Article / Chen
Shengyan
It seems almost all artists have such an
experience, i.e. while studying at university teachers often take some
outstanding works which are remained in the university as teaching references. When
we look back on these works years later, we will find they are not necessarily
profound, even not matured, but they were very close to us at that time. At the
ages when information was not developed, it is a very useful way to stimulate
our further pursuit in art and gives us many chances for imitation.
Lin Zhiqiang |
Zhong Kui | Traditional Chinese painting
I remember I saw a painting of Lin
Zhiqiang on a fine brushwork figure painting class which was brought by our
teacher for teaching reference. The painting depicted a soldier of the Red Army
with determined eyes and a broadsword in his hand; the ink and colors in his
face are well coordinated; the depiction of his beard stubbles outstands the
spatial relationship between the face and the neck very well. At that time I
happened to be confused with the relationship between the facial space and
color and ink. So it’s quite impressive. Since then, I often pay attention to
the works with Lin Zhiqiang’s signature in order to acquire more enlightenment
and motivation.
When we confront a large quantity
works of an artist, either album or exhibition, we can always feel a general
flavor which is difficult to express in words and may fade over time but still
can bring you into the world of the author once you see works with such flavor.
Such feeling is especially strong when I saw many original works of Lin
Zhiqiang at Zhang Xiong Gallery so that I was eager to find an appropriate word
to express my feeling. Recently as I was conceiving this article when it
happened to be in spring, I even came up with a feeling of “spring”.
Lin Zhiqiang | Maiden
| Traditional Chinese painting
I was astonished at that because most of
Lin Zhiqiang’s works depict either sufferings of Chinese nation or powerful men
or autumn-like women… none of “spring”. More times I read them, stronger such
feeling got. I tried to find out the causes. Getting close to Lin Zhiqiang and
knowing about him, I obviously felt a sunny and young flavor of him or we can
say an internal vitality exposed by unsophisticated behaving. But I still feel this
cause is not enough. I try to figure out the connotation and flavor of his
works from language form and composition of the painting.
Too much attention on an artist’
experience or halo often results in people’s ignoring of the painting form and
visual effect he creates. In my opinion, to understand an artist’s works, we
should focus on two aspects, namely, “big”(not only size but aspiration) and “small”(not
only frame but taste).
Lin Zhiqiang|
Immortal Memory| Traditional Chinese painting |1923
“Big” in creation should be theme
creation while “small” should be lyrical small-frame creation. In his big-size
paintings, Lin Zhiqiang paints figure(s) in the way of painting mountains and
rivers; each figure has clear characteristic but they are no longer the main
body of the painting. The overall composition is the key point the author
intends to present. The large size creations of Lin Zhiqiang feel like the
full-view landscape paintings in Song dynasty, outstanding with air. The “small” in Lin Zhiqiang’s figure
paintings is to present his personal elegant taste by lyrical free brushwork as
in bird-and flower painting.
Lin Zhiqiang’s “big” works are mainly
theme creations like Immortal Memory, Ninghua 1934, Windless Days, Flying Youth,
Cradle, Green Dream Of The Red Land, and Ode To The Army. His “small” works are presented in series
like Antique Style Series, Haixi Folklore Series, Spring Series, Maiden Series,
She Nation Series and Zhong Kui Series. No matter theme creation or small-frame
painting, Lin Zhiqiang integrates traditional brush-ink formula with the form
of modern decoration and composition. This may be the unique inner vitality of
his paintings which conveys a refreshing feeling to the audience.
Lin Zhiqiang | Zi
Yan | Traditional Chinese painting | 68 x 68cm
Lin Zhiqiang’s treatment on painting is
not simply copying natural objects or following traditional patterns or
imitating modern composition, but integrating the three. He creates
semi-realistic and semi-imaginary, semi-ancient and semi-modern effect by
realistic form of figures, brushwork of landscape or bird-and-flower painting
and formal composition. The visual feeling brought by such exploration in new
form is innovative and may also be the internal cause of “spring” feeling.
Lin Zhiqiang | Philosophy
Discussion | Traditional Chinese painting | 68 x 68cm
In them creation, Lin Zhiqiang
consciously process the generation of space instead of rigidly following the
principle of focus perspective. On figure shaping, especially face shaping, he
mainly creates a visual effect of backlighting and strong contrast between
black and white in the face by high coloring to attach the painting a quality
of shining from inside. Such quality feels like dawn or early spring and seems
to conceal vitality. On ink and colors treatment, he also subjectively
separates the existing relationship between colors and ink, to weaken the
intermediate layers and transition relationship to make the composition of
point and surface more obvious. This is
also a cause for “spring” feeling.
In Lin Zhiqiang’s historical figure
paintings, his partial blurring treatment, like rising mist, forms a hazy and
flowing air. This is also a cause why I still have a “spring” feeling under
such a heavy theme.
Lin Zhiqiang | Ninghua
| Traditional Chinese painting | 230 x 200cm
| 1934年
In his Yi Nation Series, Maiden Series
and Spring Series, he treats the figures in the way of bird-and-flower
painting, to integrate figures and flowers by weakening the appearance and soundness
of figures. Besides, he creates the atmosphere and outstands the theme by applying
both fine brushwork and free brushwork in shaping figures and boneless
color-splashing in depicting the plants at the background or foreground.
In Zhong Kui Series and Antique Style
Series, the overall painting feels magnificent and vigorous with full
composition; brush-side brushwork generates a forceful, flowing and extroverted
tension; strong contrast of colors and ink are always making conflicts in the
painting and generates a bursting passion beyond the load of the painting. It’s
a momentum of coming storm, a momentum
of reform. This also makes me feel “spring”.
Lin Zhiqiang
|Mountains and Rivers |Traditional Chinese painting
Although Lin Zhiqiang’s creations are
diverse in theme and expression, they always keep such a convergence, namely
revealing strong vitality, which should be the underlying cause I have feeling
of spring. We can also say Lin Zhiqiang’s integration of emotional expression
of literati painting in landscape and bird-and-flower painting into figure
painting is a self-conscious and introspective visual presentation of new
literati: how to find one’s own existence in the breakout of tradition and
modern.