On April 18th, just as the Grain Rain was approaching, the exhibition "Rising At Dawn — Exhibition of Artworks with the Theme of Beijing Collected by CAFA Art Museum " opened as scheduled at the Capital Library. Titled "Rising At Dawn", this exhibition aims to showcase the vigorous vitality of Beijing's urban culture and also sketches out the cultural landscape of the ancient capital with a history of thousands of years breaking through the dawn in the long river of time. The symbiosis between the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the development of Beijing city is a brief history of practice of art intervening in urban civilization. The exhibition brings together 60 masterpieces created by artists of different generations from the 1940s to the present. It presents their continuous exploration of the urban theme and also reflects the spirit of their times and their cultural ideals.
This exhibition is hosted by the Central Academy of Fine Arts, jointly undertaken by CAFA Art Museum and the Capital Library. It has received strong support from the Scientific Research Office of CAFA and is also a project funded by the Beijing Cultural and Art Foundation in 2024.
Group photo of the guests
The guests attending the opening ceremony included: Jin Jun, Director of CAFA Art Museum; Han Wenchao, Secretary of the Direct Party Branch; Yu Yang, Director of the Scientific Research Office of CAFA; Sun Tao, Director of the National Thematic Art Creation and Research Center of CAFA; Li Nianzu, Deputy Director of the Capital Library, and others. Gao Gao, Deputy Director of CAFA Art Museum, served as the host.
Jin Jun, Director of CAFA Art Museum，delivered a speech
Jin Jun, Director of CAFA Art Museum, stated that this exhibition has gathered some of the excellent works related to the theme of Beijing from the collection of CAFA Art Museum. It covers themes such as urban landscapes and humanistic spirits, and explores the interactive relationship between artistic creation and the social context in different historical periods. The exhibition takes the four sections of "Dawn", "Vitality", "Renewal" and "Centering" as the narrative threads, reflecting the urban mirror images from multiple dimensions. The successful holding of this exhibition is inseparable from the full support of the Capital Library in terms of venue, technology and other aspects, as well as the strong assistance of the Beijing Cultural and Art Foundation. It is hoped that the audience can feel the vigorous urban vitality of Beijing in the exhibition "Rising At Dawn"!
Li Nianzu, Deputy Director of the Capital Library, delivered a speech
Li Nianzu, Deputy Director of the Capital Library, pointed out that Beijing, which has a history of more than 3,000 years of urban construction and over 870 years of being the capital city, has the code of stratified growth engraved in its urban genes. Just as shown by the theme of this exhibition, "Rising At Dawn", "rising" not only represents the awakening of the city bathed in the first rays of the morning sun, but also symbolizes the cumulative growth of the accumulation of civilization. "dawn" not only refers to the 3,000-year memory of urban construction along the banks of the Yongding River, but also metaphorically implies the shining edge of the capital city in the new era at the break of dawn. The holding of this exhibition will further promote the exchanges and cooperation between the Capital Library and the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Together, they will explore new paths and models for the protection and inheritance of Beijing's culture, enhance the cultural soft power of the capital city, and write a new chapter in the prosperous development of Beijing's culture!
Yu Yang, Director of the Scientific Research Office of CAFA, delivered a speech
Yu Yang, Director of the Scientific Research Office of CAFA, said that although this exhibition is limited in scale, it is very exquisite and worth viewing carefully. With the support of the Beijing Cultural and Art Foundation, "Rising At Dawn" has gathered the classic works of the senior artists of the Central Academy of Fine Arts over the past 80-odd years, as well as the works on the theme of Beijing that have been collected by the art museum and remained in the academy in recent years. Through four units, it has constructed a corridor of time and space, presenting the features of the capital city in different eras. At the same time, the exhibition is held in the Capital Library, which has a history of 110 years. The combination of calligraphy and paintings conforms to the logic of art appreciation. It is hoped that the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Capital Library will deepen their cooperation in scientific research and creation in the future, so that high-quality exhibitions can benefit more audiences.
Gao Gao, Deputy Director of CAFA Art Museum of, served as the host
Group photo taken at the opening ceremony
The exhibition will last until May 5th. It is hoped that the audience can encounter the authentic artworks in the corridors of bookshelves in the Capital Library, and feel the urban cultural context and contemporary innovation of Beijing amidst the fragrance of books and the charm of paintings.
01
Dawn
Artists' diverse depictions of the moment of dawn construct a dynamic pictorial book of urban humanities. These works interpret in a way of visual poetics that the dawn is not merely a physical moment of the transition between day and night, but also an aesthetic manifestation of the vitality of the city.
Liu Jingui, "The Street Sweeper", 1984, 83.5cm×288cm, color on paper, collected by CAFAM
Xie Yan, "The Forbidden City in the Morning", 1997, 185cm×205cm, oil on canvas, collected by CAFAM
02
Vitality
The attention paid by artists of different generations to urban life presents diverse cross-sections of the urban ecosystem in different eras. These artworks deconstruct "vitality" into an organism that keeps growing, and they have become another dimensional yardstick for measuring the progress of urban civilization.
Shi Xiguang, "Joining the Young Pioneers", 1964, 78cm×104.5cm, color on paper, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Tan Quanshu, "One of the Series of Paintings of Tiananmen Construction Site II", 1958, 27cm×41cm,
color woodblock print, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Guang Jun, "The Small Street on a Festival Day", 2018, 90cm×70cm, color woodblock print, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Qu Guangci, "Wangfujing", 1994, 40cm×35cm×118cm, 50cm×65cm×116cm, 50cm×43cm×106cm,
colored fiberglass reinforced plastic, collected by CAFA Art Museum
03
Renewal
The artists' visual dissection of the architectural texture and cultural memory reveals the deep logic of the renewal of the ancient capital: It is not merely the reorganization of physical space, but also the transplantation of collective memory and the reconstruction of the spiritual field.
Shao Shenglang, "Scenery of Beijing No. 8: Autumn Rain on Jingshan Hill", 1961, 65cm×34cm, ink and color on paper, collected in CAFA Art Museum
Dai Ze, "Banbi Bridge in the Summer Palace", 2002, 41cm×55cm, oil on canvas, provided by the collector
Wang Qi, "Overpass from the Melody of the Street Series of Paintings", 1987, 40.2cm×28cm, monochrome woodblock print, collected in CAFA Art Museum
Zhang Guilin, "Memory No. 5", 2008, 45.5cm×67.5cm, screen printing with multiple colors, collected in CAFA Art Museum
Miao Xiaochun, "Standing", 2007, 253cm×444cm, collectible fine art inkjet print, collected by CAFA Art Museum
04
Choose the central position
Artists transform the wisdom of city construction into a visual grammar. The central axis is not only the hub of the physical space, but also a spiritual anchor for the identification of civilization.
Ai Zhongxin, "Remaining Snow on the Forbidden City", 1947, 38cm×70cm, oil on wood panel, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Yazaki Chijiro, "Beihai Park in Beiping", 1947, 23.4cm×31cm, pastel on paper, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Wen Jinyang, "Qianmen, Spring Festival", 1953, 43cm×56.5cm, oil painting on wood panel, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Tan Quanshu, "Tiananmen Square", 1958, 35.5cm×25.5cm, monochrome woodblock print, collected by CAFA Art Museum
Zhou Jirong, "Landscape - The Drum Tower", 2013, 60cm×75cm, screen printing with multiple colors, collected by CAFA Art Museum
| Regarding the Beijing Cultural and Artistic Fund|
The Beijing Cultural and Artistic Fund is a public welfare fund initiated and established by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism. It focuses on providing financial support in three major areas: the creation of stage art, cultural communication and exchanges, and the cultivation of artistic talents. The fund accepts applications from the public, and the funding process is subject to social supervision. The achievements of the funding are shared by society. It maximally mobilizes the enthusiasm of social participation in cultural construction, establishes an open, equal, public and transparent art funding system, and gives full play to the exemplary and leading role of the national cultural center.
| Exhibition Information |
北京文化艺术基金2024年度资助项目
Rising At Dawn：中央美术学院美术馆藏北京主题作品展
展览时间：4月18日-5月5日
展览地点：首都图书馆（华威桥馆）B座第二展厅
主办：中央美术学院
协办：中央美术学院美术馆 首都图书馆
支持：中央美术学院科研处
主编 / 何一沙
责编 / 杜隐珠
现场图 / 贺伊飞
