The same things are always attracted to each other.
That is, we believe in beauty, look for beauty, and create beauty.
More beauty, no matter people, things, resources, opportunities.
It is also destined to meet us.
The first encounter between the C3 Hotel and the artist – "Under the Tree of Time".
Artist Cui Zhizhong.
In 1988, he graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, a member of China Sichuan Artists Association, honorary president of the Yellow River Estuary Oil Painting and Sculpture Research Institute, vice president of the China Image Oil Painting Research Institute, vice president of the Northern Oil Painting Institute, director of the Chengdu Artists Association, distinguished expert of Southwest University for Nationalities, visiting professor of ASEAN Art Institute, the title of best overseas cultural and art envoy awarded by the Sino-German Art Exchange Center in Munich, Germany, and vice president of Sichuan Modern New Ink Painting Institute.
The growth of beauty is a tree, from the cause, whether you are standing at the beginning of time, or staying at the end of the galaxy, it will meet you, it can be said that karma and marriage are seeds, towards the land is the root, "good" blessed land, to show off to the sun is luxuriant, flowers to the root to return, this is the fate of the previous life, but also the fate of this life.
Looking Up, oil on paper, 120cm, 90cm
Choi Zhi-chung 2019
When my eyes first touched Sanxingdui, it was destined to the direction of my fate, my painting will definitely turn a big corner here, with the magic around me as the theme, with my brush to tell a romantic story for it.
I stopped for Sanxingdui to inquire about the origin of the value thinking about the movement of life, not because of these chaotic arguments about the flow of you and me, or metaphysical philosophical or social relations, but because there is a hurdle that we can never overcome, that is, what is "beauty" and what are the possibilities for the interpretation of art.
Lighthouse and Direction, Composite on paper, 90cm, 120cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2023
Everything that changes the world the most is these seemingly useless and abstract things. For example, religion, such as philosophy, and so on.
When I was a teenager, I saw the golden statue of Tutankhamun in Egypt, and I thought it was the most beautiful gold statue in the world, and it is said to be the most expensive gold statue in the world. But when I first came into contact with the gold and bronze statues of Sanxingdui, the Tutankhamen statue immediately retreated from my mind with a sacred aura. The golden face of Tutankhamen, as well as the entire period of ancient Egypt, is still confined to a realistic state of depiction of concrete objects, and belongs to a rational sense of thinking. Sanxingdui is different, it is a kind of abstract thinking, in addition to the visual, auditory, and tactile senses, there is also the existence of feelings, and the feeling of this kind of thing is the most "useless", but the most abstract, the most advanced existence, it is related to the human soul, it is a kind of awakening, a kind of transcendence, a kind of self-confidence, and a pursuit of higher meaning.
Sanxingdui is the most surprising archaeological discovery of the twentieth century. About its ins and outs, has been beyond the scope of archaeology can be recognized, there are from the political, economic, philosophical, universe, human origin and other aspects to study it, and now it has developed to a standpoint, all this if it is really put to Sanxingdui people, how ridiculous it will seem.
Voyage Diary, Oil on paper, 60cm, 90cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2023
Sanxingdui has not found words so far, and what makes me puzzled is how such a complex and advanced casting process (Sanxingdui's casting process is said to be difficult for humans today) to develop and inherit? The biggest driving force for the progress of human civilization is undoubtedly the emergence of writing, with writing, human complex skills and great discoveries, in order to be recorded or inherited, but Sanxingdui does not, is it possible that feeling and abstract thinking, without relying on the inheritance of words, can become so powerful and beautiful? Incredible! What is even more doubtful is that they have a way of communication that is incomprehensible to us today, and far superior to us.
There is always a beginning and an end to storytelling, and the beginning and end of the story of Sanxingdui is a kind of magical mystery-like existence. Its true face may never be dismissive of their voice, but I can only use the imagination of the painter to express my reverence for its "beauty".
Red Boat Diary, oil on paper, 90cm, 120cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2021
Sanxingdui excavated a lot of ivory, it is said that the elephant is the native species of our Chengdu Plain (anyway, I haven't heard of elephants produced here in recent hundreds of years), but whether it is the original or exotic elephant, it is undoubtedly a means of transport, to transport things out here, to transport things from the outside, this is openness and communication, from the form of those bronze statues and utensils, are influenced by the Central Plains culture and the Western Regions culture, so the exchange of goods and personnel, It should have been prosperous at the time (does this make the view that Zhang Jian was the first envoy to the Western Regions to be ridiculous?) ）。
Therefore, the civilization of Sanxingdui has developed through continuous migration and exchange, which is the point that my work needs to focus on; And this point, which can be expressed at any stage of the development of human civilization, should be a universal truth. No civilization can be separated from communication, the ancients said: flowing water does not rot the hub does not beetle, and it is precisely this truth.
Born to the Water, Oil on paper, 60cm, 120cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2021
There is a difference between beauty and beauty, Wu Guanzhong said, "A weathered and mutilated Buddha statue and a polished ivory or hand ornament, the former is undoubtedly beautiful, and the latter can only be beautiful." The Sanxingdui civilization, which has an abstract concept and is hidden deep underground for thousands of years, has been eroded by time, is even more suffocating. It's something I can't face directly, so I can only focus on the process that others ignore, and that leads me into a narrative about the process. I think that life is an interpretation of time, and it is only a process in itself, and beauty and faith only exist in the process.
My work is a series, it is not a painting, so my work is to lay some piles at some points in the process, so as to imprint traces into people's brains; When the appearance and death of the past are alive in front of you, don't be too confused.
Chronicle, Composite on canvas, 100cm, 130cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2022
And I want to tell you a fact through the beauty of Sanxingdui and the expression of my works: when a thing is solved with abstract thinking, it must be more advanced than concrete thinking; When someone tells you not to fix these useless things all day, you are not far from success; When you become such a useless thing, you are an out-and-out success.
I wondered, when am I going to be able to make such a useless thing? Sow the splendid seeds of life under the tree of time.
——Cui Zhizhong in Chengdu in 2023
30 Degrees North, Oil on canvas, 200cm, 360cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2022
The Wind of the Valley, Oil on paper, 60cm, 90cm, Cui Zhizhong, 2023
C3 Art Space Exhibition Venue.
More about C3 Hotel:
C3 Hotel is located in Chengdu Tianfu Art Park, one of the most artistic influences in southwest China. As a modern aesthetic art hotel, C3 Hotel is the first time that Shanyi Hotel Group has met you. We spent more than 200 days and nights creating each area. The beauty between square inches, intelligent system equipment, and relaxed space are only for you to say goodbye to the hustle and bustle here, but also into a different kind of prosperity.
Here, leisure and surprise coexist, the iconic Chengdu temperament.
The unique artistic atmosphere of Tianfu Art Park outside the hotel.
Relax and enjoy your true self interior.
C3C Art Meets Art.
c city meets the city.
c yourself meet yourself.