Let’s talk about the “violence” of Xu Qiping’s works
When commenting on the works of female artist Xu Qiping, Mr. Yin Shuangxi, the editor-in-chief of “Art Research”, once said: “Her paintings will never be forgotten after you see them. Her uniqueness, appearance, method of selecting materials... This is not easy. There are so many painters in the Chinese painting circle, but not many can be remembered... Xu Qiping's paintings are not based on market considerations, and her paintings are not comparable to those of ordinary Chinese paintings. Raw or raw..."
What Mr. Yin Shuangxi calls "raw" or "raw" is relative to "cooked" in art. If you think about it, this is actually a universal art in art. law. In the history of art development, when a new art style becomes popular for a period of time, it gradually becomes relatively mature and becomes standardized. Slowly losing its freshness and "violence", it also loses its motivation; it loses its revolutionary nature. At this time, art needs the birth of a new style, which is the emergence of what Mr. Yin Shuangxi calls a "violent" artistic style. For example, in the late Qing Dynasty, Yun Nantian, facing the declining trend of the flower-and-bird painting world in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, made a revolutionary breakthrough with the new "violent" "boneless" method, injecting new vitality into the flower-and-bird painting at that time. They have made contributions to the development of Chinese painting. Liu Haisu, Lin Fengmian, Qi Baishi, etc. have promoted the progress of Chinese painting art in different periods and regions with their "violent", fresh and unique painting styles.
So how can we achieve "raw" art and be just right? Grandma Ku Shulan, a master of folk paper-cutting in the northwest, is a typical "raw" artist. Look at the shape of the old lady's scissors. So majestic, rich, and vicissitudes of life. In recent years, so many professional painters have learned from the art style of grandma's paper-cutting, but so far no expert has been found to actually learn it. What the experts have produced is much more familiar. Without the soul-stirring artistic charm, I was puzzled. Mr. Yin Shuangxi’s comment on the “rawness” of Xu Qiping’s works made me realize that Cui Zifan could be the most “raw” painter like Xu Qiping’s freehand paintings. , Jia Haoyi, etc.
Cui Zifan's paintings are clumsy and lovely, and his brushwork, colors, shapes and compositions are surprisingly vigorous. If you look closely at the works, you can also find a little bit of familiarity, and Jia Youfu's works are much more familiar than the paintings of Cui Zifan and Jia Haoyi... Picasso's "Cornica" and "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" are " "Vivid", but he also has some paintings that are more familiar. Van Gogh is "vivid", and African primitive art is "vivid".
Past masters of art: Yun Nantian, Liu Haisu, Lin Fengmian, Qi Baishi, folk paper-cutting artist Ku Shulan, etc. have left behind artistic peaks that have passed. In their works, we can still taste the distant emotions and spiritual beauty.
The creations of these artistic geniuses are based on thinking activities that are different from ordinary people. Their unique personalities and temperaments are erupted under suitable conditions in the outside world, just like the crazy autobiography written by monk Huaisu in a drunken atmosphere. The existing art academy teaching system is currently only suitable for cultivating average "skilled" painters, and it does not yet have the ability and mechanism to discover and cultivate talented artists. This may be a shortcoming of our long-term higher art education...
The artistic style of Xu Qiping's works is "violent". Painter Gao Yun once said, "You must stick to your style of painting and follow your own path..." The freehand brushwork of Chinese painting has evolved from Liang Kai's freehand "Splash-ink Immortal Picture" in the Song Dynasty to the present day. Genius freehand painters have created peaks one after another. In today's painting world, there are still several "fierce" painters who have the talent to reach the peak of freehand brushwork.
The calligrapher and painter Gu Qian once made great achievements. When commenting on Xu Qiping's works, she said, "There has never been a powerful female figure in the history of Chinese art. I hope you can further explore and express your inner things to make your works stronger and have your own unique artistic style..." Theory Artist Fan Bo believes that the freehand spirit of Chinese painting is spiritually connected with Western Expressionism, but in terms of the intensity of expression, even people like Shi Tao are lacking in confidence. However, Xu Qiping’s paintings can be compared with expressionist representatives such as Munch and others. works to compete with.
After participating in Xu Qiping’s art seminars several times, art critics Ding Tao and Zuo Zhuangwei commented that she should be the best. They discussed and supported it from many aspects such as the appearance of her artistic style, the formation of her artistic path, the methods of learning and reference, the techniques of pen and ink, and color.
I wonder if we should start from the "violent" appearance of art and analyze from a psychological perspective what makes Xu Qiping different from ordinary painters in her brain and inner personality? Perhaps in this way we can sort out the artistic phenomena of these artistic geniuses. And then gradually build an education system for discovering and cultivating talented artists in art schools?
Art theorist Jia Fangzhou commented on Xu Qiping’s works: The expression of natural life
Find new artistic resources, one is primitive art and the other is folk art. From these original ecological arts Only when a new starting point for development is found can there be new breakthroughs in traditional classicism and the emergence of modern art. Xu Qiping did not seek directly from Western modern art, but went directly to the most primitive places and original ecological art to absorb nutrients. This is the most valuable and I highly approve of it. For example, Picasso also studied primitive African sculptures. Many of us have learned many factors from Picasso's style, but Xu Qiping directly found the source of Picasso's learning, absorbed the nutrition of black primitive art, and searched for Xu Qiping's artistic and spiritual resources. This is a valuable courage and courage. Mr. Ma Hongzeng said that she can also learn Chinese primitive and folk art. In fact, Xu Qiping has been learning and absorbing, such as the nutrition of Chinese folk Nuo art, and she is turning them into her own thing. The biggest feature of Expressionism is that it is consistent with the human state of life and the neurotic state when painting. You cannot paint without passion. It is different from rational painting. Rational painting can be done slowly and methodically, just like work. But Expressionism is not good. Expressionist artists must paint driven by their hearts. Without any emotion, they can no longer paint, and art will disappear. For example, Soutine's neurotic impulse, Van Gogh's excitement when facing nature, Expressionism is not a style, it has nothing to do with it. The human state of existence is innate. Expressionism lasted for a long time, a century, while other arts became popular and disappeared after a few or more than ten years. Expressionism is directly related to the living conditions of artists. As long as this passionate state of the artist exists, Expressionism will always exist. Shi Tao Bada, a Chinese freehand painter, also belongs to this state. Shi Tao has a saying: "Stand up your spirit in the sea of ??ink, determine your life with your pen, and let out light in the chaos." No matter what pen, ink, or ink, there is no painting, I am there. This passage is typical expressionism. Nothing matters. There is me in the painting, that's everything, that's the highest criterion. This spirit is universal both in the East and in the West. Xiao Xu’s art raises a very important question. I think her phenomenon is also related to psychology. Such a weak woman draws such wild, powerful and visually impactful things, which is her conscious expression and passion. Release, an outpouring of natural life. Recently she has made another batch of sculptures, which are also very good and full of passion.
Art critic Ding Tao, professor at Nanjing University of the Arts, commented on Xu Qiping: Xu Qiping after Liu Haisu
I participated in Xu Qiping’s solo exhibition at the Jiangsu Art Museum in 2006. The exhibition was very shocking. I was deeply impressed. At that time, most of her color and ink works on display were of African themes. This time, a batch of Jiangnan water towns and folk "Door God" works were exhibited. The Jiangnan-themed works she created are very different from the delicate and elegant Jiangnan painted by Jiangsu literati painters. The Jiangnan she painted is rich, mysterious and beautiful, showing another kind of broad-minded, stunning and unique beauty of Jiangnan. Many of the works are very artistic and evoke long-lasting emotions. For example, the four works in the Jiangnan Old House series "Twelfth Moon", "Blue and White Porcelain", "Green Plantain" and "Door God" depict scenes from the artist's childhood memories. Although it is a small indoor scene, the painting is grand, full-bodied and touching.
Another example is the five semi-abstract Chinese paintings she created specifically based on her hometown of Yancheng. The semi-abstract Chinese paintings with calligraphy as the main element are grand, simple and simple, and the composition and artistic conception give people a sense of novelty. The "Fire Attack on Yancheng", "Yancheng Farming", "Wood as Boats", "City Gate Towers" and "Yancheng Antiquities Marks" express the soul of Yancheng, a thousand-year-old historical site. The Yancheng monuments have been painted by many painters. But there are still works that successfully express it. This group of Yancheng works created by Xiao Xu is very successful in terms of creativity, composition, composition of artistic elements of the picture, pen and ink and color, and is a masterpiece. As far as the current level of Xiao Xu's works reflects, she possesses the four aspects of the artistic quality of an excellent painter: "talent, emotion, courage, and knowledge."
Talent: refers to the ability to feel, recognize and express; emotion: refers to her true temperament and spiritual realm; courage: refers to her being very confident and daring to break through the box. This kind of art is used and broken through to reach an impossible state) Knowledge: It has a distinctive personality in artistic techniques. In her works, she can be philosophical, reverent to heaven and earth, and cherish the cultural connotation of life. The art of Xiao Xu's works The charm is expressed in inheriting and amplifying tradition (this tradition includes Chinese and foreign, first of all, modern sense, but also with national sense and cultural sense. Her paintings convey a cultural and artistic realm and spirit. I just recently completed a research on Liu Haisu's book is about to be published. From this, I thought that Liu Haisu was born in Wujin. Liu Haisu has learned both Chinese and Western art throughout his life, and he has the courage to explore and constantly innovate in the creation of Chinese paintings, and his painting style is bold and unrestrained. Strange, vigorous and colorful, Liu Haisu was a master of innovation in the Chinese painting world for hundreds of years. After Liu Haisu passed away in 1994, I seriously considered the works of Xiao Xu. Xu Qiping has appeared. In terms of her current level and unique artistic style, she should be called everyone.
Zuo Zhuangwei, a professor at the School of Art of Nanjing Normal University, commented on Xu Qiping’s works: From law to lawlessness
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Qiping’s talent and magnanimity are innate, but Qiping is acquired, influenced by nature and the times she lives in, and is the inheritance of traditional culture. She has received good academic standards for Chinese and foreign art theories. Education and training, with a high artistic starting point and artistic expression skills, she is not only a painter, but also a master of sculpture. When she goes abroad, the life and spiritual temperament of another nation shown to her are completely different from her own. At the same time, she burst out with a poet-like passion, which originated from the understanding and excitement of human nature. She was also bound to be impacted and uncontrollably excited, which made her move forward regardless of anything and lawlessness, and created what we have today. The new art she saw was full of passion and mysterious interest. She went from the law to the lawless creation. On the basis of inheriting the line and ink of Chinese painting, she further strengthened the tension of volume, color and image to express her and the inner spirit of modern people.
Qiping is extremely "ego" in artistic creation, strong, decisive, brave and resolute. This deep personality character leads to the masculine atmosphere in her painting creations. Slightly wild paintings are beyond what ordinary Jiangnan talented women can do, and the paintings and sculptures she made during her trip to Africa are proof of my evaluation. Therefore, in my mind, Xu Qiping's artistic creation is both. Chinese tradition also incorporates the essence of foreign nations. It belongs to mankind and is modern in terms of its spiritual connotation and expression language. It has a significance that transcends nationality and time, and is an artistic phenomenon worthy of study in today's painting world.
Professor of Renmin University of China and critic Chen Chuanxi commented on Xu Qiping's works: Colorful, powerful and mysterious
There are many people who paint, and there are also many who work hard at this art all their lives, but there are few who succeed. Many people work very hard. They have been admitted to the art department of universities, or even received master's or doctorate degrees. They can paint, and they can paint mountains like mountains and people like people, but they don't give people any special feelings and they look ordinary. This is called "having no talent". Everyone can learn to paint, work hard, and join famous teachers, but if you don’t have talent, there is nothing you can do. Yao Zui of the Six Dynasties said in "Continued Paintings": "If you want to live in the lower stream, you can burn your pen." The "lower stream" Yao Zui mentioned is today's "lower stream". If a painter enters the "lower stream," then he will There is no need to draw anymore, which is what Yao Zui said "burning the brush"! On the contrary, if you don't focus on painting, if you have the talent for painting, you can also paint. As long as you have the talent, you can jump to the upper class.
Xu Qiping is born with talent for painting. Neither her father nor her ancestors painted, and her mother knew music but did not paint. She went to graduate school because her painting talent came to light and attracted many people's attention, so she went to study in a formal way. In fact, she was already very good at drawing before entering the graduate class, and the teacher could not teach her. But Xu Qiping didn't never paint and suddenly applied a few strokes on a whim. When she got up every morning, the first thing she did was draw and practice calligraphy. If she didn't apply a few strokes, she would feel sad. Sometimes she would paint while dreaming. Many mysterious contents are recorded in her dreams. This shows that there is an element of painting in her character.
I was very surprised when I saw Xu Qiping’s paintings for the first time, because I teach undergraduates, master’s students, doctoral students, and international students every day in the art department.
It stands to reason that all young painting elites are among our students, but Xu Qiping's paintings are very different from those of these students who have received formal training. Her paintings are colorful, vigorous, mysterious, modern but not grotesque, and have a sense of humor. It has a sense of nationality without being outdated, and has personal characteristics without being absurd.
Before 1999, she mostly painted Jiangnan series and landscape paintings. She was born and raised in Jiangnan, so she painted Jiangnan. Her Jiangnan series are very different from the elegant style of Jiangnan painters. She painted majestic and intense paintings, which is obviously the Jiangnan in her character. Although Xu Qiping is from Jiangnan, it is said that her ancestors have Uyghur ancestry. I see that Xu Qiping has big eyes, fair skin, and a cheerful and heroic personality. These are different from the girls from Jiangnan, but she is indeed a bit closer to the Uyghurs. But she is in Jiangnan after all, and generations of people have been in Jiangnan, so her cultural heritage is still from Jiangnan.
In 1999, she was invited to Africa. The black people of Africa, the colors of Africa, the landscapes of Africa and her character had a profound impact. Her cheerful and straightforward character collides with black Africa and is fully revealed in her paintings. She uses heavy ink to draw lines, and a large brush to smear freely. She uses thick colors to splash dots, and the painting is so free, so wanton, and so indulgent. The spirit of black Africa is fully reflected in her paintings, and her own spirit is fully settled in her paintings.
Xu Qiping does not use one method to paint. She sometimes used figurines. The figures in "African Chronicle" were accurately shaped and vivid, with no bones as the basis for outlines. She painted the health, strength and power of African men. At the same time, her brushwork is also very casual, chic and changeable. The pen and ink in "African Chronicle" are mainly light ink and medium ink, with many changes in ink color. She painted "A Woman with an Old Boat and a Puppy" and "The Wind Rises in Soweto" purely with thick burnt ink. The deficiencies were filled in with a thick brush, and then she added red lips, a stone green belt, etc. There is no change in the color of the ink, but it is changed by using flying white, which is another method. This method is characterized by thick, bright and heavy. When I first saw it, I couldn't believe it was written by a girl from Jiangnan. Generally speaking, the paintings of Jiangnan women and even men are light, delicate and elegant. Xu Qiping is really a husband among women, and her paintings are more vigorous and thick than those of men. This is really puzzling. She also painted "White Man's Wife Is Black" and "Jar of Water", mainly using thick and thick lines to outline, and then lining them with vermilion, which also shows her bold and straightforward character. When she painted "African Landscape", she used large splashes of ink and splashes of color, and then used thick color and thick ink to make it eye-catching. The landscape has no routine but common sense. The splashes of ink and colors are random and natural. The dots and hooks make it appear common sense, and the shape is between abstract and semi-abstract.
She also painted "The Migration of the Bantu People", "Impressions of Africa (I)" and "II", "Red Africa", "Blue Africa", and "The Temptation of the Yereol Festival" A and so on, all have the spirit of modernism. The paintings are almost abstract, but the strong colors and vigorous brushstrokes all show her special style. She painted "I Want to Be Her Lover", "Coconut Wine", and "Gathering in the Tribe", which seem to be abstract within the concrete. In short, she does not want to be a slave to images and words, but uses words and images to express her feelings and thoughts.
There are many paintings that are mysterious and unpredictable. At first glance, I don’t know what the paintings are, but they are consistent with aesthetic principles. The contrast and arrangement of colors are not out of principle. The paintings seem abstract, but they are also aesthetically pleasing. It looks like it has big eyes and lips, but it doesn't look like it. It's just blocks of color and lines. Therefore, some secrets are unpredictable. It is said that she often paints in dreams, which is weird and mysterious. After waking up, she records it and turns it into a painting.
Confucius said: "Those who are born knowing are the best; those who know by learning are the second; those who are tired and learn are the second; those who are tired and do not learn are the worst." (" The Analects of Confucius "Ji Shi"). Yuan Mei said: "When you get old, you will realize that you can't do it with your own strength. One-third of the personnel and seven-thirds of the heaven." The same is true for painting. There are many people who work harder than Xu Qiping in painting, but there are many people who are mediocre in painting throughout their life. Xu Qiping can't say that she doesn't want to learn. She is exactly "three-thirds personnel and seven-thirds talent". Her talent is inherent and can be developed with a little development. I sometimes often say: "Talent comes from within, and learning comes from outside." What you don't understand can be understood through learning. For example, if you just learn foreign languages, you may be able to master it, but "talent" comes from within and is not something you can learn. Mechanics can exist. Xu Qiping's paintings come from within, so they cannot be compared to those of mechanics. But I still advise her to study more, read more relevant books, see more ancient and modern Chinese and foreign famous paintings, and go to famous mountains and rivers to experience it.
In order to develop more of the "inner talent" and natural painting genius, and form a more outstanding, stronger and more mature style.
Fan Bo, a professor and theorist at Nanjing University of the Arts, commented on Xu Qiping: The expression of trance-like images
The great scholar Wang Guowei once pointed out that there are "objective poets" and "subjective poets" ". Xu Qiping probably belongs to the category of "subjective poet" - to be precise, she is a "subjective poet" in the painting world. This not only refers to her paintings - whether they are works showing African themes or masterpieces depicting the south of the Yangtze River, they all exude a rich poetic flavor, but also refers to her pen and ink language with stirring and powerful melodies and thunderous and lightning-like words. The flashes of color exude an expressionistic charm.
In the 1920s, Liu Haisu said that the "freehand" spirit of Chinese painting was connected with expressionism. However, the "freehand brushwork" of Chinese literati is ultimately too reserved and subtle. It is full of elegance but lacks soul-stirring intensity. It is just on the side of expressionism in terms of method. Even for a painter like Shi Tao, his wild and wild painting style is ultimately lackluster compared to the expressive power of Munch's "The Scream". However, I believe that the "freehand brushwork" of Chinese painting can lead to "expressionism". However, the relationship seems to be reversed. It is not that "freehand brushwork" attaches to expressionism, but that expressionism is used to infuse and expand the original "freehand brushwork" The aesthetic bloodline gives it a new artistic physique, energy and new artistic expression strength, depth and intensity. Xu Qiping's paintings can also be viewed in this way.
Her works take African life as the theme, and naturally find a kind of expressionist raw material, African festivals, African religious ceremonies, African dances, African chiefs and Young men and women with a burning passion were all captured in her paintings. In fact, many modern Western painting masters (such as Picasso) also like to draw new creative inspiration and impulse from Africans and their art. , because they are far away from the stereotypes of modern civilization and the constraints of traditional etiquette, the living conditions of Africans are inherently expressionistic. Once artists with an expressive "soul" encounter them, they will immediately burst into flames like fire touching dry wood. As a Chinese female painter, Xu Qiping uses the brush and ink materials of Chinese painting to depict the exotic customs of this country. However, her works seem to have shed the inherent mantle of traditional Chinese painting. The large ink blocks and bright colors seem to be driven by the object of expression, along with the painter. The burning body and mind fell into a wild state. In my opinion, an important feature of Expressionism is that it views and displays the world based on the painter's mind. The form of the objective world, the inner structure, rhythm and rhythm contained in it are not self-contained. Only when they match the painter's mind will they gain value and meaning, or in other words, only when they enter the painter's subjective desire for "expression" will they be transformed into an aesthetic object. Because of this, the objective world will become a new world under the control of the "expression" principle of the subjective mind, and then be constructed into a new world in the form of the painter's brush and ink - this is the "expression" connotation of Xu Qiping's paintings. . Looking at her works, you can feel that the artist's mind, pen and ink, color and objective objects have been blended into one in the "expression", and have become a trance-like world of imagery. Looking at her works, you can also feel that the formal techniques of Western modern art, the freehand spirit of Chinese painting, the painter's vigorous passion and the existence of objects are all blended into one. The intensity makes it difficult for you to imagine that this is the work of a female painter.