Transcending Boundaries • Contemplative Vision: Zuo Fengyi & Tang Qishan on Perceiving and Appreciating Contemporary Art

Within the context of globalization and digitization, contemporary art continuously pushes beyond traditional boundaries, manifesting characteristics of diversity, interdisciplinarity, and conceptual depth. Nevertheless, public comprehension and appreciation of contemporary art continue to encounter significant challenges.

Primarily, contemporary art is often defined by complex symbolic systems, conceptual narratives, and media innovation, demanding from its audience an open mindset and an interdisciplinary knowledge base. Furthermore, art appreciation transcends mere visual experience, requiring a profound engagement with the cultural context, the artist's philosophy, and the underlying logic of creation. Enhancing public awareness of contemporary art necessitates a concerted effort involving art education, exhibition exchanges, and public participation. Concurrently, appreciating contemporary art must move beyond superficial formal perception to engage with the social critique, philosophical inquiry, and humanistic concerns embodied within the works. It is only through pluralistic perspectives and critical thinking that one can truly grasp the depth and value of contemporary art, thereby invigorating societal cultural innovation and development.

This Saturday at 3:00 PM, Zuo Fengyi, Executive President of the Shenzhen Art Industry Promotion Association and Academic Chair of this exhibition, will conduct a thematic lecture at the Tonggou Art Space. Focusing on the theme "Awareness and Appreciation of Contemporary Art," and drawing upon the works presented in the ongoing exhibition Bone-Deep Understanding: Tang Qishan's Contemporary Art, Zuo will engage with the audience in exploring the multifaceted dimensions of contemporary art and methodologies for its appreciation, aiming to enhance public artistic literacy and aesthetic discernment.

Speaker

Zuo Fengyi

Painter, poet, Executive President of the Shenzhen Art Industry Promotion Association, Lead Instructor in the Traditional Chinese Art Research and Aesthetic Innovation Program at Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts, founder of New Chinese Heavy-Color Painting, Vice President for China of the International Artists Association, and Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Art magazine. A 2003 graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium, he serves as a mentor at the School of Humanities and Law, Hebei University of Technology, and as a Cultural Ambassador for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. In 2013, he was recognized by the Ministry of Culture as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Artists Nationwide" and is a recipient of the State Council Special Allowance.

Artist Profile

Tang Qishan

Tang Qishan is a contemporary Chinese painter and calligrapher. He holds a Master's degree in Cultural and Arts Management from a Swiss business school, is a visiting scholar at the China National Academy of Painting, a Council Member of the Shenzhen Art Industry Promotion Association, founder and Art Director of PrentaCulture, a deeply collaborating artist with the Guangzhou Art Fair, and a recommended artist of PRENTA. His works are held in the collections of institutions including the Tibet Armed Police Force, Guangdong Museum of Art, Gansu Bamboo Slips Museum, the Russia-China Chamber of Commerce, and Moscow Omega-L.

Tang's artistic practice is pioneering. He deftly integrates modern compositional techniques with Eastern aesthetics, forming a unique artistic lexicon. His significant series include Forest Memory, Water Lilies, White Cranes, Oracle Bone Script · Symbols, Inheritance · Symbols, Origin · Beings, and Lyrical Charm · Spiritual Delight. These works function as portals into his distinctive artistic landscape. Tang's profound artistic acumen is indebted to his extensive travels and studies. Having journeyed through Russia, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries, he has absorbed the essence of traditional painting and sculpture while maintaining a keen focus on contemporary artistic production. These cross-regional and cross-cultural dialogues have broadened his perspective, enabling the integration of diverse cultural elements into his work.

Curatorial Commentary
"When the patina on Taotie motifs flows anew under the spotlight, when the fissures in oracle bone scripts are freshly decoded by the retina, this exhibition transforms into a collusion with Yin-Shang dynasty spirit mediums. What we display here isnot merely the imprint of symbols, but visual incantations steeped in the vital fluids of the Bronze Age. Tang Qishan's creative endeavor constitutes a dialogue spanning three millennia—his constructed works serve as an aesthetic   articulation of our era. These symbols preserve the mystery and unadorned simplicity   of antiquity while incorporating contemporary dynamism and tension. They are no longer merely cold archaeological artifacts but vessels of emotion, spiritual totems reflecting the artist's profound contemplation of 'form and meaning,' 'ancient and modern.'

'Bone-Deep Understanding' is to trace with one's fingers the grooves of prophecies   blurred by time-it is the primordial electrocardiogram of civilization itself. Tang's worksare not   simplistic reproductions of ancient allure; rather, they represent a return to origins through a contemporary lens, seeking equilibrium between abstraction and figuration, and forging connections between symbol and sentiment. His brushstrokes possess the sharpness of engraving tools, his colors the solemnity of ritual, as if guiding the viewer into a meditative dialogue with ancient predecessors. The works presented at the 'Tonggou' Art Space embody both Tang's longstanding contemporary transformation of the oracle bone script artistic system and his visual enactment of Eastern philosophical tenets such as 'the unity of heaven and humanity' and 'the fusion of object and self'—the exhibition itself constitutes a 'tonggou' (isomorphic unity) of form and   meaning, object and ego. In Shenzhen, a city whose soul is innovation, these works will converse with tradition, resonate with the future, and provoke viewers to re-examine their cultural   roots."

Academic Chair: Zuo Fengyi

Artist Statement
"My paintings represent attempts to synthesize traditional Chinese aesthetics with modern artistic concepts. Through deconstructing elements like oracle bone scripts and ancient totems, I create visual symbols imbued with both historical depth and contemporary tension. In my practice, I preserve the essence of traditional art while incorporating the innovative expressions of contemporary art. These works reflect my ongoing engagement with philosophical propositions such as 'form and meaning' and 'ancient and modern.'

My creations often utilize oracle bone scripts and symbols from Yangshao culture as foundational elements. I enjoy reconfiguring ancient totems through arrangements of dots, lines, and planes. For instance, in the Lyrical Charm · Spiritual Delight series, I employ elements like birds, fish, and the sea to convey the primal imagery of Yangshao culture. Simultaneously, I utilize modern compositional methods to instill the works with a dynamic rhythm, thereby facilitating a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity.

My extensive travels have allowed me to assimilate the essence of European traditional painting and Southeast Asian contemporary art, culminating in a unique creative language. For example, the Forest Memory series employs mixed media to explore the fusion of nature and symbols, underpinned by my deep understanding of multicultural integration.

My works often communicate emotion through nuanced details—such as the vibrancy of dots and the fluidity of lines. I maintain the minimalist aesthetic of traditional painting while enhancing the abstract expressiveness characteristic of modern art. This creative philosophy—'harmonizing form and spirit,' 'achieving likenessthrough unlikeness'—embodies my persistent inquiry into and reflection upon the very nature of art."

Artist: Tang Qishan