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Artist shows no signs of slowing down
By Shi Xiaohan |
October 19, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ZENG Mi is famous for his landscape paintings as they combine the Chinese xieyi style with Western concepts. But the 78-year-old tells Shi Xiaohan that an artist's spiritual world is far more important than technical skills.
Embracing Western art styles while conserving Chinese traditions, Zeng Mi is considered one of the most outstanding figures in contemporary Chinese art. Zeng's solo exhibition "Upon Turning 80" at Zhejiang Art Museum was created to summarize Zeng's work and achievements.
Zeng specializes in xieyi painting, a traditional Chinese painting style that relies on free strokes and shuns details. His paintings also integrate other Chinese traditional art elements including calligraphy, poems and seals.
The art form was extremely popular in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has seen a revival in the past few decades after some artists, including Zeng, embraced and added elements of Western art.
Zeng, also a calligrapher and art theorist, was born in the coastal city of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, in 1933. He studied Chinese landscape painting from 1957 to 1962 at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. During these years, Zeng was nurtured by the best Chinese artists of the era. Shortly after graduation, the talented artist hosted a solo exhibition in Moscow in 1968.
During the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), Zeng was jailed for five years. The ordeal, however, did not stop him from painting. He worked anonymously, mainly painting bamboos, which in Chinese culture represents uprightness and modesty.
He was rehabilitated politically on January 2, 1979. From that day on he could paint and create freely once again. He carved the date on a seal to commemorate his regained freedom. Zeng became a professor at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in 1980.
After this roller-coaster ride, Zeng achieved a great deal with his paintings and art theory as China entered a period where Western culture and art were considered new and interesting.
In his own way, Zeng managed to merge traditional Chinese painting techniques with Western concepts in the depiction of space and light. As a result, he created paintings, mostly landscapes, that are of an inherently expressive intensity in accordance with Chinese concepts.
With his unique style, Zeng stepped on to the international stage. His work was featured in the traveling group exhibition "Contemporary Chinese Painting." The exhibition stopped in cities including Birmingham in the UK along with San Francisco, New York City and Minneapolis in the US from 1984 to 1985. In 1989, he hosted a solo exhibition, "Paintings of Zeng Mi," at the Asian Center of the University of British Columbia in Canada.
In 1992, Zeng published his first book on art theories, "The Constitution of Chinese Xieyi Painting," hoping to fill the theoretical blank of Chinese ink paintings. He was also frequently invited to lecture at Western universities and galleries about Chinese ink painting.
Zeng said that all paintings start with brushstrokes and the value of Chinese ink painting is to push that start to an extreme. Zeng believes that xieyi painting grabs the essence of Chinese ink painting as the artist is free to express their spiritual world.
For Zeng, the spiritual world of an artist is more important than painting techniques.
In the foreword of the exhibition "Upon Turning 80," Zeng wrote "please do not forget life as she nurtured every gleam of light and every stroke of ink."
Last year, Zeng held a solo-exhibition at Hangzhou Botanic Garden with his paintings hanging on trees. He named the exhibition "In the Forest." It is believed to be the first exhibit of its kind.
"The forest is beautiful, so were my paintings. I put them together as I believe the core nature of beauty is harmony," Zeng said.
Apart from being a renowned artist, Zeng is also a skilled table tennis player and an enthusiastic singer. Zeng credits his hobbies as helping him cure his insomnia, which he had endured for more than 20 years.
For Zeng, turning 80 does not mean getting old. That is why Zeng concluded the foreword he wrote for his exhibition "Upon Turning 80" by writing, "I am still on my way."
"I hope you all can still come when I hold my 'Upon Turning 100' exhibition," said Zeng to the crowd at the opening ceremony of his exhibition.
Upon Turning 80 - Zeng Mi Solo Exhibition
Date: through October 25 (closed on Monday), 9am-5pm
Venue: Zhejiang Art Museum, 138 Nanshan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
Embracing Western art styles while conserving Chinese traditions, Zeng Mi is considered one of the most outstanding figures in contemporary Chinese art. Zeng's solo exhibition "Upon Turning 80" at Zhejiang Art Museum was created to summarize Zeng's work and achievements.
Zeng specializes in xieyi painting, a traditional Chinese painting style that relies on free strokes and shuns details. His paintings also integrate other Chinese traditional art elements including calligraphy, poems and seals.
The art form was extremely popular in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and has seen a revival in the past few decades after some artists, including Zeng, embraced and added elements of Western art.
Zeng, also a calligrapher and art theorist, was born in the coastal city of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, in 1933. He studied Chinese landscape painting from 1957 to 1962 at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. During these years, Zeng was nurtured by the best Chinese artists of the era. Shortly after graduation, the talented artist hosted a solo exhibition in Moscow in 1968.
During the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), Zeng was jailed for five years. The ordeal, however, did not stop him from painting. He worked anonymously, mainly painting bamboos, which in Chinese culture represents uprightness and modesty.
He was rehabilitated politically on January 2, 1979. From that day on he could paint and create freely once again. He carved the date on a seal to commemorate his regained freedom. Zeng became a professor at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in 1980.
After this roller-coaster ride, Zeng achieved a great deal with his paintings and art theory as China entered a period where Western culture and art were considered new and interesting.
In his own way, Zeng managed to merge traditional Chinese painting techniques with Western concepts in the depiction of space and light. As a result, he created paintings, mostly landscapes, that are of an inherently expressive intensity in accordance with Chinese concepts.
With his unique style, Zeng stepped on to the international stage. His work was featured in the traveling group exhibition "Contemporary Chinese Painting." The exhibition stopped in cities including Birmingham in the UK along with San Francisco, New York City and Minneapolis in the US from 1984 to 1985. In 1989, he hosted a solo exhibition, "Paintings of Zeng Mi," at the Asian Center of the University of British Columbia in Canada.
In 1992, Zeng published his first book on art theories, "The Constitution of Chinese Xieyi Painting," hoping to fill the theoretical blank of Chinese ink paintings. He was also frequently invited to lecture at Western universities and galleries about Chinese ink painting.
Zeng said that all paintings start with brushstrokes and the value of Chinese ink painting is to push that start to an extreme. Zeng believes that xieyi painting grabs the essence of Chinese ink painting as the artist is free to express their spiritual world.
For Zeng, the spiritual world of an artist is more important than painting techniques.
In the foreword of the exhibition "Upon Turning 80," Zeng wrote "please do not forget life as she nurtured every gleam of light and every stroke of ink."
Last year, Zeng held a solo-exhibition at Hangzhou Botanic Garden with his paintings hanging on trees. He named the exhibition "In the Forest." It is believed to be the first exhibit of its kind.
"The forest is beautiful, so were my paintings. I put them together as I believe the core nature of beauty is harmony," Zeng said.
Apart from being a renowned artist, Zeng is also a skilled table tennis player and an enthusiastic singer. Zeng credits his hobbies as helping him cure his insomnia, which he had endured for more than 20 years.
For Zeng, turning 80 does not mean getting old. That is why Zeng concluded the foreword he wrote for his exhibition "Upon Turning 80" by writing, "I am still on my way."
"I hope you all can still come when I hold my 'Upon Turning 100' exhibition," said Zeng to the crowd at the opening ceremony of his exhibition.
Upon Turning 80 - Zeng Mi Solo Exhibition
Date: through October 25 (closed on Monday), 9am-5pm
Venue: Zhejiang Art Museum, 138 Nanshan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
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