Artist paints hip young people who jump for joy
By Wang Jie |
August 1, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BOUNCING Chinese young people are literally jumping for joy in what appear to be photographs of exuberant urban youth - their feet perhaps a foot in the air.
Photo-like paintings in the current exhibition of Cao Wei all depict urban young people, often in jeans, shorts, maybe a Mao T-shirt, leaping in front of landmarks, including the Forbidden City in Beijing, World Expo 2010 pavilions in Shanghai and the Site of the First Communist Party Congress of China in Shanghai.
The bouncing young people are Cao's signature - that's just about all he paints.
The exhibition is underway at Tushanwan Art Museum in Xujiahui.
All the subjects are students and friends of the 36-year-old artist.
"I like the ambience in my canvas - very sunny, energetic and optimistic," Cao says. "These bouncing characters are virtually my art signature, since nearly no one else paints them."
Certainly, none is a series.
Cao's understanding of anatomy and musculature make for meticulous, realistic rendering.
A 2001 postgraduate of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Cao won a prize for his "bouncing figure painting" at the Shanghai Art Exhibition that year.
Then he traveled extensively in the West, visiting museums and galleries. Unlike many peers who borrowed Western forms and techniques, Cao persists in his original, realistic creations.
"It's hard to believe that I have painted the same subject for almost two decades," he says. "But to really develop a mature style of your own, you need a long time."
Among realistic painters, it's widely recognized that depicting figures is the most difficult task since muscles stretch and contract and complexions are subtle in tone.
"Now technique doesn't matter and I am considering the relationship between the figure and background," Cao says.
"I once painted a girl wearing a manga-image T-shirt jumping in front of the Japan Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, implying the influence of Japanese popular culture on Chinese young people.
Cao says German visual artist Gerhard Richter influenced him a lot, especially with his photorealistic paintings.
He quotes Richter as saying in a 1972 interview, "I don't mean that I want to copy a photo, instead I am creating a photo. I am indifferent to the view that a photo is just the exposure of paper. It is actually creating a photo in alternative ways, not creating a painting like a photo."
Cao says he thinks he's getting close to that goal.
Date: Through August 12, 9am-4pm
Address: 8 Tianlin Rd E.
Photo-like paintings in the current exhibition of Cao Wei all depict urban young people, often in jeans, shorts, maybe a Mao T-shirt, leaping in front of landmarks, including the Forbidden City in Beijing, World Expo 2010 pavilions in Shanghai and the Site of the First Communist Party Congress of China in Shanghai.
The bouncing young people are Cao's signature - that's just about all he paints.
The exhibition is underway at Tushanwan Art Museum in Xujiahui.
All the subjects are students and friends of the 36-year-old artist.
"I like the ambience in my canvas - very sunny, energetic and optimistic," Cao says. "These bouncing characters are virtually my art signature, since nearly no one else paints them."
Certainly, none is a series.
Cao's understanding of anatomy and musculature make for meticulous, realistic rendering.
A 2001 postgraduate of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Cao won a prize for his "bouncing figure painting" at the Shanghai Art Exhibition that year.
Then he traveled extensively in the West, visiting museums and galleries. Unlike many peers who borrowed Western forms and techniques, Cao persists in his original, realistic creations.
"It's hard to believe that I have painted the same subject for almost two decades," he says. "But to really develop a mature style of your own, you need a long time."
Among realistic painters, it's widely recognized that depicting figures is the most difficult task since muscles stretch and contract and complexions are subtle in tone.
"Now technique doesn't matter and I am considering the relationship between the figure and background," Cao says.
"I once painted a girl wearing a manga-image T-shirt jumping in front of the Japan Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, implying the influence of Japanese popular culture on Chinese young people.
Cao says German visual artist Gerhard Richter influenced him a lot, especially with his photorealistic paintings.
He quotes Richter as saying in a 1972 interview, "I don't mean that I want to copy a photo, instead I am creating a photo. I am indifferent to the view that a photo is just the exposure of paper. It is actually creating a photo in alternative ways, not creating a painting like a photo."
Cao says he thinks he's getting close to that goal.
Date: Through August 12, 9am-4pm
Address: 8 Tianlin Rd E.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
