Kang Lei's "Choice of Choice" & Chen Zijun's "Disciplines of Disciplines"parallel solo exhibition is one of the key activities of the 10th Beijing Huimin Cultural Consumption Season.
The guests attending the opening ceremony were: Fan Di'an, Chairman of the China Artists Association and President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Wang Xiaolin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; Lv Pinjing, vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; Dai Shihe, former dean of the School of Fine Arts of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Huang Huaying and Wang Shaojun, former deputy secretaries of the Party Committee of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; Yan Ping, vice chairman of the China Association of Fine Arts and professor of Chinese Minmin University, Zhou Haihong, former vice president of the Central Conservatory of Music; Professor Jin Illong of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Zikang, Director of the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Professor Cao Jigang of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; Bai Xiaogang, Director of the Basic Department of Modeling Discipline of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Yu Yang, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Yu Fei, Deputy Director of the Teacher Work Department and Deputy Director of the Personnel Department, Wang Xiaowei, Vice President of the Affiliated Middle School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts;
Artist Li Xiushi; Zhao Peizhi, director of the Oil Painting Institute of the National Academy of Painting of China; Professor Xia Kejun of Chinese Minmin University, diplomat Wang Weihua, documentary filmmaker Li Chengcai; Parkview Group Director of Art and Culture Department Zhao Wenjiao, Director of China Youth Publishing Group Wang Jing, Curator Yang Weimin, Curator Cheng Qi, Curator Zhao Yan, Curator Zhang Chen, Curator Duan Shaofeng; Wei Xiangqi, deputy research librarian of National Art Museum of China, Wang Feiyue, director of Yue Art Museum, Jia Xinwei, director of Fangyuan Art Museum, Zhang Siyong and Tao Tao, founders of Millennium Time Gallery, guests Ma Huayuan, Xu Jianxin, Pu Jie, artist Bai Yuping, artist Zhang Yanzi, artist Lv Yue, artist Liu Wentao, artist Pei Yongmei, artist Xu Hualing, artist Xiao Jin, artist Wang Lifeng, artist Li Xiaogang, artist Li Xiaoyu, etc.
The curator of this exhibition is Peng Feng, dean of the School of Art of Peking University; artist Kang Lei; Mr. Wen Donghua, Ms. Bao Yu, Mr. Han Jiacheng and other guests, co-sitiators of the Joint Art Centre, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches on the spot.
Opening ceremony: 16:30 PM, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2022In this exhibition, "Disciplines of Disciplines", "Choice of Choice", explores the relationship between individuals and society from the perspective of two female artists. The tame and semi-tamed animal body in Chen Zijun's works is a metaphor for the standardised body in Foucault's philosophy in social power. The body is constantly permeated by norms and culture in the historical society, so it is conquered and forms a stable national consciousness. The incomplete sunflower in Kang Lei's works is the many states of individual life in the complex social life. The body is in the contradiction, conflict, division and depression between the body and self-consciousness on the way to discipline. The works of the two artists show the thinking of the times of self-individual and social power from a grand and small perspective. As Kang Lei said, the real self is neither a choice or no choice, but a state of existence after "self-selection".
"Choice of Choice" Kanglei Solo ExhibitionAs an artist, Kang Lei is always making choices. Between the aesthetic spirit and expression language between the East and the West, between thought and expression, between tradition and modernity, between perception and reason, between mind and object, between art and life. It seems that the choice between one or the other is precisely to question and crack the dual antagonism.Kang Lei's "choice" is related to distance. Selection is the grasp and regulation of distance, and distance is always related to position and perspective. Distance and its change are not only an objective reality, but also Kang Lei's active choice. Paradise 2020 · Long Night records her concern about the domestic epidemic in the space-time distance between mountains and seas two years ago, and the Traces of Memory considers the complex temporal concept of folds between the past, the present and the future.
Kang Lei's distance is also about relationship and balance, which is the choice and placement of relationships between various relationship items. This kind of choice and resettlement is always accompanied by conflict and opposition, and pursues some subtle harmony in complex struggles and mediation. The exotic frame chosen in Paradise · Collection originated from Kang Lei's trip to India many years ago. Her new understanding of life and death and existence in the crisis of the epidemic melted the distance between religion, civilisation and the border. The noise of existence, which was also born in the era of the epidemic, examines the multi-sense of existence in the distance of all things. The compass draws a circle on the grass. It is a self-fighting under self-hostile. The traces left by the battle and competition have become a dance on the earth, reshaping the distance between people and themselves.Time, space, psychology, culture, gender, self and other distances have become the flowing variations written by Kang Lei. Testing, adjusting and transforming between these distances is her working method consciously established around "choice". The existence of distance makes the difference prominent and makes dialogue possible. Choice tests the wisdom of trade-offs, and also tests the limits of freedom. Kang Lei thinks about the distance and chooses from the distance, and then observes the distance with the choice. Distance breeds art, and art also changes distance. Art is about choice, and art is also the choice itself.
There is no doubt that making a choice is a choice, and not choosing is also a choice. Choosing or not, how to choose and how not to choose have become the "choice of choice". Kang Lei's art is about a series of ideas and practises of choice. The choice of choice is exactly Kang Lei's question and practice about her true self. Between "self-choice" and "non-self-choice", the former is more difficult and challenging. Kang Lei let herself face this problem directly, so her art can grow the splendour and reality of life in the dialectics of choice.
"Discipline of Discipline" Chen Zijun's solo exhibitionChen Zijun's art puts forward the thinking about discipline. The discipline comes from history. Traditions, mentors, models and idols all bring rules and training for artistic thought and practice. Discipline also comes from reality. World affairs, human feelings, trends, power, and art create itself in complex games. And the most powerful discipline may be self-discipline. Desire, will, temperament and belief are hidden in the eyes, hands and hearts of creating art, and are engraved in the texture of art.Discipline carries sceptre and depression, but it may also stimulate alternative power and potential. It is the process of transformation and the result of this transformation that reflects the unique temperament and vitality of the artist.The "discipline" is first of all the object of Zijun's observation, thinking and performance. There are entanglements of different forces and forces in the discipline. The discipline is related to relationship and distance. Her newly created "Musual Life" series continues her interest in the dialectical relationship between things that are mutually born and restrained by examining China's ancient wisdom of "Musual Life" through the twelve zodiac animals. " The pig, duck, lotus, chicken, rabbit, ink, bamboo and reindeer peony in the "Regulations" further link the typical animal and plant elements in traditional Chinese literati paintings with the symbolic meaning of personification, and consciously explore human discipline actions on animals and nature. In Zijun's creation in recent years, the dialectical relationship between people, things and spirits has always been an important clue. Moreover, her "people" are placed in different positions in "all things" at different stages and are examined in the form of change. "The Empty Mountain" doesn't see anyone, but the sea and the wind. And this actually infiltrates Zijun's conjugation of the relationship between ancient and modern people. The distance and dialectical relationship between things and things, between things and people, between individuals and social attributes of people, and between visible and invisible are staged in her theatre of all things from the perspective of "discipline".
In Zijun's creation, she has a calm awareness, recognition and reflection on the "discipline", but she does not refuse to let the romantic and rich personal emotions overflow. This makes us think, can discipline be circumvented? I'm afraid the answer is no. However, the discipline may be surpassed, and this must be reached through the "discipline of discipline". Therefore, the rules and regulations have also become Zijun's self-realisation."The discipline of discipline" is the dialectic of the disciplined and the disciplined. The conscious desire to transcend the shackles of discipline requires mutual development and restraint with discipline. Whether artistic expression is sufficient or not, the limit of freedom of artistic creation is the result of cooperation and struggle with various regulations. Art is generated in the rules and training, and it is developed in the breaking rules and training. It is in such a relationship of "insurance and mutual birth" that the art and life of discipline-anti-regulation-super-rule training are possible.Mr. Fan Dian, Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association and Dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Professor Jin Rilong of the Central Academy of Fine Arts are at the exhibition site
Cursor: Peng Feng, Dean of the School of Art, Peking University
The opening ceremony of this exhibition was finally successfully held after waiting for a long time. Thank you very much for the guests who came to the scene. Kang Lei and Chen Zijun are both academic artists. Just like the topic they chose, they have received a lot of discipline. However, the two of them are completely different from ordinary college artists, which is the result of their own choices.
Among the female artists of this generation, my favourite are Kang Lei and Chen Zijun. It is also a lucky thing for me to have the opportunity to present the exhibition together. I can witness the exploration of the two of them under the epidemic. Their latest creation is not the kind of simple victory, but a self-knowledge and exploration in it, so this batch of works has a particularly unique personal appearance. This also reflects the profound skills behind the Chinese Academy. I think this is the place we will focus on after the joint art centre. I also hope you like the works of these two artists. Thank you.
Director Zhang Zikang, curator of the Central Art Museum, is at the exhibition site
Xia Ke-kun, professor at Renmin University of China, philosopher, reviewer
Good afternoon, friends. Congratulations to the Common Art Centre, Mr. Peng Feng, and the two artists, Kang Lei and Zijun. The choice of these two artists reflects the vision of the common art centre. These two female artists are indeed very representative artists in the academic school, because they have a very good exploration of the materials of painting. Teacher Kang Lei is a very extreme artist who uses the egg colour Tempera, in the work "Choice of Choice" In it, we can see how she made a subtle transition of colour, how she treated thick and thin very delicately, exquisite and durable. This is where painting cannot be replaced by other materials. Chen Zijun has always been decomposing oily and water-based materials with a feeling of Chinese culture. As Mr. Peng said before, she broke the body to make it irregular and finally form a whole. Well, Mr. Kang Lei's new works have a lot of understanding of life, because this is a creation after the epidemic. In the face of the harm of the epidemic, many of the artist's themes are expressed in cactus. Cactus is a very unique plant with thorns and sharpness, but strong growth, so Kang Lei's works actually express a tenacious growth force of life. In the face of injury and squeeze, it can draw a kind of growth power from plants, nature, and even from women and motherhood. At the same time, it does not avoid tigers and beasts, this animal element, so I think Ms. Kang Lei's work can be seen that for life and human nature. I hope everyone likes their works. I wish this exhibition a success!
Cursor Yu Yang, Professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Congratulations on the opening of Ms. Kang Lei's exhibition. Seeing that Ms. Kang Lei has drawn so many new and excellent works of art, I am particularly moved and sincerely congratulate her. Ms. Kang Lei has strong professional creative ability. This year, Ms. Kang Lei also participated in the design of stamps between the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Soong Ching Ling Foundation. In fact, Ms. Kang Lei's current work is very tiring. It is a great honour to witness the opening of Ms. Kang Lei's exhibition today. I wish the exhibition all the best. Thank you.
Good afternoon, guests, art seniors, and friends! During this special period, the parallel solo exhibition of Zijun and I can be carried out smoothly in the common art centre. I feel very lucky that Zijun's works can be transported to Beijing is almost a miracle. Before transportation, the periphery of her studio was sealed, and she worked hard to catch the last train to Beijing, but the second miracle It didn't happen. She kept pop-up and couldn't come to the scene. However, it is also very lucky that the exhibition can open today. This is an exhibition completed in the gap of anti-epidemic. Moreover, today's arrival also makes the exhibition glorious! Thank you very much for taking the time to see our exhibition.
Zijun and I participated in many exhibitions of our works many years ago. We admired each other. Later, we met and had a special love. The two of us also have something in common on our way to study, creative concepts, and our dedication to art. It is our common wish to do exhibitions together. Thank you to the common art centre. Thank you. Mr. Peng Feng, thank Ms. Bao Yu for making us get what we want. Ms. Bao Yu is also a friend of the two of us who have known each other for a long time. Mr. Peng Feng also curatored Pei Zhi and several of us at the Today Art Museum many years ago. It was especially predestined. Thank you!
Most of the works you see in this exhibition are the latest works of the two of us, which are our thoughts in the past few years of the outbreak of the epidemic. Life is trivial and fragile, but art is the hope of our life. It's an honour and I'm very proud to be able to show it in front of art predecessors, art colleagues and many friends who love art today. I hope you can put forward valuable opinions to me and Zijun, so that we can continue to create better.
There are too many people who need to thank today. Thank you to the Common Art Centre, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Propaganda Department of the Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Network of the Academy of Fine Arts, the Calligraphy and Painting Channel, the Qiaofufang Grassland Art Department, the ASA Foundation, thank all the guests, thank you!
Artist Chen Zijun
All the friends and teachers present today are the people I and Kang Lei sincerely love, and also the sincere friends of the Common Art Centre. Thank you very much. You can still come as promised in such a special environment. Thank you!
Today's autumn in Guangzhou is cool, and Beijing should also be full of the warm autumn sun. At present, the epidemic in Guangzhou is spreading a lot. Although I can't come to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony, it's a pity, but despite this, I also fully feel the attention and concern of teachers and friends to me and Kang Lei in artistic creation in Guangzhou. Love, I feel extremely warm and happy in my heart!
I also want to say "thank you" to Ms. Bao Yu and other friends of the Common Art Centre! Because I was not present from beginning to end of this exhibition, all the work is the responsibility of the space staff, including the docking, arrangement, deployment, etc. of the works. They are all doing it very carefully, which is why today's exhibition is presented!
Because of everyone's joint efforts, the exhibition can be carried out as scheduled and opened smoothly. Your care gave me and Kang Lei the motivation to continue to move forward and continue to create. Thank you very much! Love you!
Lv Pinjing, Vice President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
First of all, congratulations to Kang Lei, the opening of Zijun's exhibition. Kang Lei is a young artist and painter of the Academy of Fine Arts. In March this year, I was appointed to organise the creation of the stamp "I Grow Up with the Motherland" for the Soong Ching Ling Foundation. One of them is the theme of "Love Nature". At that time Lei came to create, because I paid attention to the meticulous observation and expression of life, nature, and some living beings in her usual creation. Today is also the first time I have seen her description of the natural state of some plants in such a comprehensive way. Such an expression of sunshine, brightness and roughness makes me very shocked. Here I also wish Kang Lei's artistic creation continues to advance.
Wang Xiaolin, Deputy Party Secretary of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
I am very happy that many teachers and old leaders have come to Yangmei today. On behalf of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, we wish Kanglei and our teacher Zijun in Guangdong. The exhibition can be successfully opened. In fact, both teachers are trained from formal colleges, and both stay in the school to undertake the most important front-line teaching work. In the case of the normalisation of the epidemic in the past few years, the two artists still adhere to this kind of creation. Although one south and one north, the two have a lot of exchanges. Today, they can present such a very rich new work to so many audiences. In fact, it shows their generation of young and middle-aged female artists, especially college teachers. The power of. It also shows us that their generation can take over the baton from Mr. Dai, and can do a good job in teaching and continuously improve their personal artistic creation. Therefore, I am also very happy to congratulate the exhibition again on its complete success. I would like to thank Mr. Peng Feng and the Common Art Centre for hosting this exhibition for our two artists.
Li Chengcai, Documentary Director, Director of China Documentary Association
I am Li Chengcai, a documentary director, and a friend of Kang Lei for more than ten years. In such a special period, an artist can have a unique expression of this society through his works, which is very amazing. Just now, Kang Lei also said that she completed this exhibition in the cracks. I think it's more touching to see your growth and realise your desire to express independent art to the society. I am very happy. As your friend, I am very happy. Thank you!
Zhou Haihong, music aesthetician, former vice president of the Central Conservatory of Music
I am a fan of Kang Lei and a friend for many years. I like Kang Lei very much. I think she is a real painter. I have collected a lot of Kang Lei's works. I like Kang Lei's freedom and freedom and freedom supported by strong skills. So whenever I see Kang Lei's works, I like her vibrant state. During the current epidemic, I feel very depressed at home. Today is the first time I have participated in public activities in a long time. I want Kang Lei's works to cheer me up. As soon as I came in, I felt a vibrant sense of growth. This sense of growth makes me feel that I can grow. Thank you!
Wang Shaojun, sculptor and former deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
I have paid great attention to Kang Lei's creation in recent years. In my impression, there are many female teachers from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, but Mr. Kang Lei's creation has given me a very eye-catching impression. I attended most of the opening ceremony of her painting exhibition. Today's exhibition, I am also very looking forward to it, and I am ready to enjoy her latest creation. In particular, the exhibition at this time is very precious. I congratulate her on the success of her new exhibition. Thank you!
Huang Huaying, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
I am very happy to participate in the exhibition of Kang Lei and her good friend Chen Zijun. I watched Kang Lei graduate from a student and then become a teacher, become a professor, and finally become the backbone of the teaching team of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. I congratulate Kang Lei on the complete success of this exhibition, and I hope Kang Lei can play a greater role.
Li Xiushi, a famous artist
Kang Lei is the "hometown" of our Central Academy of Fine Arts. Her paintings are the expression of true temperament and the display of truth, goodness and beauty. This work makes me feel very shocking. I wish Ms. Kanglei better development in the future!
Dai Shihe, a famous artist, the former dean of the School of Modelling of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
First of all, congratulations to Kang Lei and Zijun. There are many new explorations and new meanings in these works, but there are also composition and modelling along her original attentive colours, as well as the pursuit of artistic conception. Every time I see Kang Lei's paintings, I can learn a lot from them. I think she is a real artist. It is not easy for her to be very attentive and tell her feelings and life to her audience patiently, not in a hurry, and not in a hurry to achieve. Being able to do this shows that her artistic quality is very good, and I will have the opportunity to continue to learn from Kang Lei in the future.
Zhao Peizhi, a famous artist, director of the Oil Painting Institute of the National Academy of Painting of China
I am very happy to participate in the parallel solo exhibition of Zijun and Kang Lei today, the two of them have been my friends for many years, we have also done a lot of activities and exhibitions together, I received their invitation a few days ago, I feel particularly excited, because in my opinion, both of them are very talented female artists, I am especially looking forward to their new works, today I came to see the consequences did not disappoint me, I think it can be described by the word "amazing". Their common characteristics are that they are becoming more and more free, more and more unique, and the face of their personality is becoming more and more prominent, and they have all made progress. Learn from you and finally wish the exhibition a complete success. Thank you!
Wen Donghua, co-sponsor of the Joint Art Centre
Hello, everyone. This is the fifth exhibition after the opening of our Common Art Centre. This exhibition makes us feel brilliant. Many teachers and leaders have arrived. On behalf of the Common Art Centre, I warmly welcome everyone. I also wish the exhibition of Mr. Kang Lei and Mr. Chen Zijun a successful opening. Thank you!
Bao Yu, co-sponsor of the Joint Art Centre
First of all, thank you very much to all the guests present today. I am very happy to present such a parallel solo exhibition in our space. There are not only beautiful scenes, but also reality and surreal interaction. Mr. Kang Lei's favourite classic literature and Mr. Zijun is fascinated by literati. This exhibition is a story generated by each other and a multiple poetic interpretation of the current society.
In the space of the common art centre, we hope that the value of presenting art often lies in the unique language and conceptual communication created by the artist, because art always requires honest self-expression, so it is bound to be closely related to his identity, experience and surrounding environment, and the professionalism and beauty he adheres to. We have known each other for 17 years. I have interviewed two teachers when I was the executive editor-in-chief of "Mobile Art". Up to now, Mr. Peng, Mr. Kang and Mr. Zijun have presented such an exhibition together with extraordinary significance. This time, it is a pity that Mr. Chen Zijun did not come, but I believe this time it is just At the beginning, we will know more about it and walk slowly together. I hope this exhibition can release and think about our long-standing confused mind. Finally, thank you for your support for this exhibition! I wish you all a happy exhibition!
The art of both artists is rooted in orthodox academia. There is both the beautiful imagination of the scene and the form of interaction between reality and surreality. There are also the stories generated between classic literature and symbols, which are favored by artists, and the multiple poetic interpretations of the current society.
From Kang Lei's works, we can see her focus on reality from beginning to end, and the inspiration brought to him by those philosophical content. Although the picture she conveys has a traceless sense of alienation, in these rich picture information, we can read that she clearly shows all her inner thoughts about the real world.Chen Zijun's picture has the most vivid emotional expression. In terms of formal language, she constantly superimposes her "personal experience" design. After filtering and squeezing, it conceptually shows the intimate relationship between individual experience and the current living space.In the space of the common art centre, we hope that the value of presenting art often lies in the unique language and conceptual communication created by the artist, because art always requires honest self-expression, so the artist will inevitably be closely related to his own identity, experience and surrounding environment, and the professional and art history he adheres to.This exhibition is more like a question and answer from the artist's self, choice and discipline. The artist accepts "discipline" from different aspects in different periods of life and makes "choice" at different stages of artistic exploration. These two clues are intertwined and linked together to lead us to the present.
The meaning they carry is to play different roles in different contexts; I hope this exhibition can release and think about our long-term confused mind!
The compass draws a circle on the grass, Cloth on Board Mixed Material, Φ100cm, 2022The work implies people's self-contradiction, conflict, division and pulling, and explores people's continuous cognition and construction of self-completeness.
Calvino: "Modern people are divided, incomplete, incomplete and self-hostile; Marx called it "algay", and Freud called it "depression". The ancient state of harmony was lost, and people longed for new integrity."
The name of the work comes from a text description in Calvino's novel Viscount Divided in Half. In the split "good" and "evil" duel, the wonderful description and display of the surrounding tense environment. The sky at dawn is blue and white. The two slender men in black stood upright with their swords. The leper patient blew the horn, which was the signal of the beginning. The sky trembled like a tight film. The mouse in the hole grabbed its claws into the soil. The magpie plunged its head under its wings and pulled out its armpit feathers with its mouth to hurt itself. The earthworms bit its tail with its mouth. The poisonous snake bit its body with its teeth. The wasp broke its thorn on the stone To myself, the frost in the well became ice, the lily turned into stone, the stone turned into lily, the dry leaves turned into soil, and the glue of the rubber tree became thick and hard, making all the rubber trees die. People are fighting with themselves like this, holding sharp swords in both hands.
The two swordsmen rushed to each other, with Defence and accompanying attack. The wooden feet jumped around on the ground, and the compass drew circles on the grass.
Paradise Catalogue, Acrylic on Canvas, 28×23cm, 2020 
Paradise Catalogue 2, Acrylic on Canvas, 27×27cm, 2020"Paradise" is a metaphor of the real world and a symbol of the spiritual world. Paradise. The Catalogue connects with Paradise 2020. The series creation after "Long Night". At that time, I was learning to adapt to online teaching, and the works were created in the spare time of online teaching. These two exotic-style frames were memorised when I went to India many years ago. I like them very much, but I haven't figured out what to use them for. Finally, they will be adapted in 2020.
Sunflower, Acrylic on Canvas, 100×120cm, 2022Sunflower is a theme I have repeatedly sketched and created. I use sunflower to understand the life status of women. I have painted different shapes of sunflowers that are green, brilliant, mature and dry. This sunflower is a "to be continued" state.
Choice of Choice, Acrylic on Canvas, 120×100cm, 2022"The real choice is never to choose this or that, but to choose, between choosing and not to choose." The real self is the state of existence after "self-selection".
Paradise 2020 Long Night, Acrylic on Canvas, 170×215cm, 2020Space, time, psychological distance, this delicate relationship has always attracted me. It is also the main clue of my creation. "Paradise" is the world and a spiritual space. It does not want to directly depict scenes in real life. "Paradise" records past and present experiences, ideas and feelings.
Paradise 2020. Long Night (Paradise 2020. The creative background of Dark Night was created in 2020 when he studied media materials such as acrylic and oil paintings during his stay at Gordon's headquarters in the United States. Across the other side of the ocean, I pay attention to the social news about the epidemic in China every day, care about my family, friends and the situation in various places, and create repetitive news pictures that I don’t want to repeat directly. Instead, I record the shocks and shocks brought about by the epidemic at a "distance”, and record my attention and deep psychological feelings
A shady reterat on a green hill, Acrylic on Canvas, 60×80cm, 2022"If you look at the mountain from afar, it will be green, and if it is near, it will be green. Therefore, the colour of the mountain is called green, and it is also called the mountainside." Ming Chen Renxi's "Late Living Book" "Renzhe Leshan", Qingshan, Cuiwei. The mountains are green and colourful, and there are thousands of thoughts.
Memory Traces, Acrylic on Canvas, 120×100cm, 2022All the experiences in life end up as traces of memory. Today, which unfolds, is constantly altering, modifying and forgetting the past, and today is fleeting, and today will also become the traces of tomorrow's memory.
Paradise The hustle and bustle of existence, Acrylic on Canvas, 200×420cm, 2022Space, time, psychological distance, this delicate relationship has always attracted me. It is also the main clue of my creation.
"Paradise" is a metaphor of the real world and a symbol of the spiritual world. "Paradise" is not a direct description of real-life scenes, but a record of past and present experiences, ideas and feelings.
Garden of Trail Branches, Mixed Material, 200×700cm, 2017"The Garden of Trail Branches originates from the fascination with the concept of time. It depicts the scenery I see at different times and in different spaces around the world. Just as Borges's book, the garden of Trails fork does not refer to a real garden. What I record in the painting is time, which is different experiences and feelings. These objects: characters, flowers, mixed growing plants, thick green cactus, red mountains, quiet black water. Here are some clear choices and long-to-talk related, imaginations and hints. The simple, dense, thick and virtual arrangement of the painting, the organisational principles and structural rules that run through the painting are all rooted in the preference and research of the continuous and continuous traditional painting laws for a long time. When preparing this creation, it was difficult to select a large number of, complicated and vivid visual images, which is why I didn't make a manuscript at that time. But once I started to draw, in the process of painting, my feelings, intuition and judgement were opened up. The images in my memory will automatically emerge and disperse, slowly forming a picture. In the process of painting, I naturally began to know which elements I wanted. The picture seems to grow itself. It is not a scene that accumulates the next scene, but an image gives birth to another image. The intuitive judgement is clear and affirmed, and there is no need to worry about how to choose. The growth process of the image in the painting is also secretly in line with the law of the density relationship in traditional Chinese painting, the balance of momentum. Excerpt from Overseas Chinese Welfare Contemporary Art Museum Interview "Dialogue with Kang Lei: Useless Natural Growth"Xiangsheng (1-12), Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 135×55cm×12, 2022Born in 2022 is a word that is opposite to each other. In China's twelve zodiac animals, each zodiac represents a different meaning. The belief in the zodiac is also the Chinese people's yearning and expectation for a better life. These zodiac animals have a very delicate mutual relationship, mutual birth, or mutual restraint. In real life, this application of the relationship between mutual birth and mutual restraint reflects the survival wisdom of the Chinese people everywhere. As early as the Book of Songs · Xiaoya · Che Gong", there was a "auspicious day at noon, which is not as good as my horse." It means that the good time of Gengwu is a good day for the horse to go hunting, which is also an example of the opposite of the horse. In fact, every Chinese has had a zodiac ac with him for a lifetime from the moment he was born, and even tied up with this animal all the time, sharing the adversity. These twelve animals are so closely related to human beings, which is closely related to human character, age, marriage, career and life expectancy. This method of animal chronology originally originated among the nomadic minorities engaged in the western and northern parts of China in ancient times. It was the ancients who explained the affiliation between the earth branch and the zodiac beast from the perspective of twelve hours of day and night in ancient times, and invented the order of the zodiac under the inspiration of twelve hours. To a certain extent, the zodiac has become the basis for ordinary people to control their own destiny. It is the instinct to live to avoid bad luck. People hope to make the most favourable choices and judgements according to the attributes of the zodiac. And each zodiac has a six-in-one corresponding zodiac sign, which is auspicious to each other. It is a combination of heaven. There are also two three-in-one zodiac signs, but there is also a zodiac sign of restrained. The zodiac has become a mark and brand that a person cannot change, and also condenses the culture and history of thousands of years. In particular, the zodiac that gives birth to each other as a symbol of auspiciousness and blessing, contains the philosophy of life with a short-reaching purpose. The artist uses Western expressions and materials to reflect the physiognomy of the Chinese nation, so as to achieve a pluralistic expression.
Mountain wind, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 100×100cm, 2022
Training·Pig and duck lotus picture, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 133×222cm, 2021
Training·Chicken and rabbit ink bamboo picture, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 133×222cm, 2021
Training·Reindeer peony picture, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 222×133cm, 2021
Training· White tiger chrysanthemum picture, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 147×147cm, 2021
Training·quail crow bamboo picture, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 147×147cm, 2021
Training·White peony, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 100×100cm, 2021"Training" is a series following the continuation of "The Growth of All Things" and "Empty Mountain". In the previous "The Growth of Everything" series, it is emphasised that beyond the boundaries of time, all things grow strong and silently. Streams, soil, petals, willow branches, moonlight, water droplets, horses, bamboo shoots... Everything in nature changes and changes in its own rhythm. Following the natural law of the growth of all things and in line with the state of all things in the universe, everything is vigourous without any intervention. In the "Training" series, I deliberately chose some typical elements commonly found in traditional Chinese literati paintings, such as Meilan bamboo chrysanthemum, lotus, peony, bats, reindeer, etc. In Chinese literati paintings, these "things" and "spirits" usually load the literati's perception of the order of time and the meaning of life, and also the literati's confession of self-discipline, so that the original thing, spirit, grass and tree have expanded their original meanings and become the symbol and metaphor of personality. In addition, most of the paintings of "Regulations" are tame and semi-tame chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, pigs, frogs, reindeer carvings, etc. They are harmoniously in the painting, which also implies that people's desire and will are everywhere. The word "discipline" comes from Foucault's "discipline and punishment", which itself has strong social attributes. In the details of the real world, there are many rules lurking. It makes an antagonism and conflict be generated between the visual picture and the hidden psychology.
Empty Mountain NO·13, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 140×110cm, 2020
Empty Mountain NO·14, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 140×110cm, 2020
Empty Mountain NO·17, Oil Acrylic on Canvas, 140×110cm, 2020In the empty mountain series, I want to look more at the realm of the unity of heaven and man, and continue the balance between individual attributes and social attributes.
I see the true self who is independent but longs for some kind of order. Empty mountain, or empty or not, this is just on the way to keep asking, completing the self-exploration at the turning point of the new era.The exhibition will last until November 9th
Common Art Centre is looking forward to meeting you
