Because of Nature, There He is
“Because of the Nature, there we are”
--From what are poets for written by Martin Heidegger

This is an abridgement of few lines in a poem of Rainer Maria Rilke, so as to present the structure of the poem which, as Heidegger put, set “the existence of human being” on the table. Of cause, I am not going to take your time, discussing about the complicated relationship between values and cognition, which apparently has also imposed significant influence on Rilke’s art career. It is the destined life with nature of an artist, whom I am about to introduce, that has just fit the structure.

In the first sight of Xue Song’s oil painting, most of you, individuals with thousands of identities, may fall in love with it; be amazed by its magic of fitting-everywhere; and take it as an acquaintance, whom you don’t really familiar with but feel like a long-lost friend. His oil painting, featuring distinct but barely aggressive, has created an natural aura that I would like to attribute to the integration, full of passion and subtlety, of classic and modern hiding behind its pure picture and profound artistic concept. One might wonder: what kind of artist is him? The answer is: because of nature, there he is .

Learning from the Nature
Born in 1962, Chongqing, Xue Song was brought up in a family, with both of his parents highly educated. Despite of his crushing on oil painting for more than 40 years, he received an education of traditional Chinese culture and art. As a young man, he studied under Chen Manman, a master of traditional Chinese painting, (also known as one of the colleagues of Huang Binhong,) to copy the landscapes in The Painting Album of the Garden of Mustard (Jie Zi Yuan Hua Pu). After years of practice, he has gradually formed his own style of painting, and for all the time been crazy about landscape sketching with themes on animals, plants, mountains and stones. In 1985, he was schooled in Chongqing Fine Arts School, learning methods and technology of the western painting, sketching and body sculpturing, which has imposed an important effect on his future style of monochrome painting. After graduation, he has engaged in art education. Apparently, adding to his instinctive fondness of nature , it is his acceptance of distinguished aesthetic values towards nature of eastern and western art that has shaped his unique style of painting.

To naturally present and express the Nature has always been Xue Song’s pursuit of art.

From one hand, if we taking a look at the content of his painting, most of the creatures are from our daily life, such as dog, fish, horse, swine, or landscape; however, the artist has endued them with distinguished characters of being proud, happy, introvert, jumpy, or an outlook of being stubborn but still imperceptibly influenced by the passing time. This is what we called “The Style is the man”. From the other hand, technologically speaking, his methods of painting and creation have masterly integrated traditional Chinese painting and modern oil painting: neither does he take advantage of greasepaint to express essence of traditional theme, nor reinforce the classic concept with modern knowledge. He unveils the abstract nature of painting, picking up emotion and spirit as his way of expression. Same as the significance of instinct and spontaneity do to the Happening Art and Action Painting, Xue Song dots on the canvas with blots of paint at the beginning of painting, and then improvise to portray and design according to the current compositions of greasepaint. Therefore, the substances under his brushwork look always like a vivid creature alive, full of vitality and profundity. In respect of tones, Xue Song has inherited the tradition of classifying the ink into five different shades, taking black and gray as his own style. Even a handful patch of red, though seldom appeared in his painting, would be faded as much as possible so as to emphasize the tone of gray and pursue a wholeness featuring sober and harmonious. Besides, in sustaining the linear elegance and flexibility of traditional painting, he has broken through the sense of discursiveness, emphasizing a sense of depth presenting in western painting. In respect of aura creation, he has, paralleling with Ma Yuan, one of the four masters of Southern Song in field of painting, combined the romance and elegance, connotation and meditation of Chinese tradition together with the emphasize of condensation, depth, structure and sense of quality.

Naturally…
“Painting for me is just a habit, a way of amusing.”
--Xue Song

Strictly speaking, Xue Song can not be categorized as normal “artists”. However far away from art, his habit of painting is nothing but an attaching complex from childhood; an insisting ambition; and an unrestrained style of living. Just like a man in his journey who would sojourn on his way for a cup of strong Italian coffee, painting is Xue Song’s way of expression and communication whenever emotions strike.

Although he is both peer and friend of numerous well-known “top notches” in the circle of art; and younger than the intellectuals of the late 1970s, Xue Song has, together with all of them, explored the cultures between the oriental and the west, and research on traditional philosophies of Zen Buddhism, Daoism and so on. Up till today, he has sustained the deep social responsibility of the generation. However, he refused to follow the trend of the day— the criticism of Scar Art, a realism style of straightforward, the cynicism of Pop Art, uniqueness featuring some modernism, and the latter prevailing of post-modernism which show the superiority of concept-- but established his own way of internalizing art into a natural way of life. He has cast away the theme of asceticism and paradise in traditional art painting, advocating the renaissance of the air of detachment and romance that belong to the Wei and Jin period. Nevertheless, it is by no means that the artist is wearing a classic suit that fit neither him nor the occasion. Anyway, for a work (or an artist) that is put to the proof of history and appreciated by elites from all walks of life of the day, who could dare to depreciate it (or him/her) as the shallow-mined? In fact, it is the real profundity of a man that could truly arouse the emotions deep down of his audiences.
The Series of Mountains and Stones is a rewarding result of the artist internalization of art. Mountain and stone, as classic art images for all the time, have conveyed not only their inherent features of being tough and pliable, but more of a sense of chaos and ambiguousness of the universe. The mumbling-like images unconsciously revealed the realities in sight of the artist; and the obscure aura, full of changes and magic, reflects the evolvement of human society. Therefore, I would prefer to define the state of Xue Song as being nature resulting from a life treated in a relaxing way , rather than an artificial craft of art. Confronting a messy contemporary art, shouldn’t this arouse our reflection?

Xue Song’s appreciation for geniuses at all the time in all lands is quite well-known among those who are familiar with him. Some of the geniuses could keep calm and rational as Tao Yuanming when facing ups and downs; some would release their passion for art creation before sobering up; and some has perceived the connotation of " Where ignorance is bliss, it's folly to be wise " of Zheng Banqiao. What’s more, irrespective of the secular restriction of their times, all of them have leaded a normal life as everyone else of the day. The legend-like aureole is just their supplements of life, imposing no influences on their attitudes towards life and art. I do not, of course, incline to deny the achievement of the elites of our time. It is just the time that always stops in front of those geniuses who have struggled with secular world to pursue unrestraint lifes. If Xue Song makes his own way, I think it is because he has truly comprehended the essences of art and life.

Here, please first let me give my congratulations to Xue Song’s initial exhibition. As a matter of fact, this time for me is more a private party than an exhibition with traditional opening ceremony, famous superstars or fro forma exchanges of pleasantries. It is just a quiet space of room, where several friends chatting about everything they are interested in. Within it, there is not only art, but more of nature and life.
- Tang Jing