Zhao Dewei's modern urban expressionism
To say that the Songzhuang artist Zhao Dewei loves art for art's sake would be an underestimation, for here we find a man who not only truly loves his art, but also lives it. Born in Shanghai, though later to settle in Qingdao, as Chairman of the Qingdao Youth Artists Association he tirelessly worked and strove to promote young talent via a self-organised 'Never Stopped By Wind Or Rain' open-air art activity involving contemporary art, behaviour, discussion and affairs. Four years out of a planned ten year programme were completed between 1988 and 1991, the events occurring in that difficult period bringing an unfortunate and premature closure to the activity. However dismaying and disheartening this may have been, the artist was not to be deterred, allaying any fears and doubts during the troublesome social climate to continue his dream, his paintings eventually and successfully shown in major exhibitions, both in mainland China and overseas. In his latest series of works, Zhao Dewei expressively captures the gritty realities of urban life within the massively and rapidly changing environment of present day Beijing and indeed China as a whole. It is not incredible to note that whilst Britain has five urban centres of more than a million people, China has ninety, and that number will surely continue to grow. Several cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Nanjing - are well known around the world. The names of many others - Suqian, Suining, Xiantao and Liuan for example - are unfamiliar even to many Chinese. The sheer, overwhelming scale of the urbanisation process explored by the artist is most probably faster and certainly on a grander scale than anywhere else in the world today. The city of Chongqing has grown to become what is now the world's largest municipality, with an estimated 31,000,000 residents. Inevitably, difficult social problems arise: this intensely competitive and restless environment produces stress and conflict, which many have a problem coping with. We as a viewer can find these elements strongly reflected in the artist's choice of topic and abstract expressionist technique: his ability to stage scenes from everyday life in a socio-realist manner that also addresses universal concerns. What at first sight may seem a turbulent arrangement of red, white, black and grey strokes is in-fact highly planned and executed: to reflect true-to-life scenery, the paint is applied rapidly, Zhao Dewei choosing to limit his colour palette in order to strengthen the visual impact of the piece, creating a sense of both immediacy and honesty. However, in the atmospheric cityscapes and urban scenery there is also an existential loneliness, an absorption into the self, and a detachment as we look at, for example, the artist's rendition of a traffic accident: a tragically commonplace occurrence in the life of any city. We, the viewer, are as the spectator, involved yet unable to help, aware that progress must, after all, come at a cost. That is not to say however that the overall theme of the series is one of melancholy - for from it - if anything rhythm and energy characterise Zhao Dewei's work, just as they characterise modern urban life.
