I’ve been in Beijing three months now, focusing on renewing connections with my main subjects. Since 1991 when I first filmed them, the academy-trained artists Xia Xiaowan and Su Xinping have become successful figures in the Chinese contemporary art world. They each had major retrospective shows this October—Su Xinping at Guangdong Museum of Art and Xia Xiaowan at Beijing Minsheng Art Museum. In both exhibitions, the curators wished to demonstrate the continuity of the artists’ personalities and artistic explorations already evident in their early work from the 1980s and ‘90s. I was happy to see many “old friends,” the paintings and prints I admired years ago when producing Inner Visions,: Avant-Garde Art in China. The old works were juxtaposed to major new works, just in time for my research on the artists’ changes, responses, and maturation over time.
Su Xinping’s Solo Exhibit at Guangdong Museum of Art
Su Xinping, oil on canvas, 300 x 1400 cm. The solitude of figures in habitual poses, or passing through, an ominous landscape has been a constant theme throughout his career.
Su Xinping’s show in Guangdong brought toether luminaries of the contemporary Chinese art world. Here he greets Central Academy of Fine Art colleagues, painter Liu Xiaodong (left) and art historian Yin Jinan (center).
Su Xiping, lithographs. No. 3 (left), 57 x78 cm, 1991. No. 1 (right), 57 x 79 cm, 1986. Here we see his early interest in habitual poses as expressions of a state of being.
Su Xinping, charcoal on paper, 330 x 240 cm, 2010 (left) and 2014 (right). Working in colored charcoal, Su Xinping gives weight and monumentality to his solitary figure, alone in the world.
Su Xinping, lithograph, 58 x 43 cm, 1992. This memorable image was created at a time when art in Beijing was at low ebb, after the euphoric ’80s ended with military tanks converging on Beijing city. For a few years modern art exhibitions were banned and artists painted quietly in their studios.
Opening day may be the only day when a museum or art gallery is filled with guests. On a normal day, galleries are quite empty. Even though attending art exhibits is a mark of culture and education these days, few “ordinary” people in China pay attention to the art scene. The art world is only one small segment of China’s enormous and diverse population.
Xia Xiaowan’s Solo Exhibit at Beijing Minsheng Art Museum
Before the opening, Xia Xiaowan and curator Cui Cancan (right) gave personal introductions to old friends and VIPs. Here they are chatting with art collector Uli Sigg (in orange jacket).
Upon entering the exhibit, viewers are met with very different installations. In the back is a walk-through Chinese landscape painting on transparent scrims hung in layers. At right is a giant pastel painting composed of 132 individual sheets of paper, each cell intensely drawn and colored by hand. Xia completed the painting over six months of concentrated work.
This walk-through Chinese landscape installation is similar to the stage set that Xia Xiaowan created for the the play “Ming” at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in 2008.
Xia Xiaowan, oil on canvas, 75 x 90 cm, 1987. In this early work, the colors are mellow and the mother and babies are floating in a romanticized space.
Xia Xiaowan, oil on canvas, 163 x 190 cm, 2007. Twenty years later, his image of mother and children has become ugly, deformed, and obscene.
In his glass paintings of “other” creatures, Xia Xiaowan explores cultural icons from different societies, seeking forms that communicate across boundaries.
Two other main subjects, Mushi and Heiyang, did not become famous artists. In 1991, they were talented self-taught painters from Sichuan, empassioned with modern art, who had migrated to Beijing to make their mark on China’s vibrant art world. Lacking the advantages of academy training and the social network of Beijing’s prestigious art circles, they struggled on the periphery as contemporary Chinese art boomed on the international art scene.
Past and Present with Mushi in Chongqing
I had not seen Mushi since 1991. Here he has taken me to his childhood neighborhood on the outskirts of Chongqing. Here is where Heiyang used to live as a teenager, when the two artists were best friends.
The scenic mountains, rivers, and forests of Sichuan used to be a space for public recreation. In 1985, in Nan Quan Park, Mushi and Heiyang organized a national exhibit of unknown modern artists. Now that exhibition hall location has turned into a private hot springs resort.
At this bridge in ELing Park, in 1984, Mushi and Heiyang organized an outdoor painting exhibit to introduce modern art to the public.
One of Mushi’s enjoyments today is to listen to classical and jazz music on high-end stereo systems. The slang for that hobby is “Fa Shao” (发烧）or fever. At lunch he ran into one of his “Fa Shao” buddies.
Mushi visited with painter Wei Jia, who was a student of Su Xinping when he was a college student in Beijing. The two friends share interests in art and antiques.
The roots of a Ficus tree in Sichuan made me think of this documentary … looking for the complicated and intriguing connections that feed our life today.
One of the pair, Mushi, eventually moved back to Chongqing and became a businessman dealing in antique furniture. He abandoned life as a painter during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and he turned a hobby—searching for quality antiques in Beijing’s flea markets—into a potential business. Consumer appreciation for antiques grew along with vast increases in infrastructure and wealth in Chongqing in the 2000s. Now, with the additional success of a furniture-design business run by his wife, Mushi is able to live a leisurely life. He has resumed painting, this time purely for enjoyment, without the need to sell his works. He lives his life surrounded by fine antiques, listening to high-quality classical music (on vinyl records), enjoying imported cigars, sipping aged teas, and seeking simple contentment, not fame.
Heiyang’s Old Home
This long wall leads to the doorway of Heiyang’s chldhood home on the outskirts of Chongqing. The image makes me think of Heiyang’s reclusive life today. He is content in his home and likes to keep the door mostly closed.
Mushi’s childhood friend Heiyang remained in Beijing and held onto his dream of becoming a successful painter. With hard work and frugal living, he has been able to maintain a quiet life as an artist. He lives in Songzhuang, a large artists’ town east of Beijing. He does not consider himself successful and says he no longer seeks fame. Rather, he prefers to read Buddhist teachings, practice calligraphy, and share thoughtful articles and images with friends on WeChat. He is hesitant to be involved in social activities and has suggested that he would not like to participate in the documentary. We shall see.
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