Temperament and Growth Rings

- by curator Tang Yao

The two reasons why I selected woodcarving for this exhibition:

1.  In contrast to the main stream status in Post-modern sculpture, which reflects the characteristics of temporary image of carving as well as certain levity and dexterity as a result of expanding Bohemianism. The woodcarving starkly shows the specific way of sedateness and strength, disposition, characters and will of the carver.

2.  In contrast to the modern urban civilization rules, which reflects the characteristics of the sense of mechanism, temporariness and desensitization, it due to the perfect update for division of labor. The woodcarving is overwhelmed with natural modesty of nature, ages and intimateness.

There are five artists who are attending the exhibition:

Mr. Liang Yongli, who represents the creativity of life, plain nature, impulsiveness and disposition, has never had any orthodox education in institutions. In his reading room under the foot of Yanshan Mountain, thick with aroma of the books blended with that of the woods. He loves to carve those small animals which involve deepness and sympathy. “Hibernation”、 “Great shi and toad in fall” is the representative works. The sleeping cat under the quilt of the sleeping Buda, the toad in the Dashi’s hand. Whenever you see too many games and chitchatting at this time, the fickleness like the dust in the wind stifle us. His works is permeating, downward, natural and warm. He is gifted, sometimes humorous with intelligence under the surface of dumbness, such as the works “Mid summer night” and “Fruit”.

In stark contrast with Mr. Liang Yongli, Ms. Liang Hao was born in the family of sculptures. Her Mom Ms. Zhang Dehua was one of the best female sculptures among those of the first generation. Ms. Liang Hao, who once won the first prize in the exhibition of graduation and is good at strong concretization, one of the first undergraduates from Carving Dept. under Central Arts Institutions. In mid 1980s, she went to U.S. to study for master degree and her works shows minimalism and material gears etc. In 2007 she came back to Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) to be a teacher. Ms. Liang Hao has a very specific mixed temperament, strong, sensitive, introvert, and sometimes rambunctious, this character is also reflected in her wood carving works with pureness, plainness, vanity, undesirable and genius Oriental art. She represents those who returned from the western modernism both in the orthodox education and Western Modernism.

Mr. Cang Xin is one of the very active modern artists which is a mixture of oriental mysticism and northern Romantics. His thinking and behavior indicates the tracks of atavism , Shamanism, pipe dreams, gifted talents. Compared with Mr. Liang Yongli and Ms. Liang Hao, Mr. Cang Xin is not a sculpture. He was well known for his Performance art in his early stages. Anyhow, he is also good at woodcarving. In recent years, he invited Mr. Liang Yongli to be the art supervisor, and worked with 10 carpenters to create woodcarving works in huge quantities. Human and God in one, human and beast in one, ghostly and spooky, wild and open, Rambunctious and wildly. Nothing could be more adaptive than wooden material and growth rings to show the beauty of flowers and grasses, the sagas and stories which Cang Xin tries to express.

Mr.Hu Qingyan is the graduate tutored by Mr. Sui Jianguo. Three years ago, he won the prize for the works which shows the rabbit holding of Beuys in the first excellent works of undergraduates. This time, he attended the exhibition with “My eleven bench” which is the best among recent years. If we say the woodcarving of Cang Xin’s works is the selection by the artery saga which numerous works are not handled by his own hands, Mr.Hu Qingyan has put himself into the woodcarving and returned and activated the works by comparison. Since the works is all hand carved, you can feel the engrossment, stableness, patience, will, power, emotions, personality, and the soul and conjuring up Moye. In the time of shrewd and flexible words and unsteadiness of today, his future release is unlimited with his age and outperformance and stableness.

Ms. Miao Shengyuan is the youngest among those 5 artists, but she is the only one, who is not in conformity with her age, full of Confucianism and Buddhism. Her 6 pieces of colored anaglyph on the exhibition of excellent works of China Art Institution graduates made a deep impression on me. The most difficult handling of the low relief showed her strong aptitude, proficient wood carving ability, the strong dramatic effect of light and stage set, the capture of the moment of daily life which indicates the lonely sense of life and human cares. What I have to mention here is that the human care she indicates was not like the temporary flashing shadows of those “fake temporary sociological care” which tries to please the public. On the contrary, her works are pretty traditional and deep which shows her bias to traditional works and her reading penchants.

Maybe I could say, the sculptures of those 5 artists reflects the mixed “playback of the stories” which replays the nature and mildness, replay the Oriental art, replay the life saga, replay the spirit of those master craftsman and replay the sadness and happiness of humans.