Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Light of Life: Chinese Speed (Chinese painting) Shen Sulan
Pinnacle Dancing Snow (Chinese painting) Gao Yi and Huang Huasan
As the Chinese New Year approaches, the 9th China Beijing International Art Biennale kicked off on January 21 in the beautiful atmosphere of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, an international visual arts feast with the participation of global artists.
Co-sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Beijing Municipal People's Government and the China Artists Association, the Beijing Biennale embodies the Olympic spirit and the spirit of the fight against the epidemic with the theme of "Light of Life". 707 exhibited works from 117 countries and regions, including 487 foreign (including special exhibition) works, 220 Chinese (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) works, including painting, sculpture, installation, video and other art forms, the number of participating artists reached 573.
Works based on the Winter Olympics are the biggest attraction of this year's Beijing Biennale. Li Hongjun's Chinese painting "Light of Life" uses a magnificent time-space composition like a huge mural and a delicate depiction of heavy brushwork to express the vivid scenes of various ice and snow arenas and various ice and snow sports; the emblem of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games is located in the central position, like a warm sun shining on the Olympic spirit to the world. Works such as "Light of Life, Chinese Speed", "Peak Dance Snow", "Leap" and other works freeze the exciting moments of ice and snow competition; "Winter Olympic National Ski Jumping Platform - Snow Ruyi" and "Building Dreams olympics" depict the construction scenes of the Winter Olympic competition venues; "Can't Do", "Wu Dajing at the Moment of Winning Gold" is a subtle portrayal of Olympic athletes; "Stage Series No.16 - 2022 Movement" and "Blooming Winter Olympic Flowers" interpret the Olympic spirit in a pluralistic way with visual language.
The fine art works expressing the sports power and the national movement are also brilliantly presented. Sculptor Liu Qing's "Eternity of Moments" "solidifies" the moment when disabled athletes are ready to jump into the pool, highlighting the quiet and greatness in the form of classical sculpture language and monuments. Wang Xuexian, Yan Yaya and Wang Xueru's oil painting "Sports Power, Dream Stirring" shows China's vigorous sports career and the century-old turbulent Chinese Olympic dream through the contrast between movement and static, the fusion of ice and fire, and the romantic freehand style and realistic painting language.
The spirit of fighting the epidemic is one of the important connotations of the "light of life". In this section, the audience can see the multi-layered presentation of anti-epidemic themes by artists from all over the world. Israeli artist Debbie Quimper's "The New Coronavirus Period: Prayer" and British artist Rebecca Vincents' "Paris Metro in the Epidemic" all realistically show people's daily lives under the new crown pneumonia epidemic; French female artist Chantal Andrea Barthélemy's acrylic painting "Towards the Light" links the anti-epidemic image with the Olympic image, with strong emotional color, showing that mankind has experienced the new crown pneumonia epidemic and gradually moved towards a bright and beautiful future.
In addition, the theme exhibition works of this year's Beijing Biennale also involve the expression of cultural integration and the depiction of the customs and customs of the host country. These works are not only closely related to the unified theme, but also not limited to the form of expression, both realistic and realistic portrayal, and surrealist romantic imagination, like different facets of diamonds, refracting the brilliant "light of life" from different angles.
This year's Beijing Biennale also features five special exhibitions, namely "Selected Special Exhibitions on Sports Themes of Previous Beijing Biennales", "Special Exhibition of George Morandi Prints", "Special Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Twelve European Countries", "Tony Kragett Exhibition" and "International Special Exhibition of Contemporary Art of Women Artists", which together with the theme exhibition constitute a colorful picture of the world.
In fact, this is the second encounter between the Beijing Biennale and the Olympic Games. In 2008, in order to coincide with the hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games, the theme of the Third Beijing Biennale was "Color and the Olympics". Wang Yong, convener of the Beijing Biennale and researcher of the China Academy of Arts, said that the theme of this year's Beijing Biennale, "Light of Life", continues the artistic diversification orientation of "color and the Olympics", closely links the Olympic spirit with the anti-epidemic spirit and the destiny of mankind, and is a high promotion of the value of life.
Since its inaugural edition in 2003, the Beijing Biennale has been successfully held for 8 sessions, forming a distinctive brand feature based on painting, sculpture and other art on the shelf. The exhibition has contacted 150 countries, 130 countries have participated in the submission, nearly 5,000 artists from various countries have participated, and the "circle of art circle" has been expanding. In the context of the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the number of contributors to the Beijing Biennale has also reached 124, the first in the past.
From "Color and the Olympics" to "Ecology and Homeland", from "Future and Reality" to "Memory and Dreams", from "Silk Road and World Civilization" to "Colorful World and Common Destiny", and then to this year's "Light of Life", the theme of the Beijing Biennale has always advocated exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, reflecting people's beautiful pursuit of peace. These works, which are rich in global vision and humanistic feelings, express the ideal realm of working together in the same boat and building a community with a shared future for mankind with a unique perspective and personalized artistic language. (Reporter Lai Rui)
People's Daily Overseas Edition ( 2022-01-26 Edition 07)