-It has become Sun Xiaodong's self-choice to read Sun Xiaodong's paintings in recent years. He seems to be addicted to the soul of sages and the artistic conception of painting, and even enjoys it. "Ivy is far from snow, and there is no talent in old age. I want Jiuquan to be a running dog, and the three families will go to the next round. " It should be appropriate to use this poem of Qi Baishi to summarize the artistic pursuit of painter Sun Xiaodong.
Of course, his rotation under Xu Wei, Huang and Qi Baishi is a kind of spiritual dialogue, not depicting the ancients, not ancientry, but absorbing the pen and ink spirit of predecessors, and "looking at everything with a normal heart and looking at everything with nature ..." So he felt: "Art has given people great comfort, relaxed and resolved the sadness of life. Life is no longer a dead silence, on the contrary, because of the understanding of the soul, life becomes lively, willful and full of interest. This is the normal heart of life and the great realm of art. "
Sun Xiaodong's landscapes, figures, flowers, birds and animals all have their own characteristics, reaching a high level. His painting language and pen and ink spirit are traditional, but his painting pursuit and image expression are modern. What he pursues is pure art, which is far from the present aesthetic taste. Not vulgar, not flattering, not smoky. It is an empty realm and a concrete presentation after a deep understanding of the essence of life. The essence of art is to express the artist's own inner feelings and the true and pure inner world that does not need to be concealed, and those artists who directly face their inner feelings are often artists with advanced aesthetic taste and loneliness. Xiaodong is like this. In this sense, Xiaodong is doomed to be lonely. This kind of loneliness can be seen everywhere in his paintings.
I think what can best express this feeling is his flower-and-bird works. Because his flower-and-bird paintings show too much meaning and experience in life. It is often like a flower, a grass, a fish and a shrimp, showing the rhythm of life with the simplest and most popular images; Colorful and concise ink and wash are metaphors of inner confusion and melancholy that combine complexity and simplicity. In his view, this kind of person changes quietly in the passage of time, and everything in nature changes quietly in the passage of time, which is not so much sadness as beauty. His flower and bird works are deeply influenced by Badashanren and Qi Baishi. Badashanren's pen and ink are concise, and flowers, birds, fish and insects have great personality. After the "reform of the old times", Baishi's works have a stronger sense of life. These can be found in his works.
Chinese painting is characterized by mountains and rivers, and the national spirit of the Chinese nation is shaped through painting, with mountains and rivers as the clearest. Therefore, the prosperity of mountains and rivers is no different from that of ancient times. I thought Xiaodong's landscape paintings were not painted, but "written". This, of course, has something to do with his reading by the pool all the year round, and it is also related to his influence by Huang. Looking through Xiaodong's recent landscape works, you will find that although there are some splashes of ink and colors, the lines are still heavy and steady, and the pen and ink are full of interest. Often use a pen like calligraphy, without walking, sagging, shrinking, or even twists and turns, full of strength.
He is well versed in the theory that "painting is better between likeness and dissimilarity" and practices the principle that "too likeness is kitsch and not deceives the world", especially featuring figure painting. His figure painting is full of charm, not seeking form, but seeking vividness, choosing specific nodes and reappearing the inner world of the characters. This is true whether it is a statue of literati in past dynasties or an ink-and-wash human body. For example, Dongpo night tour Chengtian Temple, for example, the night mountain view of Binweng, for example, the woman taking a bath, for example, the ink series.
In the communication and collision between tradition and modernity, Xiaodong pursues the meaning of pen and ink and the ethereal artistic conception. His paintings are a kind of spiritual tranquility and calmness, and an immortal and eternal spiritual world: abstaining from greed, getting rid of greed, getting rid of anger, not being happy with things, not being sad for oneself, being calm and elegant.