The "CAFA Annual Fine Arts Nomination Exhibition 2020: Qi Xiang/Zhi Xiang - Ma Lu & Lv Pinchang" joint solo exhibition will open at CAFA Art Museum on October 17. The exhibition is academically directed by Fan Di'an, chair of China Artists Association and president of Central Academy of Fine Arts, produced by director of the CAFA Artwork Restoration Research Institute Wang Yingsheng and CAFA Art Museum director Zhang Zikang, and curated by Hongmei.
The exhibition showcases more than 100 works by Ma Lu, the former director of the CAFA School of Plastic Arts and director of the Oil Painting Department, and Lv Pinchang, the former deputy director of the CAFA School of Plastic Arts and director of the Sculpture Department.
The "CAFA Annual Fine Arts Nomination Exhibition" enjoys great reputation in the art field. Owing to its strict selection standard and the outstanding achievement of the selected artists, the exhibition is not only a signature exhibition of the academy that promotes and showcases its teachers' works, but also a platform that reveals the latest trend of the field that the selected artists work in.
The exhibition will last until Nov 11, and will then tour to Taoxichuan Art Museum in Jingdezhen County and Shenzhen Art Museum.
The Central Academy of Fine Art's plastic arts discipline is one of the most time-honored educational disciplines in China. Generations of artists and teachers carry on their practice in response to the rapidly changing Chinese society. They are persistent in their creative exploration, and put all their heart in the cultivation of young talents, contributing greatly to the development of plastic arts in China. The academy has been holding the annual fine arts nomination exhibition since 2010, with the hope to promote its teachers with outstanding achievements in art thinking, research and creation, and to accelerate the development of Chinese plastic arts in the contemporary context by showcasing their works. The academic seriousness and doctrinal preciseness are the biggest features of this exhibition, a reflection of CAFA's academic standard. The two professors Ma Lu and Lv Pinchang represent the artists and educators who persist in the right course of academic studies, bridge between the east and the west, the ancient and the contemporary, and dig deeply into their artistic language.
An oil painter who graduated from the Oil Painting Department of CAFA, professor Ma Lu has deep understanding of the development course of oil painting in China. He inherited from the old oil painting masters at CAFA, always has a modest and open-minded attitude towards different ideas, consciously pursues the high quality of his own oil painting creation, and maintains clear perception of art and culture despite the changing cultural context. His sharpness enabled him to create works that bridge the reality and the surreal. His early works focused on the condition and spiritual symbol of matters, using strange forms to construct imagery. Later his language developed from expressiveness to abstraction, and by absorbing the freehand creative tradition of Chinese art he developed the spirit of "Qi Xiang (炁象)". The character "炁" (Qi) refers to the natural, internal spirit that is mysterious and inexpressible. The "元炁" (Yuan Qi) or "心炁" (Xin Qi) that the ancient people usually spoke of mean the visualization of spiritual energy into visible imagery. Ma Lu's "Qi Xiang" is exactly imagery (象) resulted from spirit (炁). It connects art and spirit, the energy of creation and the form of artwork; elevates the meaning of imagery into spiritual level; and transforms thinking and feelings into lifeful visual imagery.
The road professor Lv Pinchang tread is the highway of art that keeps widening. He began his art career with ceramic art, and later he transformed to sculpture and public art that involves a variety of materials and media. He digs deep into the transformation of tradition to modern, and cares about the development of Chinese art. His artistic idea is elaptic, which leads to his high proficiency in his creative practice. He focuses on grand themes in his creation. The works of his are the combination of solemn and magnificent vigor and exquisite moulding. He is especially an expert in merging plastic aesthetics of traditional Chinese sculpture with the realistic western sculpture, contributing greatly to the expression of the magnificent Chinese spirit in contemporary sculpture. His many large-scale figure sculpture, whether based on the theme of traditional or modern stories, are landed in rich feelings of life. Both characterization and spirit of the works show his humanistic care. Lv Pinchang's studio is named "Han Zhi Jiang" (汉埴匠). The exhibition is named "Zhi Xiang" (埴象). "Zhi" (埴) means earth, implying its close relationship with the clay. "Xiang" (象) is the imagery originated from the clay. "Zhi Xiang" for Lv Pinchang is a process of moulding, of creating effects with endless meanings. The exhibition showcases many of his representative ceramic artworks. Thematically, there are works that reflect ordinary people's life as well as imaginations and daydreams; formally, there are both thin and fragile "paper" art and large-scale Space Plan series. These works give full play to the materiality of ceramics, realizing the transformation of traditional materials into modern with the artist's kneading hands, a mixture of different crafts and catalytic experiments with fire.
Living in this special time, we need to carry on our cultural awareness and continue contructing Chinese discourse in art. Only when we have a clear perception of values and aesthetics, could we face new cultural challenges and realize the transition of art more calmly. For Ma Lu and Lv Pinchang, the 'dilemma' of richly-developed graphic information on the contrary motivates them in purifying their artistic language, tying their creative practice with social reality and national spirits, and walking towards contemporary art from the humanistic and artistic tradition of the nation. The "Xiang" (象) in their works is the visualization of the pure spirit in their characters, the honest spirit in their academic pursuit, the grand spirit in culture, and the flourishing spirit of the developing China. This "Xiang" should also be our common pursuit.
Fan Di'an
Chair of China Artists Association, President of Central Academy of Fine Arts
October 2020
The Central Academy of Fine Art's plastic arts discipline is one of the most time-honored educational disciplines in China. Generations of artists and teachers carry on their practice in response to the rapidly changing Chinese society. They are persistent in their creative exploration, and put all their heart in the cultivation of young talents, contributing greatly to the development of plastic arts in China. The academy has been holding the annual fine arts nomination exhibition since 2010, with the hope to promote its teachers with outstanding achievements in art thinking, research and creation, and to accelerate the development of Chinese plastic arts in the contemporary context by showcasing their works. The academic seriousness and doctrinal preciseness are the biggest features of this exhibition, a reflection of CAFA's academic standard. The two professors Ma Lu and Lv Pinchang represent the artists and educators who persist in the right course of academic studies, bridge between the east and the west, the ancient and the contemporary, and dig deeply into their artistic language.
An oil painter who graduated from the Oil Painting Department of CAFA, professor Ma Lu has deep understanding of the development course of oil painting in China. He inherited from the old oil painting masters at CAFA, always has a modest and open-minded attitude towards different ideas, consciously pursues the high quality of his own oil painting creation, and maintains clear perception of art and culture despite the changing cultural context. His sharpness enabled him to create works that bridge the reality and the surreal. His early works focused on the condition and spiritual symbol of matters, using strange forms to construct imagery. Later his language developed from expressiveness to abstraction, and by absorbing the freehand creative tradition of Chinese art he developed the spirit of "Qi Xiang (炁象)". The character "炁" (Qi) refers to the natural, internal spirit that is mysterious and inexpressible. The "元炁" (Yuan Qi) or "心炁" (Xin Qi) that the ancient people usually spoke of mean the visualization of spiritual energy into visible imagery. Ma Lu's "Qi Xiang" is exactly imagery (象) resulted from spirit (炁). It connects art and spirit, the energy of creation and the form of artwork; elevates the meaning of imagery into spiritual level; and transforms thinking and feelings into lifeful visual imagery.
The road professor Lv Pinchang tread is the highway of art that keeps widening. He began his art career with ceramic art, and later he transformed to sculpture and public art that involves a variety of materials and media. He digs deep into the transformation of tradition to modern, and cares about the development of Chinese art. His artistic idea is elaptic, which leads to his high proficiency in his creative practice. He focuses on grand themes in his creation. The works of his are the combination of solemn and magnificent vigor and exquisite moulding. He is especially an expert in merging plastic aesthetics of traditional Chinese sculpture with the realistic western sculpture, contributing greatly to the expression of the magnificent Chinese spirit in contemporary sculpture. His many large-scale figure sculpture, whether based on the theme of traditional or modern stories, are landed in rich feelings of life. Both characterization and spirit of the works show his humanistic care. Lv Pinchang's studio is named "Han Zhi Jiang" (汉埴匠). The exhibition is named "Zhi Xiang" (埴象). "Zhi" (埴) means earth, implying its close relationship with the clay. "Xiang" (象) is the imagery originated from the clay. "Zhi Xiang" for Lv Pinchang is a process of moulding, of creating effects with endless meanings. The exhibition showcases many of his representative ceramic artworks. Thematically, there are works that reflect ordinary people's life as well as imaginations and daydreams; formally, there are both thin and fragile "paper" art and large-scale Space Plan series. These works give full play to the materiality of ceramics, realizing the transformation of traditional materials into modern with the artist's kneading hands, a mixture of different crafts and catalytic experiments with fire.
Living in this special time, we need to carry on our cultural awareness and continue contructing Chinese discourse in art. Only when we have a clear perception of values and aesthetics, could we face new cultural challenges and realize the transition of art more calmly. For Ma Lu and Lv Pinchang, the 'dilemma' of richly-developed graphic information on the contrary motivates them in purifying their artistic language, tying their creative practice with social reality and national spirits, and walking towards contemporary art from the humanistic and artistic tradition of the nation. The "Xiang" (象) in their works is the visualization of the pure spirit in their characters, the honest spirit in their academic pursuit, the grand spirit in culture, and the flourishing spirit of the developing China. This "Xiang" should also be our common pursuit.
Fan Di'an
Chair of China Artists Association, President of Central Academy of Fine Arts
October 2020
