2018 marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up. In the past 40 years, China has undergone earth-shattering changes, which have been deeply integrated into the daily life of every ethnic group in China, and are also reflected in the works created by painters with their hearts and minds. Recently, the “3rd Chinese National Art Biennial” was held at the National Art Museum of China, and the works with a very national style presented the life and emotional temperature of various ethnic groups in China for the audience. A total of 258 works were exhibited in the exhibition, including 130 oil paintings and 128 Chinese paintings, all of which were selected from more than 6,000 works collected from all over the country after two rounds of preliminary evaluation and re-evaluation.
As an important part of Chinese civilization, Chinese national art is full of rich cultural and spiritual connotations, has strong vitality, is the embodiment of the cultural diversity and richness of the Chinese nation, and is also an organic part and important representation of national spirit, national feelings, national history, national cohesion and centripetal force, which contains excellent national cultural genes and the potential to promote the development of contemporary art, which is worthy of our research, study and dissemination.
After the founding of New China, ethnic art began to receive attention, and a large number of painters began to pay attention to the cultural forms of ethnic minorities and went deep into ethnic minority areas to sketch. In the 50s of the 20th century, many excellent art works with national themes emerged in the national art exhibition, such as Dong Xiwen’s “The Land of a Thousand Years Has Turned Over” and Pan Shixun’s “We Walk on the Road”. In the 80s, the spring breeze of reform and opening up blew on the land, the state paid more attention to the development of ethnic minority areas, and artists worked tirelessly to draw nutrients from various ethnic cultures. Chen Danqing’s “Tibet Group Painting” and Han Shuli’s “Bang Jin Meiduo” and other works are excellent works that won awards at national art exhibitions during this period.
The “Third Chinese National Art Biennale” is another major review of national art theme works on the basis of the success of the previous two sessions. Many of the works in the exhibition hall are based on the history, customs and real life of ethnic minorities, pay attention to the modernization process of various ethnic regions, rich in content and diverse forms, and show the great achievements made in the 40 years of reform and opening up from various angles.
Chinese Dream, National Feeling
In the work “Chinese Dream, National Love”, a Tibetan boy carries a school bag cross-body, and the newly built houses behind him are scattered, connected to the sky in the distance, and the picture composed of polygonal color blocks is very modern. “It’s really hard to draw such complex equipment for astronauts.” Several small audience gathered in front of a painting to say a few words, depicting high-precision scientific and technological achievements is simply their favorite, the work “Millennium Dream” enthusiastically sings the achievements of China’s space industry since the reform and opening up, the painter uses a large area of heavy color to contrast the golden material of aerospace equipment, the picture is virtual and real, dense and measured, full of the author’s good wishes for the future development of the motherland. The dream of a strong army supports the Chinese dream, and the work “Spirit” presents the audience with the production and assembly of China’s self-developed fighter aircraft, and the symmetrical composition and tough lines add a lot of masculinity to the painting, which makes people feel respectful. Works such as “Dream Building Song”, “Flying Dreams” and “My Beautiful Dream on the Edge of the Sky” all start from the painter’s cultural background and growth experience, and truly reflect the colorful picture of the times from the perspective of individuals.
At noon, the people on the polder are busy
Ethnic minority women unload baskets and flat burdens and sit on the floor, enjoying the warm afternoon sunshine, a scene cleverly captured in the work “Busy at Noon”, in which the characters are arranged in groups of three or three, achieving a balance of composition while achieving plot richness. Laborers are the eternal theme of art creation, “The Man Who Sets the Horse”, “Ji Ri”, “Drum and Fishing Song”… People from all walks of life who are busy are especially cute in the painter’s pen. The work “Chagan Lake Winter Fishing Series One” focuses the viewer’s attention on the fishermen in the painting, and the strong contrast of black and white highlights the cold weather and forms a strong contrast with the hot labor scene. In “Early Morning”, the flower pickers have already filled the entire basket with flowers, either smiling or wiping the sweat from their foreheads with their hands, and the fragrance of fresh flowers seems to come through the drawing paper.
Harmonious home
In front of the “Harmony”, the grandmother carries her grandson, the mother holds the baby, the family’s Tibetan costumes and joyful smiles on their faces make people speculate: this family may be tourists who have just arrived in the local area, or are returning from returning by car, the work “Harmonious Homeland” is warm in color and full of composition, and conveys simplicity by telling ordinary things. Since the reform and opening up, the changes of scientific and technological achievements to people’s lives are not only macroscopic, but also subtle and ubiquitous, Yao girls wearing gorgeous national costumes, riding motorcycles, shuttling through the city of high-rise buildings, will undoubtedly become the most beautiful scenery in the streets and alleys, the work “Yao Girl Enters the City” presents the collision of tradition and modernity for the viewer with delicate modeling techniques, leading people to think about the progress of many living habits of people in the new era. In addition, works such as “Happy Home”, “Memory of the Steppe” and “Happiness Comes Knocking” capture the most simple and warm moments in life; Works such as “Colorful Childhood” and “Dreamy Years” are the artists’ interpretations of childhood, youth and growth, and they are also the best portrayal of children growing up in the Belle Époque. “Yi Family Wedding”, “She Nu’s Old House Has Joy”, “Wedding Song”, and “Nantang Style and Happy Events” are all works depicting ethnic minority wedding scenes. “She Nu’s Old House with Joy” shows the bride dressing up surrounded by girls of her own tribe, the painter used a large area of red when portraying the bride, and red is a symbol of joy and a flamboyant expression of the emotions that surge in the painter’s chest, the bride sits in the center of the picture, her smiling face tells the delicate feelings in her heart.
Long song of the Silk Road
The Silk Road has been passed down to this day and is the link between the cultures of various ethnic groups in China. In the work “Long Song of the Silk Road”, travelers and camel caravans dressed in Mongolian costumes walk together, echoing the elevated train in the distance, and the juxtaposition and contrast of means of transportation add narrative interest and spatial layers to the picture, and the large-scale use of national traditional patterns makes the work full of decorative sense. Amber, turquoise, red coral, these colorful ornaments are dotted with ethnic minority girls in the work “Silk Road Prayer”, and the mural pattern behind her is integrated with the decoration on her body, showing the aesthetic interest of national culture. Crisscrossing highways, tall buildings rising from the ground, if your eyes are close enough to the picture of “Silk Road to Build a New City”, you will be surprised to find the intricate details hidden inside, the dense expressive elements need to be patiently managed and carefully portrayed, the painter uses red and black to shape objects, and the strong visual tension reaches the heart.
How magnificent it is today
“Teachers and ancients are not as good as teachers to create”, and the motherland’s great rivers and mountains are the source of inspiration for painters’ creation. The work “How Magnificent is Today” does not directly express the magnificent beauty of mountains and rivers, but focuses on a group of mountaineering enthusiasts, holding trekking poles and carrying cameras on their shoulders, as if they have just reached the top of the mountain, looking into the distance excitedly, and their fascinated expressions lead the viewer’s thoughts to the outside of the painting, making people reverie infinitely. The work “High Gorge Valley” combines the charm of traditional Chinese painting with the light and dark shaping of Western sketches, and the treatment of near reality and far virtual greatly stretches the internal space of the painting, forming an ethereal and flexible visual effect. “Tai Market Rhyme”, “New Rhyme of Water Town”, “Da Rui Chuxiao” and “Mountain Whistle” are all works with a slightly top-down perspective, and the painters are either large brushstrokes or elaborate carvings, but they all integrate their own personalities and styles while restoring natural creations.
I’m going to sing aloud
The reform and opening up has improved the people’s living standards, and in the exhibition, the painters express their joy and praise for the prosperous times by depicting the jubilant scenes of people of all nationalities singing and dancing. The picture of the work “I want to sing aloud” seems rough and relaxed, but in fact gentle and delicate, the painter weakens the realistic portrayal of the characters in the painting, pays attention to the setting and creation of artistic conception, when the specific image no longer occupies the visual channel, the rhythm behind the picture will also enter the ears. In contrast, the colors of “Clouds and Heaven” are simple and simple, in the picture, ethnic minority girls sing the tunes of their hometown into the distance, the painter deliberately changes the objects in the painting into a calm gray tone, and the adjustment of the color system also seems to change the tone that enters the ears, making it long and long, and the aftersound is around the beam. In the work “Asparagus Dance”, the asparagus player dressed in national costume works hard for the audience, and the difficulty of playing the instrument can be seen from the musician’s gills and the green tendons rising from the hands, and the sound of music and laughter fills the whole picture. “March Song”, “Toast Song”, “Happy Singing”, “Prosperous Happy Song” and other works all show the diverse cultural outlook of various ethnic groups and express people’s joyful mood.
“In the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s national art creation has been greatly developed, and the creation of national art has become an important part of contemporary Chinese art creation, making significant contributions to contemporary Chinese art creation. At the same time, the contingent of art creators in ethnic minority areas has also been cultivated and developed unprecedentedly, which has greatly promoted the prosperity of China’s cultural undertakings. Xie Lin, deputy director of the National Art Committee of the China Fine Arts Association, said that the holding of the National Art Biennial is an academic platform to display the achievements of China’s national art creation since the reform and opening up. It increases the richness of the national art exhibition and provides an opportunity for the vast number of artists of various nationalities who use national themes as their creative content.
Some of the artists participating in this exhibition are the backbone of Chinese art who have witnessed the changes in the past 40 years of reform and opening up, and some are the new generation who have grown up bathed in the spring breeze of reform and opening up, with their own unique understanding of youth, dreams and the times, they cut in from their own perspectives, and completed the pursuit of beauty in their hearts and the description and praise of the current era in a colorful form. Xu Li, secretary of the party group, resident vice chairman and secretary general of the China Fine Arts Association, said that national unity and the development of the country are inseparable, in the past 40 years of reform and opening up, the development of national art creation has enhanced the cultural self-confidence of the nation, and has become an important driving force for building a strong cultural country and realizing the Chinese dream.