The tables and chairs of the traffic teahouse, the tea guests, the scene of drinking tea, the picture of chatting, and the lively scene...... On October 12th, "The Shape of Time - Chen Anjian's Solo Exhibition" was held at the Chongqing Museum of Contemporary Art in the Huangjueping Campus of Chuanmei, where he used paintings to depict the changes of the traffic teahouse over the past few decades, including bustle and life, fireworks and art, the market and the rivers and lakes, reflecting the changes of the city from the small perspective of the traffic teahouse.
Traffic Teahouse "moved" into the art museum
Painting the "Shape of Time" with a Brush
"The Shape of Time: Chen Anjian's Solo Exhibition" is an important part of the "Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Art Museum Cultural Context and Genealogy Series Research Exhibition". Chen Anjian, an artist who graduated from Sichuan and Mei with the class of 77, has always been committed to the art creation of the realist tradition, from the appearance of all beings in the teahouse to the changes of the city, his works have always demonstrated the characteristics of the symbiosis and resonance of Sichuan art in social reality and the life of the times.
Chen Anjian's works are based on the "Traffic Teahouse", an old teahouse in Chongqing, and use realistic techniques to outline surreal theatrical scenes. The red wall is ewa, the wooden tea table covered with pulp, and the tea guests who interact with each other...... These elements are given new life in Chen Anjian's pen, and they are not only visual representations, but also profound imprints on the passage of time.
In the center of the hall, there is a miniature version of the traffic teahouse. Chen Anjian said that in order to allow everyone to immerse themselves in the exhibition, see the appearance of the traffic teahouse up close, and resonate more with it, so the scene of the traffic teahouse was replicated in the exhibition hall. It is worth mentioning that the tables and benches in the scene were all moved from the traffic teahouse.
In terms of the exhibition arrangement of the paintings, the exhibition takes "The Shape of Time" as the theme, and through four units: "Portraits of Ordinary Worlds and Sentient Beings", "Interaction of Works and Self-media Communication", "Daily Viewing and Visual Gaze", and "Field Spirit and Cultural Memory", the exhibition focuses on combing and presenting 52 representative paintings of Chen Anjian over the past 20 years, as well as documents, photos, videos and other materials, in an attempt to outline the scale of time implied in the artist and his creation, and show the intensity and depth of the artist's obsession with "small narratives" in the "big era". Starting from the daily, microscopic, and fragmentary life scenes, we focus on the little people, pay attention to ordinary life and reality, and tell small stories. The down-to-earth daily life is more contagious because the artist sensitively captures and dramatically intervenes. More importantly, when "Traffic Teahouse" becomes a series, these scenes can derive a kind of field spirit, and the "little people" in the "small narrative" converge into a map, so that these ordinary individuals can be elevated to a kind of spiritual portrait, a symbol of a group.
The new teahouse series is witty and funny
More emphasis is placed on the interactivity and openness of the works
At the scene, I saw that the new teahouse series in the second unit was different from the previous style, using graffiti to increase the humor and humor of the works, and emphasizing the interactivity and openness of the works. With the development of cultural tourism, the traffic teahouse has become a well-known tourist check-in attraction in the Huangjueping area of Jiulongpo, attracting many tourists to visit and play every day. Their arrival has provided me with more fresh material for my creation, so I use the graffiti way that everyone likes, which is a challenge for me, but also a kind of inspiration. Chen Anjian said that as he painted more and more graffiti-like paintings, his ideas became more and more daring, "Instead of painting by yourself, it is better to let everyone create together, and different people's brushstrokes will definitely collide with different art." "There is a studio of Chen Anjian in the traffic teahouse, where children, uncles, and tea guests ...... Everyone painted their ideas on Chen Anjian's graffiti works, and in this way, a new graffiti work that integrated the creativity of many people was born.
The painting "Traffic Teahouse Signboard" was originally the signboard of the teahouse, and there were only four words "Traffic Teahouse" on the signboard, and under everyone's graffiti, there were many more things on the signboard, such as the big orange cat, the little fat mouse, the gaiwan tea, "come on", "Chen Anjian", "visit here" and other elements to fill the whole signboard. "Isn't this sign a true portrayal of a teahouse full of noise and hustle and bustle?" Chen Anjian said with a smile.
Chen Anjian said that it is precisely because of the participation of the audience that the meaning of the work is in a state of flux, and he hopes that "Traffic Teahouse" will generate new value in the secondary creation or re-creation. This exhibition also combines the way of video communication, hoping to bring joy to more people through multi-channel and multi-media communication, so that more people can enter the traffic teahouse and understand the regional culture.
The exhibition will last from October 12th to November 30th, and there is also a graffiti area in the exhibition hall, where interested readers can go to recreate "Traffic Teahouse" and interact with Chen Anjian to create a unique artistic spark.
Editor in charge: Yulu