Write art creation into the history of national rejuvenation
Xiao Weigan. Casting the soul for Chinese art Bacon
Xiao Weigan, don't sign the tireless bookstore, cherish ink like gold, and 100 volumes. Born in Shanghai in 1955, he is currently a professional painter and art teacher. In 1980, he studied under the sea landscape painters Zhang David and Wang Kewen. Every day, he has been working tirelessly for decades to study traditional landscapes. Good at sketching, good lonely travel, looking for seclusion alone, often in the ordinary place, but also can find a place to visit, can live in the painting.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:As an influential artist at present, how do you understand the meaning of "Bacon casts soul"? What kind of responsibility should Chinese artists shoulder in aesthetic education?
Xiao Weigan. "Bacon casts the soul", in a broad sense, is to cultivate the "root" of the national spirit, cast the "soul" of ideals and beliefs, and jointly build the "dream" of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The practical significance of "bacon casts soul" is to practice the 24-character core values of socialism.
As for what kind of responsibility Chinese artists shoulder in aesthetic education, I simply believe that we should inherit the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, meet the spiritual and cultural needs of the people, use the past for the present, use the foreign for China, dare to innovate, be good at innovation, and make unremitting efforts and eternal struggle for the prosperity of the national cultural cause.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:In your creation and teaching, how do you embody "bacon casts the soul, enlightens the mind and nourishes the heart"?
Xiao Weigan. Teaching is a noble and glorious profession, teachers are the "engineers of the human soul", I have been engaged in art teaching for more than 30 years, all ages, from babbling three-year-old children to faltering eighty weng. Children are graffiti, swimming in the colorful world, enjoying the fun and happiness, the elderly are enriching their spiritual life, each time they complete a work, laugh like a child, just as happy.
I think art teachers are not alone, superficial teaching paintings, art works should bring people's thoughts into the realm of truth, goodness and beauty, rather than the strange circle of falsehood, evil and ugliness.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:Taking the people as the center, establishing the soul of the Chinese spirit, rejuvenating the culture and self-confidence, and rooting the life of the times should become the root and soul of the socialist art cause, how do you understand "art for the people"? How do you put this into practice in your own practice?
Xiao Weigan. Art is for the people, art must serve the broad masses of the people, and pleasing works of art should give people the highest enjoyment in the soul, because whether it is a book or a painting, it is impossible to put it on the shelf, it is always necessary for people to watch, and all good works that are close to the people's lives can be exciting and resonate. In my opinion, there are three necessities for art for the people, one is that the artist should have a comprehensive understanding of life and inject extremely strong feelings into life, the second is that the artwork should be authentic, simple and ideological, and the third is that the artwork should be able to inspire people's dedication, kindness and benevolence.
Life is an inexhaustible source of creation, and all my works originate from the fact that life begins with creation.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:What do you think your current art creation wants to present as a whole in terms of theme, language, concept, etc.?
Xiao Weigan. The theme of my creation is always the splendid rivers and mountains of the Chinese land, and I insist on taking the road of sketching.
When we first learned to paint, we had to borrow the ship of the ancients to reach the other side, the "ship" is the kingdom of necessity, and the "shore" is the kingdom of freedom. We can't stay on the boat all the time, we have to go to nature, it's a matter of perception.
In art creation, don't repeat the ancients, don't repeat the present, and don't repeat yourself. Art is the most taboo of similarity, and art is more expensive than creation.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:Chinese artists with important influence represent the advanced direction of Chinese art. In the midst of international exchanges, what should be the appearance of Chinese art? How to present the image of China through art?
Xiao Weigan. Fine art does not only refer to painting, but also covers a wide range, and China has a history of 5,000 years of civilization. Leave behind a vast sea of exquisite artifacts and treasures. But all this is the history of the past, we can't hold on to antiques forever, any art must be created in order to have vitality.
For example, this year is the Year of the Dragon, we look at the dragons painted by the ancients, most of them are colorless and colorless, this kind of expression can only belong to that era, if it is used to make New Year's lanterns, it is obviously inappropriate. There is a city god temple in Shanghai, every year in the lantern season, crowds of people, no matter what zodiac, the shape is exaggerated, cute, colorful, cute, likely, these vivid and pleasing zodiac images to the international stage, must also be very popular, especially children.
There are 56 ethnic groups in China, each of which has its own traditional significance, unique cultural heritage, different ethnic cultures with obvious regional characteristics, and different ethnic groups have their own distinctive cultures, constituting the colorful diversity of world culture.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:Your works show delicate and clean brushwork, especially in the fine scrolls, can you share your experience and skills in miniature painting?
Xiao Weigan. As for the fine small volume, it is not deliberate, it is actually cut out of the paper, it is a pity to discard, and a few strokes are drawn casually, but I don't know that it is uncontrollable, so in the past few decades, large and small, long and short is not less than 100 volumes. Unlike other forms, the handscroll is not defined by its length and width, but by its depth and breadth. Hand scroll chapter method is often "three far" clever use, high and low, echoing before and after, between virtual and real, shade appropriate, such as ** suppression of Yang frustration, giving people the enjoyment of beauty. Painting is related to people's temperament, the so-called "painting is like its person", I am quiet by nature, I always paint and learn books in a bright and clean environment. I was the first to copy ancient paintings, and I love complicated all the way, such as Zhan Ziqian's "Spring Tour" in the Sui Dynasty, Li Zhaodao's "Ming Emperor Xingshu Picture" in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Zeduan's "Qingming Riverside Picture" in the Song Dynasty, etc., Over time, today's quiet and neat, meticulous and clean painting style has been formed.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:You are good at sketching, and you can find a painting environment that you can swim and live in from ordinary scenes, what kind of observation and perception skills are required for this? How do you translate these observations into paintings?
Xiao Weigan. Since ancient times, there has been a saying of "sketching" in Chinese painting, and the so-called "creation by foreign teachers" is also.
Five generations of Jing Hao lived in seclusion in Taihang Honggu, sketching tens of thousands of pine trees, just like its truth; "Looking horizontally at the side of the ridge into a peak, the distance and the height are different", Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, if he did not practice, he would not be able to write such a heroic image of poetry anyway; Huang Gongwang, the head of the four families of the Yuan Dynasty, "every time he goes out, he must bring a pen and paper, and whenever he encounters a scene, he will be a model", and many years later, the most outstanding ink landscape handscroll in history "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" was born; Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty also had a realistic portrayal of "the tree has a left that does not look into the painting, but the right looks into the painting"; It can be seen that his observation of trees in nature is delicate and nuanced; Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty's "Yunshan everywhere is my teacher" and Liu Haisu's "Huangshan is my teacher" all express the same meaning, that is, art is the best in life; Today's landscape painting master Mr. Li Keran has changed from "conformism" to "creating on the scene", which has opened up a vibrant and milestone realm.
I love sketching, but also good at sketching, and good lonely travel, alone to find the secluded, do not take the ornaments, the imagination is wonderful, although there are not many traces, where to a place is extremely cherished, a tree and a pavilion, a water and a stone, quietly look at it, and keep it in mind. Sketching seems to be painting with a brush, but it is really painting with a "heart", because sketching is not to copy the scene, but to create an idea of the scene, to magnify the most beautiful scenery in the mountains and rivers to the extreme, and use ink to permanently condense on the painting paper. Even though the road ahead of me is difficult and tortuous, and the thorns are overgrown, I will still go on without hesitation, and I deeply know that if you are locked in a house and paint, you will have no vitality at all.
Beijing Chuangrong Times Center Feng Qiansi:Tell us about your recent work and creative plans.
Xiao Weigan. This year is still the year of sketching, the land of China, no mountains are not beautiful, no water is not beautiful, there is no water, pick up the painting folder, and walk away.
Fine arts classes will continue to be taught at the University for the Elderly. Mo Dao Sangyu is still full of sunset in the evening.