Platform China will hold “Regeneration—Individual Exhibition of Yuan Yunsheng” on April 17. This exhibition is the second large scale individual exhibition of Mr. Yuan Yunsheng at Platform China. The exhibition will last until June 6. We will allocate the major space and dRoom exhibition hall, to sort out and present the representative works of Yuan in different periods from the end of 1970s.

▅ Preface

By Lu Mingjun

In the history of Chinese contemporary art, Yuan Yunsheng is undoubtedly an exception among the exceptions. In 1979, the violent volatility caused by the mural at Beijing Capital Airport Water-splashing Festival - Hymn of Life pushed Yuan Yunsheng into the teeth of the storm of public opinion. Since then, this incident and the name "Yuan Yunsheng" have become a symbol of an era. Up to now, the mural at Beijing Capital Airport is still a historical halo over Yuan Yunsheng's head, and even conceals the language style of the work itself and the motivations and conditions behind its generation. It once made Yuan Yunsheng’s practice of art and even his lifelong constant artistic goal "fade".

"More often than not, the mediocrity of a modern artist is manifested in that although he recognizes the importance of 'modernity', but fails to see the beauty of folk art. He only appreciates the ingenuity of a new-style tape recorder, but cannot see the possible stronger modernity in a piece of folk paper-cutting of northern Shaanxi," quoted from Is Oil Painting to be Nationalized, an article written by Yuan Yunsheng before he went abroad. The passage somewhat represents his understanding of "nationalization". It was also based on such understanding that he felt the same strong artistic power in front of the works of Western modern art masters such as Picasso and Pollock after arriving in the United States. As everyone knows, no matter it is Picasso or Pollock, they are actually deeply rooted in their own history and reality, and both have ever referred to folk art. Perhaps this made Yuan Yunsheng feel much at home. However, instead of making him feel inferior, it gave him more confidence. At that time, what really conquered Yuan Yunsheng was not Picasso or Pollock; instead, it was the spirit of the Han and Tang dynasties and the Wei-Jin style that he had always longed for, which made him more convinced of his own judgment and choice. During his stay in the United States, he created a large number of paintings from life and sketches. What these works convey was not so much a desire to explore and understand foreign cultures, as the Chinese national spirit he found in foreign cultures, which he bore in mind constantly.

Away from China for a dozen of years, even though Yuan Yunsheng had missed the vigorous movement of “1985 New Wave Fine Arts” and China 89 Modern Art Exhibition, his pursuit of "tolerance, boldness and courage" and the "Regeneration" constantly born in his mind all coincided with each other -- even foreshadowed -- the passion of life of the great soul, as Li Xianting urged in the late 1980s, “perplexed by endless puzzles -- the interweaving of hope and despair, the contradiction between ideal and reality, the conflict between tradition and future, and the pain, anxiety, hesitation and all kinds of sorrows in the cultural reflections over and over again”. The only difference is that the latter depends on the value foundation behind the work, and for Yuan Yunsheng, the work (form) itself is the energy and soul. After being invited back to China in 1996, he did not enter into any circle, and was always absent from the various radical artistic activities and exhibition experiments that were resurrected at that time. It is the same to this day. But he does not feel any regret, because this is obviously not his aim, and even runs counter to his artistic ideas and pursuit. Of course, such a stubborn persistence and unruly character also doomed that it is difficult for him to gain real recognition from the system.

▅ Reconsideration of REGENERATION

Born in Nantong in 1937, Yuan Yunsheng, was admitted to the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (“CAFA”) in 1955, with Mr. Dong Xiwen as his master. In 1957, he was classified into right wing and was sent to Shuangqiao Village for reform through labor. Two years later, he went back to prepare his graduation work, and completed the Memory of the Water Village. After graduation, he went to northeast China quietly, and worked in the Changchun Workers' Cultural Palace for sixteen years. In 1978, he was invited to go to Yunnan, where he had created paintings from life for eight months. At Yunnan, the flourishing vitality of Yunnan greatly aroused his life passion that had been repressed for a long time. And he had created a large quantity of sketches of landscape and outline drawings of figures. Just as said by Mr. Zhang Ding, “he brought back a collection of outline drawings, which were all sketches of life, including figures and landscape. He loves life and treats life quite sincerely; he is passionate and is proficient in basis painting skills. Once encountering life, his lines will gush out from underground like spring water, overflow, wind and twist. His outline drawings inherit the spirit of Chinese line drawing but get released from traditional program, which are both Chinese and modern.” During this period, he had already made the traditional properties of modern modeling of lines fully converge, and left rich materials for the creation of the mural Water-splashing Festival – Hymn of Life. In October 1979, Mr. Yuan was invited to create the mural Water-splashing Festival – Hymn of Life at Beijing Capital Airport. It is an epoch-making work and a sign of the times. The strong collision with the past incurred a huge shock – there was no work in the history of contemporary art that caused tsunami - like discussion like this. The history was divided by such shock: the first section of history was a history when life was bound and suppressed; the second section was a history when life got rid of the ropes and started to pursue its desires. This is a hallmark event in contemporary painting history of China. This widely known mural at Beijing Capital Airport is a beginning: it is not only a beginning of a new art type, but also a desire symbol of the inception of a new social. (Wang Min'an, From cleanness to power, 2019)

In 1980, Yuan Yunsheng teached in the CAFA and created the Mural Department. During that time, he went to Dunhuang, Maiji Mountain, the tomb of Huo Qubing, among other places for investigation for several times and created many paintings from life. In these investigations and creation of paintings from life, he deeply felt the necessity of re-understanding of traditional modeling art, and summarized his experience in the article Regeneration written by him in 1982. This passage made a big splash in the cultural and art fields at that time, which also laid a foundation for his future life-long artistic view. In the article, he underscored that “Under the impact of Western modern art, we should build self-confidence with the spirit of national art and retrieve the lost tradition.” The article was composed by Yuan Yunsheng before he left China. It consisted of the words from the bottom of his heart after three-month investigation of Chinese traditional culture in northwest China, and clarified his artistic proposition, ”only the understanding of tradition needs to our reflection. How much have been left of the high achievements that had been realized in the research on modeling of Chinese art before Tang and Song dynasties? Isn’t it a tragedy that the great past has become so strange to us? We may find a common ground when we review the pursuit of modern art after we have really studied the ancient art, and can get necessary enlightenment therefrom. The essence of inheritance of tradition lies in searching for the real spirit of national art, that is, the spirit, boldness, courage, high confidence and the great, free and progressive spirit of the ancients. That article is my reflections on the northwest trip and I call for that we must build enough confidence with the spirit of national art”.

In August 1982, invited by several universities as the visiting artistic, Yuan Yunsheng went to the United States for a visit. In the US, his artistic ideas were almost mature and he had clear understanding of the differences between Chinese and Western artistic forms and ideas. In 1984, he worked as a visiting artist in Harvard University, but his thinking turned immediately back to the current status and prospect of Chinese art. The things he saw and heard in the US raised his awareness upon history, which made his re-understanding and return to his own history a certainty. – “As an artist, if you can realize your situation clearly, you will have strong consciousness, or even your ideal of cultural renaissance will be rekindled. At that time, it’s a good opportunity to sort out yourself and make decisions, especially in the aspect of painting. So long as you decide not to imitate others, hope will come as you will reap what you sow. We cannot simply put it as taking advantages of other’s difficulties, but the road of self-reliance is what the era requires. No matter it is for the world or China, opportunity is there.” (Artistic Experience, Yuan Yunsheng, 2000)

In September 1996, upon invitation of Jin Shangyi, Yuan Yunsheng returned to the CAFA for teaching. In the totally westernized teaching system of the Academy, he put forward re-understanding of tradition, and the modernity generated from tradition. Forty years after the publication of the article Regeneration, in the topic of “regeneration”, this exhibition again reviewed the deep ploughing and practice in art of Mr. Yuan Yunsheng in the dozens of years. His proposition of regression of tradition is not separating ourselves and abandoning the world, or disconnecting, grafting or borrowing. His proposition is to inherit and carry forward the modernity of tradition based on tradition without any breaking point. He fulfills his artistic view in his lifelong artistic practice. The artistic practice of Yuan Yunsheng has important value as a coordinate of cultural history. This exhibition also expresses our infinite respect for his artistic beliefs and life-long artistic practice.