"When I was a child, I read poetry, and I felt that poetry and painting are essentially the same way of expression, both convey the breath of life, the movement of the brush on the canvas, and the movement of the hand when writing on the paper. Both are expressions, rather than reproductions, of the deep meaning of the universe. Zao Wou-Ki once said.
On June 27th, the Jiushi Art Museum ushered in the annual exhibition "The Painting of Law: Zao Wou-Ki's Painting and Poetic Heart", presenting for the first time in Asia more than 10 sets of poetry prints completed by Zao Wou-Ki in collaboration with the poet, showing the imagery and metaphor in the works of this world-renowned Chinese art master.
Born in Beijing in February 1920, Zao Wou-Ki was a gifted scholar in literature and history, and showed a particular passion for painting. In 1984, Zao Wou-Ki departed from Shanghai and arrived in France on a cruise ship for two months. He blended the beauty of traditional Chinese culture and artistic spirit into the rhythm and space of Western abstract painting, making the oriental art represented by China attract the attention of the world.
Selected from Zao's works from the late 1940s to the 2000s, the exhibition features more than 100 precious prints and porcelain, as well as more than 60 illustrated poems. The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections: "Visual Poetry", "Wandering Eyes" and "Boundless", which correspond to the different stages of its creation and poetry, from figuration to abstraction, and use color, line and form to express the integration and mutual learning of art without borders, and present the enlightenment of art and literature on intellect and mind in multiple dimensions.
"'Rhythm' is not only the rhythm of poetry and songs, but also the law of nature." Curator Ma Nan said that Zao Wou-Ki explores the universe through his paintings, discovering the timeless and extraordinary in his daily life, "In his works, we can capture the vastness and richness beyond the visual, and appreciate the endless life force of the moon in the chaos of light and color." ”
Walking into the exhibition hall, the first thing the audience sees is "Henri Mixiu Reading Zao Wou-ki's Eight Lithographs". "This is one of the most important works in Zao's career." Ma Nan introduced that Zao Wou-Ki, who first arrived in France, did not find a suitable studio to do oil painting, so he chose to go to de Jober Printmaking Studio to learn to make prints. The publisher, Robbes Gerday, took note of Zao's unique creations and brought eight of the lithographs to the French poet Henri Michaux. Mixiu, who was quite evasive about Gedai's recommendation at first, took the initiative to write 8 poems for these prints after reading them. Corresponding to Zao Wou-ki's images of fish, woods, and birds, Mi Xiu freely expressed his imagination. After the editing of Ge Dai and Zhou Lin, their creation was officially published as the printmaking book "Henri Mi Xiu Reads 8 Lithographs of Zao Wou-Ki".
"If you look closely at the bottom left of the painting, there is a horse pulling the coffin, which was actually made by Zao Wou-Ki to commemorate his infant child. Although this is a sad story, we can always see a force of truth, goodness and beauty in Zao Wou-Ki's work. Ma Nan said that Zao Wou-Ki's life was full of ups and downs, experiencing pain, loss, reminiscence, and things and people, but every time he was able to find art as a strength to nourish himself in the midst of difficulties, "This is also one of the meanings of our exhibition." ”
In addition to his lifelong friend Henri Michaux, the exhibition also presents the texts of the world's leading literary figures such as René Charles, Ezra Pound, André Malraux and others, inviting the audience to re-understand Zao Wou-Ki's works and explore the dense and profound intertextual relationship between visual art and literature and poetry in the infectious power of art and literature.
In order to immerse Zao Wou-Ki's poetry and painting, the exhibition space of this exhibition is designed with the concept of "open books", so that the wall colors of different sections echo the book covers, so as to achieve the effect of corresponding pictures and texts, chapter by chapter. "The three sections correspond to the color of the covers of the three books 'The Glory and Poetry of Images', 'The Pond' and 'Untie the Sack', especially in the 'Wandering Eyes' section, which adds a little West Lake green, because Zao Wou-Ki is studying by the West Lake, and we hope to bring the scenery of the West Lake to the banks of the Huangpu River." Ma Nan revealed.
In addition, at the end of the gallery, a public education area is planned for the audience to rest and read, and the biographical documents of Zao Wou-Ki and the introductions of various literary scholars are made into cards that are easy for the audience to read, such as notes and labels between the pages of the book. "There is no absolute standard translation of poetry, and we hope that after seeing Zao Wou-ki's paintings, the audience will be able to stop, read, communicate and think about it, and write the poem in their hearts."
The exhibition is organized by Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum and undertaken by Shanghai Jiushi Culture Co., Ltd., and is strongly supported by the Cultural Section of the Consulate General of France in Shanghai as the project "Sino-French Cultural Spring - Special Presentation of the 60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and France". The exhibition will be on view until October 13.
Reporter / Liu Yi
Editor / Lulu Chen
Photo / Jiushi Art Museum
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