Widewalls is an online art gallery that features tens of thousands of works from established artists as well as those emerging onto the contemporary art scene.  Regarding Chen Danqing, Widewalls provides an in-depth biography and sophisticated collection of works, as well as numerous exhibitions and auction results.  Unlike most other sites that I have visited in my investigation of Chen thus far, the biography provided offers knowledge about Chen during his youthful, formative, and early adult years, all in the unique context of art and his most profound influencers.  Not only does the site provide a unique biographic perspective for Chen, but offers the insight and experiences of others, including a former pupil of Chen who admiringly claims that “Chen has never been just a painter.  He was an intellectual with a social conscience” (Cuddy 2014, Widewalls).  The exhibition and auction result sections of the site also give viewers comprehensive analysis into the prices which his pieces have sold for as well as where he has published and displayed his art.

Widewalls as a source will provide me with a unique and holistic lens to continue analyzing Chen Danqing as a person as well as an artist.  With extensive information on where Chen has published his work for exhibitions as well as auction results, the site will allow me to understand who his target audience is, if he indeed has one, and who these auctioneers may be and where their interests lie.  Moreover, the anecdotes and information provided by the biography will provide me with a more sophisticated foundation to understand the roots of Chen’s realist yet alternative technique of painting.

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Works Cited

Cuddy, Dylan. “Chen Danqing.” Widewalls, 2014. Accessed April 30, 2020.

https://www.widewalls.ch/artist/chen-danqing/

For this blogpost I decided to examine the International Institute of Social History’s presentation on political posters found within the People’s Republic of China (PRC). I decided to select this particular site for this blogpost as I feel the site provides some basic background regarding the PRC political posters that I was missing previously. In particular, I feel the information provided within the first 4-5 pages will be essential to my project. I also plan to use some of the propaganda presented within this presentation as part of my final project, although most of the posters will be coming from other sources I’ve already found. In summation, this source will help layout a solid base to then build upon. 

http://www.iisg.nl/publications/chineseposters.pdf

Pace Gallery, a leading contemporary art gallery that focuses on 20th and 21st century artists, shares commentary on Yue Minjun’s work that bring insight into my developing topic. Pace describes Yue in a similar fashion to many others – as a founding member of the cyclical realism movement that emerged in China in the mid-1990s, a leader in Chinese contemporary art, and as a progressive artist that has challenged political oppression in the country. Pace quotes Yue, who stated that “he has always found laughter irresistible.” That is, Yue’s exaggerated laughing self-portraiture figure along with his automatic smile, “masks the underlying emotions” of the subjects in his work (Pace Gallery). There is almost so much bad going on, that the subjects in Yue’s pieces have to laugh their sadness away (Egna 2020). Evidently, Yue’s work amplifies the disturbing past and current events in China. In addition, Pace shares that Yue has challenged socialist paintings, by recreating iconic events in China and replacing the “heroes” in them with his laughing face. Yue states, “those typical socialist paintings in China looked very realistic but were indeed surreal. They served for heroic fantasies, and the images of great people or the heroes in the paintings could well justify the fabricated scenes” (Pace Gallery). Thus, Yue believes that scenes that Chinese political regimes promoted were many times augmented, with fabricated messages.

After reading this write-up on Yue, I have begun to think more about Yue’s shift in artistic style, and how he essentially developed a politically uncensored technique that diverged so much from other coerced Chinese work. Additionally, I will further research Yue’s recreation of socialist-type art, as altering grim events through his work seems to be important to him. 

Work cited

Max Egna, Yue Minjun Execution Analysis, April 17th, 2020

https://muse.union.edu/aah194-spr20/2020/04/17/execution-analysis-max-egna/

“Yue Minjun.” Pace Gallery. Accessed April 29, 2020.

https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/yue-minjun/.

This link shows an installation Cai did in 2017 in Philadelphia. It was his biggest installation in the United States in the past decade before. The installation was entitled “Fireflys” and was 27 pedicabs decorated with colorful lanterns of all shapes made in Cai’s home province in China and brought over to the U.S. This work was commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and Cai was successful in drawing the public’s eye to this celebration by allowing them to ride in these pedicabs along the parkway.

I picked this piece to talk about for today’s blog post in order to show that Cai’s work goes above and beyond gunpowder. He also uses lights and colors to portray his messages. I think this installation is a good contrast to the mushroom cloud photographs that I had talked about previously. Giving Cai a light and celebratory side to his work, something that lifts people up as opposed to reminding them of past tragedies.

Cai Guo-Qiang: Fireflies

Figure 1: Feng Zikai “1 want to become an angel. / Soaring high in the sky, / Following the enemy planes, / And grabbing their bombs.” Scroll, ink on paper. Feng Zikai, Jianwen I (August 1, 1928: 2), Guangzhou.

This work by Feng Zikai is one that he created to reflect his own, his family’s, and other Chinese citizen’s experiences during the war against Japan in the mid-twentieth century. This piece is ink on a scroll format and is one of the more traditional pieces that he created. This painting is black and white, with simple detail in the people and the background, yet Feng was not attempting to create some artistic masterpiece. The purpose of this piece as a whole is send a message from Feng to the viewer. (Hung)

As we can see, the emphasis of this work is an angel catching the bomb heading toward the group of Chinese people. Even with the little detail, we can see from their expressions how helpless and frightened they are while stranded in the middle of rural China with no protection. There is a house in the distance, but these people might have left it knowing it will not protect them from the bombings. Most of them are looking up in fear, but I notice one person who is covering their eyes and face, as if they don’t want to see what danger is coming. Other people are not looking above but are looking ahead. This might be because they know this angel has come to save them and they are looking towards a better future. It is interesting that all of the people are huddled together, being there for one another in a time of crisis. Feng is trying to convey that as the Chinese were bombarded with war, they still stuck together in life or death.

The angel is another very important aspect to this piece. One book states, “Feng developed a style and approach all his own by combining traditional Chinese brush strokes with contemporary social settings, often lacing them with humor and religious purport.” (Hung 1994) In this piece, he is using an angel, a common religious symbol to make a point about the war. According to this book, the caption beneath this art piece says, “I want to become an angel, Soaring high in the sky, Following the enemy planes, And grabbing their bombs.” (Hung 1994) The angel seems to represent what Feng wishes he could have done for the people of China, or that the people of China need any angel to save them, whether that be the Chinese government or a miracle. On the other hand, it could mean the only thing that could save them is a divine being, and in other words, nothing can physically save them from the Japanese. The people in this piece could represent Feng’s family, or could represent all of China’s innocent citizens, yet either way, Feng wishes he could stop the madness and save his people.

Sources

Hung, Chang-tai. War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China, 1937-1945. Berkeley:  University of California Press, c1994 1994. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft829008m5/

Feng Zikai, Jianwen I (August 1, 1928: 2), Guangzhou.

Li Keran, Red over the Mountains as if the Forests are Dyed, oil on paper, Dimensions: 69.5h x 45.5w cm

Source: https://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2015-11/16/content_22465548.htm 

Red over the Mountains as if the Forests are Dyed is an oil painting that was made in 1989 by Li Keran. Li Keran has made a series of ‘red landscape’ paintings. Since Li Keran passed away in 1989, this was one of his final works. This piece shows how his style and form evolved over his life and career. This painting shows the transition from the traditionalist perspective that he learned from Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong to the Western perspective where Li Keran uses landscapes, light, shadowing, and more vivid coloring. Mao Zedong released a collection of poems. This painting is representative of one of the poems written by Mao Zedong (Qin Yuan Chun•Changsha). The title of the painting is an excerpt from a verse from the poem (“Red over the Mountains…”). 

The poem sets the scene in Autumn where all the leaves are changing to the color red. In the middle of the composition, there sits a small village that sits upon the ever-changing beauty of the mountain. The landscape creates a sense of grandeur depicting the impressiveness of nature. To obtain the look as if the red paint was dyed on the canvas, Li Keran used special minerals in the pigments such as cinnabar to create the vibrant red leaves in the trees (“Red over the Mountains…”). The medium of the painting is oil paint and color on paper. The painting is taller than wider to emphasize the landscape of the mountains. The painting is very realistic and portrays the beauty of nature, which was very characteristic of Western art. The beauty of this landscape creates a great sense of pride for those in the Republic of China. 

References 

“Red over the Mountains as If the Forests Are Dyed – Li Keran – Google Arts & Culture.”   Google Arts and Culture. China Modern Contemporary Art Document. Accessed April      17, 2020.           https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/red-over-the-mountains-as-if-the-forests-are-dyed/zAFnEYxpnRbZ2A

Yue Minjun’s oil painting “Execution” broadcasts its powerful message through content, colors, composition, and subjects. Yue has instituted an inventive and unique style for self-portraiture work. Specifically, he is best known for his oil portraits that depict his own laughing figure in different iconic moments in history.

Yue Minjun (b. 1962), Execution, 1995. Oil on canvas, 59 x 118 in. Image source: Forbes.com.

Regarding the colors in this painting, the red wall is certainly noteworthy. My first impression of the painting was the red colored wall, which instantly spurred the thought of death. Moreover, the red color is ironic because the victims who were about to be executed would soon have blood all over them that would match the color of the wall. The red color is also contradictory to the statement above, as the color is traditionally associated with happiness and propitiousness, creating a rigid dichotomy of interpretation. 

Specifically, the event in China that ignited Yue to paint this piece was the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, which resulted in a massacre by the government that killed thousands of innocent Chinese citizens, including students. This protest was largely a demonstration for a democratic movement in the country. During this period in China, many citizens were skeptical and critical of Deng Xiaoping, then the leader of the country. Many Chinese felt that the Deng administration was restricting their independence, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The protests began on April 15th, 1989 and ended June 4th, 1989, when the Chinese government declared martial law. Many of the student protestors began a hunger-strike to outline the level of social and political injustice present in the country. The declaration of martial law in this instance enabled the government to partake in immeasurable and unnecessary violence, by equipping troops with assault rifles and tanks. What started as a vehicle to convey political expression, quickly escalated into a bloodshed event that further suppressed Chinese citizens’ civil rights (Wikipedia).

There are several key features in this painting. First and foremost, the painting illustrates the political dysfunction in China during this period. Specifically, the victims (on the left-hand side) have been rounded up by Chinese armed forces, being punished for their protests of the Chinese government. As mentioned above, many protestors in this movement decided to participate in hunger-strikes. The victims on the left-side appear to be malnourished, with their bones almost popping out of their chests. Shifting focus to the subjects on the right-side, these men are troops in the Chinese military. Interestingly, the firing squad holds no guns, instead, with one troop cocking his hands like he is in possession of an imaginary gun. The invisible gun is enigmatic, in the way that it is difficult to precisely analyze what Yue was aiming to symbolize. Anthony Daniels, the author of the article “Yue Minjun’s haunting laughter,” notes that this paradox creates a potential charade, as all participants are laughing in a deeply sad situation. Furthermore, Daniels states that “the charade is about as amusing as would be that of an extermination camp;…and the fact that people are constrained to laugh at the imaginary reenactment of executions of themselves (if that is what the picture depicts) suggests likewise that the dictatorship, at least that over minds, has not yet passed” (Daniels 2013).

The most important feature of this painting is that all the subjects have a big, over-exaggerated smile on their faces, bringing comical dimension to the slaughter being shown in the painting. According to Yue, “at first you think [the person] is happy, but when you look more carefully, there’s something else there…a smile doesn’t necessarily mean happiness; it could be something else” (Bernstein 2007). Evidently, the act of smiling in this painting, especially by the victims, portrays the powerlessness that they possessed at this moment. Perhaps what Yue is also trying to display is the way that the helplessness of the victims caused their tears to convert to laughter. 

Yue’s painting resembles almost identical components to that of legendary Spanish painter Francisco Goya’s 1814 painting May 3 in Madrid or “The executions.” In both paintings, suppression and political controversy are an apparent theme. In respect to Goya, he based his work on the Spanish resistance of Napoleon’s army in 1808, where innocent Spaniards were murdered by the French (Museo Del Prado).

Francisco Goya (b. 1776) May 3 in Madrid or “The executions,” 1814. Oil on canvas,  8′ 10″ x 11′ 5.” Image source: museodelprado.es. Museo Del Prado, Madrid, Spain, room 064. 

Work cited

“1989 Tiananmen Square Protests.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, April 16, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests.

Bernstein, Richard. “An Artist’s Famous Smile: What Lies Behind It?” New York Times, November 13, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/arts/design/13smil.html.

Daniels, Anthony. “Yue Minjun’s haunting laughter.” New Criterion, Vol. 31, Issue 10 (June 2013) (accessed April 16, 2020) https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A334486089/LitRC?u=nysl_ca_unionc&sid=LitRC&xid=4292b9f5

 “The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid, or ‘The Executions.’” Colección – Museo Nacional del Prado. Accessed April 16, 2020. https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/el-3-de-mayo-en-madrid-o-los-fusilamientos/5e177409-2993-4240-97fb-847a02c6496c.

“The young companion” is known to be one of the most sought-after magazines in China in the early years of the 20th century, not only because of its unique content, but also its distinctive feature right from the eye-catching cover. The covers of the magazine are the images of beautiful and active modern girls, which are new objects appearing on the cover of the magazine because before that, feudal ideas suppressed their appearance. In issue 45, published in 1930, the magazine cover features an image of Guan Zilan, she is a real figure in modern Chinese history, a painter who is famous for introducing Fauvism to China. In the green background picture, she is holding a mandolin, a traditional Chinese instrument. She was one of the most impressive female characters chosen to put on the cover of the magazine because Guan Zilan was the first artist to bring “Fauvism style” to China. This portrait is one of her selected published works taken from an exhibition of her after graduating from China Art University. Her beauty represents a Chinese woman who is both traditional, deep and modern, attracting any audience. Originally, the phrase “modern girl” was used for modern Japanese women at that time, but Guan Zilan, with her successful career in Japan, attracted the media in this country and became a beauty model at the time. The picture shows the spirit and goals the magazine wants to aim for: women who enjoy life through daily life activities and exude a feminine, modern beauty. To show her beauty right from the cover, the editor used an effective presentation that we call “kaleidoscopic”. This technique allows the main character to stand out clearly and “create the  impressions of changes without disruption” (Paul, Kuiyi, Yingjin 2013), attracting readers not only by the beauty of the character but also the harmony eye-catching color.

References:

1. Paul G. Pickowicz, Kuiyi Shen, Yingjin Yang – Liangyou, Kaleidoscopic Modernity and the Shanghai Global Metropolis, 1926 – 1945 – Published 2013 – Page 3.
2. Hong Kou Bao – Article”Lan Zhihui’s heart is far away” – Published 2012 April 16.                                                                                                                                      http://hongkouweekly.xinmin.cn/html/2012-04/16/content_4_9.htm

For my analysis of a piece of my artist’s work, I am picking an entire series of photographs, because it seems the artist saw them as a group and not individual works. This series is entitled The Century with Mushroom Clouds and is photographs of gunpowder explosions he made to look like mushroom clouds taken across the United States. Locations included Manhattan, the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the atomic bomb testing site in Nevada. These pieces are all photographs of Cai’s chosen medium gunpowder. The pictures are all taken in a way that you can see not only the gunpowder but also the scenery of the place it was set off along with the artist himself with his back turned to look towards his work. 

Can is famously known for his use of gunpowder to create art. Gunpowder was originally invented in China as an elixir of life and then later on used as an explosive (Monroe). This gives a sort of dual meaning to Cai’s work here, where he is portraying gunpowder as the most deadly explosion known to man, the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb, yet made out of a substance invented to heal. According to the artist he believes that “the mushroom cloud was one of the most important symbols of the twentieth century” (Tufnell, 2012), in that now it is seen as a symbol of power and destruction more than it is inflicting it (since his little gunpowder clouds where essentially harmless and just for show). He compares this to the Great Wall of China, in that while it does not keep enemies out it is a vital sign of power and if it were to be destroyed would have a bigger emotional impact than military (Tufnell, 2012). The most moving place, I think, that he photographed one of his mushroom clouds at the Nevada Nuclear Test site. He tells a story of how when he set it off the military personnel that had escorted him were so shocked they called their supervisors, who called their supervisors and so on until it reached the White House. However, when they realized it was just gunpowder from firecrackers they let it go (Tufnell, 2012). This antidote goes to show how just a meaningless firecracker explosion can trigger such panic simply because of what it is reminiscent of. 

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the Twentieth Century (Manhattan) 1996
Realised in New York City, looking towards Manhattan, 20 April 1996
Gunpowder and cardboard tube

https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/atomic-tourism-and-false-memories-cai-guo-qiangs-the-century-with-mushroom-clouds

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century (Nevada Test Site)
1996
Realized at Nevada Test Site, February 13, 1996, approximately 3 seconds
Gunpowder (10 g) and cardboard tube
[Ephemeral] https://caiguoqiang.com/projects/projects-1996/century-with-mushroom-clouds/

The rest of the series can be seen on Cai’s website here

Munroe, Alexandra. “Cai Guo-Qiang Drawing for the Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century.” Guggenheim., last modified -03-26T20:41:35+00:00, accessed Apr 16, 2020, https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/map/parts-and-wholes.

Ben Tufnell, ‘Atomic Tourism and False Memories: Cai Guo-Qiang’s The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Art & Environment’, in Tate Papers, no.17, Spring 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/atomic-tourism-and-false-memories-cai-guo-qiangs-the-century-with-mushroom-clouds, accessed 17 April 2020.