Home » Feature » Art and Culture
Still-life cabbages calm worried urban hearts
CALMNESS Is Power," an impressive exhibition of still-lifes, aims to soothe harried urbanites and demonstrate that realistic paintings are still very relevant.
The exhibition is the opening show underway in the Original Song Gallery, which has relocated from the downtown area to the neighborhood of the Shanghai Zoo in Hongqiao area.
It features works by Zhang Zishen, Huang Azhong, Xiaogu, Wu Weixin, Xin Dongwang, Han Juliang, Yin Xiong, He Zhenhao and Qi Xin, all known for their superb realistic technique in still-life painting.
"Because of the increasing stress and burdens for urban people, I really want our 'calm art' to soothe their hearts and souls for a while," says gallery owner Peng Xiaoling. "I also think that traditional realistic art style needs to be recognized."
It's rather brave for Peng to promote the realistic art style at a time when it appears to be somewhat of a cliche, receding from the limelight and competing with contemporary art, installation, video and other art forms.
"But what prevails doesn't equal what matters," Peng says. "Realistic painting has been a tradition for the Chinese people. It is a visual habit."
Today's still-life painters do not merely depict apples and vases; it is critical for them to identify the appropriate subject to mirror modern life and times.
Xin and Zhang stand out.
Zhang's "Miner" series conveys the harsh working conditions and hard lives of China's coal miners by depicting their grimy and battered and attached safety lights. Zhang is in his mid-70s.
Xin, who is in his 40s, captures the life of migrant workers by depicting cabbages with photographic realism.
"Cabbage is the basic vegetable on the tables of the families in northern China," he explains. "Recently I have become addicted to those small details of life that remind me of the warmth and kinship of family."
Date: January 23-March 31, 10am-5pm
Address: 4/F, Bldg 3, 731 Hongxu Rd
Tel: 6465-0045
The exhibition is the opening show underway in the Original Song Gallery, which has relocated from the downtown area to the neighborhood of the Shanghai Zoo in Hongqiao area.
It features works by Zhang Zishen, Huang Azhong, Xiaogu, Wu Weixin, Xin Dongwang, Han Juliang, Yin Xiong, He Zhenhao and Qi Xin, all known for their superb realistic technique in still-life painting.
"Because of the increasing stress and burdens for urban people, I really want our 'calm art' to soothe their hearts and souls for a while," says gallery owner Peng Xiaoling. "I also think that traditional realistic art style needs to be recognized."
It's rather brave for Peng to promote the realistic art style at a time when it appears to be somewhat of a cliche, receding from the limelight and competing with contemporary art, installation, video and other art forms.
"But what prevails doesn't equal what matters," Peng says. "Realistic painting has been a tradition for the Chinese people. It is a visual habit."
Today's still-life painters do not merely depict apples and vases; it is critical for them to identify the appropriate subject to mirror modern life and times.
Xin and Zhang stand out.
Zhang's "Miner" series conveys the harsh working conditions and hard lives of China's coal miners by depicting their grimy and battered and attached safety lights. Zhang is in his mid-70s.
Xin, who is in his 40s, captures the life of migrant workers by depicting cabbages with photographic realism.
"Cabbage is the basic vegetable on the tables of the families in northern China," he explains. "Recently I have become addicted to those small details of life that remind me of the warmth and kinship of family."
Date: January 23-March 31, 10am-5pm
Address: 4/F, Bldg 3, 731 Hongxu Rd
Tel: 6465-0045
- 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.