by art, let go of our worries and constraints, and become a "soul catcher" together, embarking on an ancient and carefree art tour, sharing the joy and excitement of artists' spiritual light at the moment, and fulfilling our wishes after painting.
Exhibition Site
The Book of Songs and Amusement Parks | Opening Ceremony「The Book of Songs and Amusement Parks」Group Exhibition
The Common Art Center will present the "Book of Songs and Amusement Park" artist group exhibition at 4:00 pm on August 18, 2024. The exhibition will be coordinated by academic host Peng Feng and curators Wang Dan and Bao Yu. Exhibiting the works of four artists with different styles: Jin Zhunzhi, Jiang Jijin, You Wendi, and Xu Peng.
From the "Phoenix Flying" with its feathers fluttering, to the carefully crafted "Poetry of Poverty", from the innovative "New Plum Blossom Three Lane", to the timeless "Jade Face Thousand Beauties". The interweaving of freehand brushwork and rebellious spirit in landscape poetry, the coexistence of ink painting and ancient mythology, the interplay of new realism and visual paradise, and the Muse of Materials that allows tradition and trend to bloom with new sparks in collision. These works not only showcase the artists' exquisite techniques, but also convey their insights and perceptions of Eastern and Western aesthetic elements. Inspire the audience to deeply reflect on art, culture, and the times. The exhibition will continue until September 25th.
Bao Yu: The preface and exhibition title "The Book of Songs and Amusement Park" written by Teacher Wang Dan for this exhibition are very in line with the creative styles of several artists. The Book of Songs depicts natural scenery, Eastern aesthetics, folk life, and humanistic spirit through simple language and unique expressive techniques, which are closely linked to the artist's philosophy. These artists create from the perspective of Eastern aesthetics, while 'amusement parks' reflect their clever transformation and thinking in fashion and youthfulness. They integrate blank compositions and unique relaxed aesthetic tastes into contemporary painting. In the exhibition, we can see how they handle these elements, helping us better understand the characteristics and excellence of Eastern aesthetics. I believe that today's artists should possess both the characteristics and depth of their own culture, as well as the ability to research and develop, in order to truly promote the progress and innovation of art.
Wang Dan (right) Deputy General Manager of Official Residence OperationsBao Yu (left) Co founder of Common Art Center
Exhibition Site
Kim Jun Sik
I really like the ink paintings in museums, especially the plum blossoms. However, I have noticed a phenomenon that modern Chinese painting is quite similar in style to works from three to four hundred years ago, and seems to have failed to keep up with the pace of the changing times. And the audience also prefers contemporary art from the United States and Europe, which makes me feel regretful because our society is constantly changing, while traditional Chinese painting seems to be stagnant, and the number of people watching Chinese painting is decreasing. It is also incompatible with modern home decoration, especially for young people who pursue fashion, it is even more difficult to like. I have a background in oil painting, but when exploring contemporary art, I found that many works seem to be disconnected from our traditional culture and lack continuity in inheritance and development. This made me think about whether it is possible to integrate the common Asian ink painting and Eastern aesthetics with modern art and Western elements, and create works that have both traditional charm and modern aesthetics. Therefore, I attempted to combine rice paper with oil painting techniques to give plum blossoms a sense of three dimensionality. Plum blossoms are the most abundant and diverse in traditional Chinese painting in terms of composition and white space changes. Through the realism of visual illusions and the integration of popular elements such as cartoons and famous paintings, traditional themes are presented in novel forms to create works that are rich in storytelling and fun.
Exhibition SiteI am very interested in visual illusions. I don't think it's important for a painting to be praised for its good technique. What's important is to make the viewer doubt their visual experience. The development of realism is meaningful. In short, what I pursue is the illusion of harmonious coexistence between tradition and modernity, East and West on canvas through appropriation, crossover, and integration. Such works with Eastern aesthetics not only satisfy my personal aesthetic pursuit, but also hope to bring novel artistic experiences to the audience.
Jiang Zhaojin（Jiang Wanlin）It is a great honor to participate in the "Book of Songs and Amusement Park" exhibition held at the Joint Art Center. Firstly, what you see is the appearance of my cowboy landscape art works. The creative process of this series has been seven or eight years. Going back to 2019, on the platform of the Joint Art Center, Ms. Bao Yu planned my first personal exhibition of my life, 'Poetry of Poverty', and since then, we have continued to collaborate at multiple different time points. In this exhibition, I also brought my works from different periods, among which the denim landscape series caught the attention of the audience. The appearance of this series not only covers the most common denim color of denim fabric, but also incorporates various colors such as green and white. I want to express that denim is not just blue, it also has other rich colors. I hope to make my artistic appearance more diverse through these different colors, while also making art more relevant to our daily lives.
Opening CeremonyI chose denim fabric as my creative material because it is a universal existence that transcends national borders and age boundaries. However, this material is often easily discarded by the owner after use, which makes me feel very regretful. This emotion is closely related to my personal experience. During my childhood, my mother worked in a cowboy factory and I had difficulty seeing her on a daily basis. But every festival, she would send me many denim clothes by mail. Over time, I accumulated a lot of denim clothing that I could no longer wear. Due to my special emotional attachment to these items, I kept them one by one.
Exhibition Site
Later, I entered the art academy to study Chinese traditional literati landscape painting for seven years, and as an exchange student, I went to Korea's National University and Italy's Florence Academy of Fine Arts for further studies. This experience greatly enriched my understanding and knowledge of art. I realized that Chinese landscape painting had already reached its peak as early as the Song and Yuan dynasties. To make a breakthrough in contemporary art, we must break through conventions and find new artistic languages to face the world. Therefore, I have set this goal for myself: to bring the cultural stories of the East to the world.
Exhibition SiteSo, I chose denim clothing that is closely related to my personal experience as a creative medium. Meanwhile, as one of the representatives of Western consumer culture, denim itself has a global material quality. As a contemporary youth studying Eastern culture, I am well aware that the East has a profound cultural heritage. I am thinking: Is it necessary to use a new language to help the world better understand and appreciate Eastern culture? It is precisely this kind of thinking that gave birth to my denim landscape series. In the creative process, I disassembled and reconstructed denim clothing in various ways, striving to maximize the value of each piece of fabric. I sincerely hope that through my works, I can attract the attention of more friends and let them feel the emotions and stories contained therein.
Zi Peng
My creative style has always revolved around jade and jadeite, combining East and West. The natural beauty of jade and jadeite often sparks my infinite imagination. Some of them are like water plants, some are like little Arhat, and some are like mountains and rivers. I try to use surreal techniques to apply makeup to these naturally formed colors and textures, allowing them to present a completely new appearance and artistic conception. I always hope to establish a subtle connection between these external objects and the inner landscape painting atmosphere.
Exhibition SiteI brought a series of works on the interpretation of Eastern and Western deities to this exhibition. In Western culture, gods are often depicted as symbols of power and might; In the East, we place greater emphasis on the natural spirit of harmony between man and nature. I incorporated Zhao Boju's flying immortal image into the David statue, attempting to showcase the different understandings and interpretations of God between the East and the West. Similarly, the works that gave birth to Venus borrowed the original design of Botticelli, including Gu Kaizhi's depiction of the goddess Luo. By comparing the images of goddesses from the East and the West, they further explore cultural differences and integration. As for sculpture, you can also see a beautiful landscape color on its fingers, but when you walk around, you can see a 3D texture. This is actually what I want to exaggerate the beautiful color in jade and make it more concrete.
Exhibition SiteI would like to focus on introducing my new series of works - 'Hush'. The name is taken from the pinyin of "the Taihu Lake Stone", which means the close connection between the work and the Taihu Lake Stone. Hush is hidden in the the Taihu Lake Lake stone, which changes a lot. It can not only hide in the downtown, but also wander in the water. It presents the appearance of love or the efforts of life in different ways, while also reflecting my personal state of mind and pursuit. Finally, I would like to specifically mention the artwork 'Love Stone'. Its shape resembles a rhinoceros, inspired by the play 'Rhinoceros in Love'. The rhinoceros is a symbol of stubborn and shy love. At the same time, a flower of love blooms on the the Taihu Lake Lake stone above the rhinoceros, implying that even in the most stubborn and shy love, beautiful flowers can bloom.
Exhibition Site
You WendiAs a dual PhD candidate in Experimental Arts from Taipei Normal University and Central Academy of Fine Arts, You Wendi focuses on exploring the transformation and innovation of traditional Chinese painting in contemporary contexts. Her profound meticulous brushwork skills are in sharp contrast to the coverage and modification characteristics of Western painting, and also confirm You Wendi's exquisite skills in traditional Chinese painting creation. You Wendi has made her debut in Taiwan, China, China, with her "Glass Horse" series of works. This series of works cleverly blends traditional Chinese painting elements with the fragile texture of glass, giving the steed a new life form and showcasing a unique artistic perspective and creativity.
Exhibition SiteIn addition, she also created the "Bubble Dragon" series. Although Yu Wendi initially did not tend to depict Chinese mythical beasts, fearing that this might trap the work in a label like pattern, she still cleverly drew inspiration from it and incorporated the awe inspiring and inheritable elements of traditional Chinese culture into her paintings. As she said, we cannot touch real bubbles or control real dragons, but through her paintbrush, You Wendi brings these illusory objects to life on the canvas, conveying a profound understanding and respect for traditional culture.
Opening Ceremony
http：//www.commonartcenter.com
weibo：共同艺术中心
Instagram：commonartcenter
Facebook：Common art center
Common Art Center, 707-b03 Hongshi Square, No.2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Founded in 2015, Common Art Center is the first contemporary art gallery with a crowdfunding membership system in China. The Common Art Center is jointly initiated by experienced curators, art dealers, collectors and other professionals in the field. It is committed to providing professional collection solutions for contemporary art collectors with a new business model. The gallery takes "paper" as the medium and works of media as its main research and management direction, because of the importance of such works in the Chinese art system and the broad development prospect in the future. Using paper and folk art as the medium, the excellent artists make paper as a tool to resist its fate, allowing it to get rid of the veil of function and reveal its own artistic value.
