Part 10: The Modernity Construction of Illusionist Painting

Among the artists who influenced 20th century China, Huang Binhong and Qi Baishi were the last heroes to adhere to the traditional path and achieve success. Xu Beihong, Liu Haisu, and Lin Fengmian used Western art concepts and techniques to "transform" local Chinese art. It is difficult to evaluate artists during and after the revolution in terms of their art itself, but it can be fair to say that Dong Xiwen and a group of artists similar to him did not truly participate in the construction of art itself, they only achieved their social roles. The logos of Li Keran and Wu Guanzhong come from the dividing line after the 1970s. One is to continue to explore the profound tradition, and the other is to inherit the mantle of Lin Fengmian and others and strive for innovation. In the early stages of reform and opening up, Chen Danqing immediately gained widespread praise for his exceptional talent and was the earliest beneficiary and promoter of the new era. After Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, Huang Yongping, and Cai Guoqiang stepped onto the stage of contemporary art at the end of the 20th century, Liu Youju's illusionist paintings can be regarded as another leading figure in contemporary Chinese art creation.

(1)

Since the 20th century, Chinese painting has been the only type of painting that has been criticized and questioned in the territory of Chinese art. Its content extensively involves many aspects such as the name, form, system, concept, theme, brushwork, language, etc. of Chinese painting. It is in the midst of criticism and questioning that Chinese painting flies against the wind, breaks through the cocoon, and produces its own modern form, as well as the artists who created this form. The "new form of brush and ink" created through various methods such as "borrowing from the past to open up the present", "renovating the past to promote innovation", "seeking change from tradition", "using the West to nourish China", and "integrating China and the West", with Chinese cultural spirit as the core and traditional brush and ink as the foundation, not only fully demonstrates the innovative spirit and adaptability of contemporary Chinese painters, but also writes the glorious contemporary history of Chinese painting without any shame, It has effectively responded to various doubts and criticisms over the past century.

The so-called "illusory painting" refers to a brush and ink system with distinct personality and contemporary atmosphere, centered around the spirit of Chinese culture, based on traditional brush and ink, experienced by the times, converted by personal nature, and pursued by a broad, dynamic, and harmonious realm.

When did the logical starting point of the construction of modernity in Chinese literature and art begin? The mainstream view in the Western sinology community is that since the shift from the ideology of "the world" to an individual nation state, and the shift from traditional "universalism" (the unity of heaven and man) to dialectical struggle is a symbol of Chinese modernity, it is obvious that responding to the challenges of Western literature and art is the beginning of the modernity of Chinese literature and art. Based on this, Hu Shi's "Eight Events of Literary Improvement" in 1916, or Lu Xun's "Madman's Diary" in 1918, can be regarded as the starting point of the modernity of Chinese literature. Most literary and art historians in China have succumbed to this view, and when writing modern history, art historians have habitually begun to focus on the "Art Revolution" of 1918. However, historical events in Chinese literature and art often awaken new perspectives, correct or even subvert the so-called "mainstream" views mentioned above. Sinologist Pu Shike is extremely sensitive to the transformation of literary genres as a representation of the occurrence of modern literature in China. In his view, during the Ming Dynasty, with the emergence of new writers and artists who sold their works to the "market", the art of poetry began to give way to novels and dramas, whose secular nature, "civic interest", and new narrative patterns constituted the early modernity of Chinese literature. In other words, Chinese modernity has endogenous or endogenous characteristics.

The phenomenon of art in the late Ming Dynasty was more convincing. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese painting had become highly mature and had risen to a level of "stylization" with self-discipline, meaning that the brush and ink had transcended the natural objects depicted and freely formed language with abstract aesthetic value. Among the three masters of the late Ming Dynasty, Xu Wei completely broke free from the entanglement of realism by "splashing ink" and elevated Chinese painting to the height of "freehand brushwork"; Chen Hongshou was obsessed with the changes and combinations of various lines in character painting; As for Dong Qichang's landscapes, as Qian Du of the Qing Dynasty once said, "There are strokes but no grooves." The independence of language, coupled with the professional identity of painters brought about by the "market" system, and the "individualism" (personalization) formed under the influence of Wang Yangming's "mind learning" theory, combined with the secular orientation formed to meet the aesthetic taste of the emerging civil class, constitute the three cornerstones of the early modernity of Chinese painting.

This means that the modernity of Chinese painting was initiated by the three masters of the late Ming Dynasty, who demonstrated with a "new form" different from the classical era that the modernity of Chinese painting grew out of its own cultural texture and had endogenous characteristics. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Four Kings inherited Dong Qichang's legacy and thoroughly completed the construction of a stylized painting system based on texturing techniques, pushing the abstract beauty of brush and ink to the core position of Chinese painting. From this perspective, the so-called "imitationism" of the Four Kings actually established a unique approach to the modernity of Chinese painting through the "transformation from ancient times". Their "stylized" and "new style" works, which were the culmination of classical painting, not only marked the end of classical painting, but also declared the birth of early modernity in Chinese painting.

At the same time, Chinese painters also made their own response to the "westward spread of Western painting" since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, creatively using several techniques of Western painting to enrich the expressive power of Chinese painting, thus creating a precedent for the "compromise between China and the West". Typical examples include the families of Zeng Jing, Wu Bin, Gong Xian, and Wu Li. Zeng Jing eclipsed the Western method, baked and dyed dozens of layers, portrayed as a mirror with shadows; Wu Bin's paintings have the characteristics of Western realism, not only with deep space, but also with meticulous brushstrokes that repeatedly depict similar objects, creating a sense of carving similar to Western copperplate painting; In the "Black Gong Painting Style" formed by Gong Xian's layered ink accumulation method, the most striking feature is the black and white relationship brought about by the changes in light and shadow, which vaguely reveals its relationship with Western painting; In the history of Chinese painting, Wu Li was the only painter who also served as a Catholic priest, and his works were undoubtedly studied in Western France. From the practice of compromises between the Western methods mentioned above, it can be seen that Chinese painters adhered to the principle of "Chinese style and Western application" at the beginning of responding to the West, that is, the core value system of Chinese painting remained unchanged, and the use of Western painting was strictly limited to the level of "application". From this point of view, the early modernity of Chinese painting had the characteristic of "endogenous and exogenous auxiliary".

The historical upheaval of the late Qing Dynasty made the clear path of modernity in Chinese painting more complex. Under the strong invasion of Western learning, a series of cultural issues arose: Is modernity in Chinese painting endogenous or exogenous? Is it primary or secondary? Is it evolutionary or revolutionary? The correct answer may lie between the two, that is, since modern times, the modernity of Chinese painting has dual properties of endogenous and exogenous, primary and secondary, evolution and revolution.

Under this premise, Chinese painters' various transformation plans and strategies to respond to Western learning through cultural consciousness have all possessed the characteristics of modernity. The main strategies among them include: "Introducing the West to Run China", "Integrating China and the West", "Seeking Change from Tradition", "Borrowing from the Past to Open up the Present", "Moving towards the Folk", and even "Fully Westernizing". Xu Beihong rejected tradition and introduced realism to transform Chinese painting. Although criticized, in the special historical context, the new form of realism has its progressive significance. It not only rebuilt the relationship between Chinese painting and reality, but more interestingly, it also created a completely different "another modernity" from the West by using the language of Western modern art; Lin Fengmian introduced the light, color, and linear elements of Western modernism, forming a new form of non traditional Chinese painting. Today, it seems that this choice is somewhat wasteful, as the planarity, decoration, lines, color, and styling of modern Western art often come from gifts from the East. However, we may consider this phenomenon as a reflection of Western modern art on China. Among various proposals, Chen Shizeng's adherence to the "progressive value theory of Chinese painting" is the most dominant. His viewpoint implies the main vein of modernity in Chinese painting since the late Ming Dynasty: Chinese painting "prioritizes the spirit, does not value resemblance in form, has a rigorous pattern, precise craftsmanship, cautious writing, subtle argumentation, and profound learning", which is precisely the progress of painting. This argument, taken to the West, can hardly serve as a modernist manifesto. When it comes to Western painting, Chen Shi once believed: "When there is a way to integrate, it is important to be good at combining with others to unleash one's inherent strengths

In the chaotic cultural landscape, this theory undoubtedly established the spirit for painters who sought change in tradition, nurtured it for several years, and ultimately achieved fruitful results such as the "Huang Binhong style" and "Qi Baishi style". From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, although there was a clamor for "complete westernization" in Chinese painting, which appeared to have a confusing path, the main body of Chinese painting remained stable and the soul remained, exploring its own path of modernity with different "new forms".

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, in order to meet the requirements of national ideology and under the guidance of Mao Zedong's literary and artistic thoughts, Chinese painting underwent comprehensive transformation in terms of concepts, strokes, styles, and themes. The realistic style of the "Yan'an Revolutionary School" merged with the realism advocated by Xu Beihong, becoming the dominant method and style. At the same time, the spirit of freehand brushwork in Chinese painting is not willing to sink, and it has been restored to another dimension of the new form of Chinese painting through a powerful way of national cultural appeal. In the struggle and game between politics and art, ancient and present, tradition and modernity, and China and the West, Liu Youju constructed another modern form of Chinese painting with his unique wisdom and practice: illusion painting. It precisely indicates that the modernity of Chinese painting is far more complex than that of Western modernity, and we may refer to it as "hybrid modernity" or "composite modernity".

Today, there are many elements that determine the emergence of new forms of Chinese painting: globalization and the post-industrial landscape, geographical variations in urbanization, the proliferation of images, anxiety about human survival, the enchantment of history, the rebirth of classicism, and so on. It can be predicted that a diversified era of new writing styles has arrived. In fact, in the current Chinese painting industry, there is no one who is no longer in the process of innovation, but the methods and strategies adopted are different. We are looking forward to whether Liu Youju's "illusion painting" can become the banner leading the new style of Chinese ink and brush.

(2)

As human society enters the 21st century, due to the rapid development of technology and economy, the emergence of the international internet and electronic media, the era of globalization has arrived. In the process of globalization, different countries, ethnic groups, and cultures will all face many issues of common concern to humanity. In terms of artistic creation, artists from various countries around the world are deeply influenced and influenced by their own cultural traditions, exhibiting strong regional characteristics, and at the same time, they are also in the interaction and modernity of the international cultural background. Therefore, excellent works of art are innovative works that embody the cultural characteristics of our era and the unique artistic language of artists, based on a profound cultural tradition.

In the context of globalization, when examining the cultural background and identity of contemporary artists, we note that many artists already have diverse cultural backgrounds, making it difficult to simply define them with a single regional identity. Due to the increasing frequency of communication and immigration in contemporary society, many artists roam around the world, such as famous contemporary Chinese artists Cai Guoqiang, Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, etc., who have lived and engaged in artistic creation in several different countries for a long time. Since the 20th century, due to the leading position of Western countries in politics, economy, technology, and military, the culture and art of Western countries have also received widespread attention from the world. It seems to have formed an illusion that Western art is also leading the trend of international art development. The art of third world countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America can only follow suit and imitate or copy step by step. The situation should change today.

Chinese contemporary art should include the artistic creation of artists in Chinese Mainland and Chinese artists living abroad. Since the 1980s, the creation of Chinese artists has gradually differentiated and developed into artists based on mainland China and artists residing overseas. For a long time, some overseas Chinese artists have integrated into the mainstream of Western art. They are all in the discourse category of Western mainstream in terms of artistic language and themes, and only retain their identity as China in the early cultural background. Examples include Cai Guoqiang, Gu Wenda, Xu Bing, and Huang Yongyi. Their artistic creations pay more attention to thinking about cultural conflicts and power, especially regarding the struggle for cultural power. On the other hand, due to China's increasing openness and developed cultural dissemination and information exchange, mainland Chinese artists have also differentiated into traditional Chinese painting types, and the understanding and understanding of various artistic concepts such as oil painting on academic shelves and new media and materials have become increasingly diverse. From the perspective of the relationship between art ecology and social sponsorship, due to the diversity of art display methods, channels, planning methods, and sponsorship sources, today's Chinese art also presents a diversified ecology. Overseas Chinese artists, due to their international cultural background, are constantly exposed to and contemplating broader and deeper artistic issues, as well as themes and issues related to social, political, economic, racial, historical, and cultural rights struggles. Thus, their artistic creations have greater international significance.

Focusing on Chinese history and reality, as well as contemporary art, the first thing to emphasize is China's contemporaneity. China's development and transformation over the past century have also intertwined between tradition and modernity, globalization and localization, and the conflict and fusion of international and national characteristics. Therefore, how to face Chinese cultural traditions and the overlap between modernity and postmodernism is the issue and characteristic that contemporary Chinese art must pay attention to. Chinese contemporary art and Western contemporary art (postmodern culture) are not completely equivalent. Contemporary China has a state of interweaving and coexisting pre modern society, modern society, and postmodern society. The sustained and rapid development of the Chinese economy and the continuous transformation of social forms are the current social and cultural issues that Chinese contemporary art must pay attention to. Such as issues of human nature and values, environmental and ecological issues, ethnic and regional issues, survival and rights issues, etc. Thus, it constitutes the contemporary and cultural characteristics of Chinese art. Today's art is not just about materials and forms, styles, and language, but more importantly, cultural concepts and social consciousness.

Before discussing contemporary Chinese art, we first need to define and sort out the concept and terminology of contemporary art. Because the connotation and extension of contemporary art are relatively ambiguous and have some uncertainty. It also involves the differences and connections between the concepts of "modern art", "postmodern art", and "contemporary art". In fact, modern art and postmodern art are concepts derived from the perspective of art history, while contemporary art is only a temporal concept, referring to the current and current art that occurs. In the history of art, concepts such as classical art and modern art are both art of a specific historical period and refer to specific artistic styles and styles. Contemporary art is born in the present moment of our lives, and its artistic expression techniques and style language are diverse and uncertain. Therefore, we should understand and define what contemporary art is from the following aspects.

Firstly, we can define it in terms of time: contemporary refers to a period of time in the past 25 to 30 years, which is the process of a generation's growth (1981-2011) and is also a period that we have witnessed and experienced firsthand. Contemporary art should be the art created by our contemporaries. The avant-garde modern art of the early 20th century continuously challenged tradition, promoted new artistic languages, and deeply expressed the cultural concepts of specific eras. Over time, modern art has become an art of a specific historical stage (1900-1970) and a "new tradition". And contemporary art is still constantly expanding and changing in the era we are currently in.

Secondly, in addition to defining time, we must also pay attention to the era and cultural characteristics of art. We should point out here that not all the works of contemporary artists in our current era are contemporary art. Artists must pay attention to and express our current culture. Pay attention to the survival status of humans in real society, as well as reflect on history and the future. In today's era, art presents a diverse state. Some artists and their works who are only engaged in traditional New Year pictures, Paper Cuttings, or traditional landscape paintings can only be called folk crafts and traditional arts produced by folk craftsmen or traditional artists, rather than contemporary art and artists.

Finally, contemporary is also a constantly evolving and evolving concept of time. Therefore, it is also constantly changing and uncertain. With the passage of time, contemporary art today will also become history. The contemporary time span will also continue to extend towards the future. Many people are very confused when using concepts such as modern, postmodern, and contemporary. Because "pre modern", "modern", and "postmodern" can coexist in Chinese art from the late 20th century to the present, there are still a considerable number of works in the contemporary art world that have the characteristics of traditional and modern art styles. Therefore, Chinese contemporary art refers to the art created by artists' free expression of China's current society and culture. Whether it is using Chinese ink and wash, oil painting, comprehensive painting materials, or images, installations, etc., as long as they express their thoughts and insights on the current China, they can all be regarded as contemporary Chinese art.

(3)

In 1825, the French utopian socialist Saint Simon first applied the term "avant-garde" to culture. In his article "Opinions on Literature and Art," he pointed out: "It is our artists who will serve as pioneers (avant-garde) for you." Throughout the modernist era, artists are cultural pioneers, and their artistic creations represent or foreshadow the direction of future social development. In modern art, the so-called "avant-garde" refers to artists and their creations who constantly explore new techniques, styles, themes, and concepts, Their artistic concepts and creative practices often pose challenges to social concepts and aesthetic tastes. The historical philosophy of the 19th century German philosopher Hegel regarded art as a brief historical stage in the process of human spirit. The development of art has evolved from symbolic to classical, then to romantic, and ultimately to a pure spiritual state. It can be inferred that the death of art and the end of art history have become an inevitable logic in the development of human history. When an artist's creative practice changes from a state without a sense of history to a conscious pursuit of innovation and change in accordance with a given development model, the continuous development of art itself will inevitably lead to the end of history.

It is precisely based on the concept of prior historical determinism and the development model of art evolution that Western artists have pioneered a path of modern art development that constantly seeks innovation and change in concepts since the mid-19th century. However, after more than 100 years of avant-garde thinking in Western society, the ideal of promoting social progress through cultural challenges is undergoing fundamental changes. When considering the era (time) factors of artistic evolution, we should also consider the regional (spatial) factors of artistic production. It should be pointed out that the avant-garde art development concept centered in the West is by no means a common example and universal law of human art development. The development of Western Renaissance art and modern art is only an accidental result of Western education and cultural environment, and different regional cultural environments also have their own cultural traditions and art examples, The development of world art and the continuous innovation of artists are not simply following the linear development trajectory described by the evolutionary model, nor are they constantly moving towards unity based on the development model of Western art.

Since the 20th century, China has emerged from a closed state of isolation, and a group of free artists began to emerge in the 1980s. Artists' creations may not serve political propaganda within the government system, nor are they entirely limited to traditional ink painting and calligraphy that literati entertain themselves with. Instead, they engage in independent reflection and self-expression in the face of social history and the present. In November 1985, renowned American artist Robert Lausenberg held his Modern Art Exhibition at the China Art Museum in Beijing. In addition to painting, there are also a large number of comprehensive media materials and new installation art works. The exhibition adopts various materials and methods such as painting, collage, photography, video recording, sculpture, and physical objects. Many young artists from all over the world come to admire the exhibition. In December, the 22nd issue of China Art Daily conducted a special evaluation of the exhibition. The exhibition had a huge impact and influence on Chinese artists and the public at that time. Many artists are contemplating the language and cultural expression of contemporary art. The Chinese art scene immediately became popular. Lawsenberg's exhibitions in China were very important to the Chinese art community at that time, as Lawsenberg's art shifted from abstract expressionism to pop art in the late 1950s. And this exhibition in China had a huge impact on young Chinese artists at that time, leading to a turning point in contemporary Chinese art.

Contemporary Chinese art has not only been influenced by the West in terms of artistic language, expression methods, and cultural concepts, but also gradually formed its own concepts and graphics. In February 1989, the China Modern Art Exhibition was first held at the China Art Museum. This exhibition is not only a historical coordinate for the progress of contemporary Chinese art, but also a new starting point. This marks the emergence of a group of free Chinese artists, as well as their conscious thinking and independent visual representation of contemporary Chinese social culture. In contemporary art creation, art not only focuses on the current social reality of China, but also reflects on the historical and cultural characteristics of Chinese culture in the context of globalization.

(4)

For over a hundred years, Chinese people have basically no independent artistic standards. In the early 20th century, with the influx of Western culture and the influence of the May Fourth Movement, foreign standards were also popular in the art world. At the beginning of the century, I became interested in Japanese art, followed by the standards of European art (mainly French); After the 1950s, they also advocated the standards of Soviet art; In each book on the introduction of art, the standards of "realism" and "socialist realism" from Europe with strong political connotations hold an absolute and noble position; After the 1980s, the standard of "contemporary art" represented by the United States shrouded China, causing the whole of China to discuss "modernity" and "contemporaneity". The aforementioned speech by the author is a reflection of this and an exclamation at the relevant topic discussion. At that time, I had imagined that theoretical discussions would be futile in the face of the powerful Westernization forces from top to bottom. "Only when China's economy is highly developed and its comprehensive national strength is quite strong, and the temptation from the West is offset by China's increasingly strong economic and political power, and the national confidence of the Chinese people is truly established on this basis, can contemporary art in China truly emerge

The situation in 2009 has changed too much! The literary and artistic circles are all paying attention to China's image, standards, and autonomy in Chinese literature and art, which is a natural reflection of China's resurgence as a major power. Chinese people are starting to learn to be citizens of a large country, and the sense of inferiority formed by long-term backwardness and being beaten is weakening, and national self-esteem and confidence are strengthening. Satellites orbiting the moon, building aircraft carriers, and building large aircraft have maintained an 8% growth rate in the financial crisis, and the popularity of "20G" is the background of this independent trend of thought in Chinese literature and art.

As the country becomes stronger and the national mentality gradually becomes more confident, the issue of independent standards for national literature and art will naturally arise. This is a natural reflection from a political perspective. In fact, in my opinion, regardless of whether the country is strong or not, national literature and art should have their own standards. This is seen from the perspective of the unique characteristics of art itself.

The reason why China has rigidly set the independent standard of art on one foreign art after another for over a hundred years is, on the surface, a pursuit of a strong country or a dominant culture, but at the core, it is a theoretical issue of social evolution.

Because according to this "objective law" that is believed to scientifically summarize the evolution of human society and is not based on human will, human society, regardless of which ethnic group or country, must follow the above law. This law is divided into stages, and societies that develop in the early stages are "advanced" compared to societies that develop in the later stages. This is a linear development model, and the relationship between the pre and post stages is the key to whether they are advanced or not. So, Chinese people who believe in this' law 'are particularly concerned about' avant-garde ',' modern ',' postmodern ', and' contemporary '. The artistic standards mentioned earlier from Japan to the United States are also more advanced because they are more "modern", "postmodern", and "contemporary" compared to China.

But this conclusion based on historical evolution goes against a common sense in art: art is the expression of various subjective experiences of artists in the real world. There is no exception to art from ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. The specific time and space are different, the subjective experience conditions are different, and their respective experiences are different, and the expression methods are naturally different. Therefore, the standard for evaluating art cannot be based on the "strength" of the country's political and economic power, or the advanced or not of the social "stage" in which it is located, as the standard for evaluating the quality of culture and art. The evaluation can only be made on the value of the ideas, emotions, and concepts conveyed by art and the way they are conveyed, that is, the contemporary, profound, unique, and typical nature of the ideas, emotions, and concepts reflected in reality in the art work, as well as the accuracy, vividness, uniqueness, richness, and other factors in expressing these subjective factors. Of course, in artistic creation, whether it is subjective factors or communication methods, as well as many factors such as traditional inheritance and external reference, but in any case, self experience and specific communication based on specific time and space are the most fundamental foundation of artistic value and evaluation standards.

Clearly, it can be understood that there has never been a universal artistic standard of "being universally applicable". Besides treating French art, American art, and even New York art as universal art, where else can you find universal art? Universality can only be some common qualities extracted from the art of various countries, but there has never been a universal artwork in the history of art that transcends nations and nations. This is a philosophical relationship between general and individual categories. So, the art between times, between countries, and between nations does not have the comparability of advanced and backward. Only then can we know that there is no comparability between primitive art, classical art, and modern art, as well as between Chinese art, European art, and American art. The practice of comparing Chinese art with American art and believing that it is backward, or that Chinese people should use American art as a model to advance, is equally foolish. It is in this sense that Wang Guowei said, "Each generation has its own literary and artistic achievements.”

In summary, Liu Youju's illusionary painting learning and borrowing from various countries including the United States and the West is an independent choice and learning based on the foundation of Chinese culture and art in Chinese society; At the same time, this kind of reference and learning should be an auxiliary and supplementary form of independent creation based on China's position. We cannot confuse imitation based on Western modern and contemporary art as a model and standard with independent selection and reference.

Liu Youju's illusion painting can be based on contemporary life and experience in China, unique feelings and research of tradition, combined with external learning and reference, and naturally forms its ideological trend, characteristics, schools, and standards on the basis of independent creation. So, in today's world where the diversity, uniqueness, individuality, and richness of art, as well as the increasingly complex and ever-changing standards of art, Liu Youju's artistic creation has important academic research value for the construction of modernity in Chinese art.