Awkward works of Xia Yu 2011.12.10 - 2012.01.15 PREFACE WORKS SCENE TEXT	□ Artisanship and Literati Complex Hule Cyan, a simple but elegant color, perhaps best represents the current artistic state and cultural ideal of artist Xia Yu. Graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CCAFA) as an oil painting major, Xia Yu is nonetheless very interested in Chinese literati paintings before Yuan dynasty. In his view, cyan is the color that most appropriately represents Chinese literati traditions. However, by now, almost all of these traditions have disappeared. Therefore, Xia Yu sometimes defines himself as a “wordy bookish man”, in the hope of contributing his humble efforts to the continuation of these traditions. At the same time, he disdains his “wordiness” as well. In his eyes, the essence of painting should be “portrayal”, so “there is really no need to ramble too much.” Then, how should we interpret this kind of conflict in Xia Yu? For my part, it is more of the artist’s choice to honestly follow his heart and shoulder his responsibility than the permanent contradictions between art and society and between spirit detachment and worldly life. Conversation: Hule= Hu Xia Yu= Xia Be an honest and kind man. Hu:To begin with, would you please tell us your art learning experience briefly? Xia:Like other kids, I enjoyed drawing pictures during my childhood, for instance, tracing illustrations. I started learning fine arts when I was a junior sophomore, and later I joined the art coaching class before the college entrance examination. I entered China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2000 and studied in Studio 3 from 2001 until my graduation in 2004. Hu:Did the four years of college life influence you a lot? Xia:To be honest, like many other freshmen who were young and lacked social experience, I didn’t have much art accumulation at the very beginning of my college life. For example, I didn’t have the motive that “I will draw great pictures and live a marvelous life” at that time. As a result, I was not active in any aspects of study. I fooled around and wasted as much time as I could. I often think that I have already lost to many people at the so-called “starting line of life” if there does exist such kind of starting line. On the other hand, I read a lot and I think this was the most meaningful thing I did during my college life, for those books helped me to form a clear outlook on world and on life. Although I was not sure who I was then, at least I knew what kind of person I would not be. Hu:Then, what is the direction you find and decide to follow? Xia:To be an honest and kind man. This is very important, because your paintings directly reflect your character. Therefore, I often tell my students that I can only teach them skills, the rest depend on themselves. I hope that they would spend more time on reading and experience more at the same time. No preparation, no gain. Hu:You began to teach the coaching class before the examination right after you graduated from CCAFA, right? Xia:Yes. Hu:Was it for earning some money? Xia:Not exactly. As a matter of fact, I didn’t have strong desire to make money at that time. I was just wondering what else I could do if I decided to stay in Beijing. I didn’t want to hunt for a job. I didn’t want to paint, either. Besides, I could not ask my parents for money, which left me no choice but to run classes. Hu:Why didn’t you want to paint then? Xia:I think life is like a biological clock and part of it is for accumulation. All I can say is that I was not well prepared at that time. In fact, I seldom painted these years while I was running the classes. I was just studying skills or doing something else most of the time. Hu:You also studied at Beijing Film Academy for some time. Xia:Right. I studied picture photography there for half a year. Actually I have strong interest in film all the time. I wanted to shoot movies long since I graduated, but too many resources are needed. Unless you are powerful enough, it will be very hard to get it started. After that I wanted to make animated cartoons, for cartoons could be finished alone and there was no need to deal with many people. However, I later found it also improper, because, if I want to paint, I am qualified at least in terms of skills. Nevertheless, if I want to make cartoons, I have to master another language. As a result, I gave it up too. After all these wrong trails, I gradually realized what I couldn’t do and started painting again. Hu:If you are asked to summarize your life during these six years, will you describe it as “fruitless days”? Xia:Please allow me to cite an example. I go to bed at 12 every night and get up at 8 every morning. However, I got up at 10 o’clock this morning. You may think that the two hours were wasted. The problem is that I can’t wake up until that very moment, so you may call this “a waste of time”, or you may also call it “compensation”. What I want to say is, I need some time to do preparation, or I will achieve nothing no matter how hard I try. A feeling of simplicity and gentleness Hu:After you started painting again, speaking of creations, which aspects do you value most? Xia:First, it is the word “artisanship”, because it is the foundation of all my creations. Relatively speaking, I care more about picture itself, such as composition, texture, shape, and color and so on. The next thing I value most, you may call it a kind of “literati complex”. So far, many of our cultural traditions have disappeared. Take color as an example, people often talk about colors like China red and palace yellow, which respectively represent civilian and royal aesthetic orientations only. However, in my opinion, cyan is the color that best represents Chinese literati traditions since scholars in the old times usually wore cyan gowns. Now seldom can we find such kind of color. Only monks and Taoists are trying to preserve this kind of color. Besides, “cyan” is not necessarily directly reflected in the pictures, because the ancients didn’t use “cyan” or “green” much in their paintings. Most of the time, it represents a state of mind, a feeling of simplicity and gentleness. Hu:How do you understand the literati painting traditions of China? Xia:You see, I think every art form has its own basic attributes. The attribute of painting is portrayal. The attribute of photography is recording. And the attribute of film is description and narration. The reason why painting was so popular during the Renaissance period was that its ability to portray nature suddenly broke out after the Middle Ages and the painting then showed its attribute of “portrayal” to a very large extent accordingly. Paintings in Song dynasty were the same. Compared with the mountains, the artists deeply felt that they were so small. They were moderate and humble, always holding the feeling of worship towards nature. However, as time goes by, the artists become more and more striking compared with the scenery. They think highly of themselves, often carrying an air of superiority. What’s more, painting with pen and ink is actually a double-edged sword. If you depend on pen and ink completely, you will focus too much on form. If the sense of form is too strong, the painting will seem hollow with no in-depth meaning. Of course, paintings before Yuan dynasty also depended on pen and ink, but the artists then hided them skillfully. If you display your ability completely and appear too aggressive, others will think you and your paintings are skittish. Hu:Literatis seem to have a bad habit, that is, having fun, enjoying themselves, and being self-centered. Xia:That’s right. When painting, I don’t want to take the attitude of “concentrating on and enjoying myself”. Although sometimes I can’t help focusing too much on my own feelings when painting, I always believe that it is improper for literatis to focus too much on themselves, because there is another aspect that the literati tradition emphasizes a lot, that is, the cultivation of ourselves and the responsibility of supporting family, state and even the whole world”. They are just out of place. Hu:I noticed that most of your creations in recent two years are portraits. Besides, you “modified” men in real life more or less when you painted them. Is it so? Xia:Yes. My recent interest is painting man. What’s more, most of them are people around me. Certainly, some of them are “invented”. So figures in my paintings are all labeled with “Xia Yu”. On the other hand, such kind of wish will bring on a terrible consequence, that is, imposing the artist’s own world value on others. Therefore, I often remind myself not to be arrogant while painting portraits which obviously carry my own characteristics. Hu:Most of the figures in your paintings seem to be patients. They either lie in bed or look different from others, right? Xia:Yes. Their “illness” does not necessarily mean that they have poor physical health or a certain kind of disease. They are just out of place. They may be a little bit timid, stubborn, or lazy, which is apparently not in conformity with the vigorous and positive values of the current society. According to our present social standards, they may be psychos. They are all “ill”, but they are in good spirit. They have their own insistence and aspirations. It is their active choice to leave the stage and take the road less traveled by a little bit like a “non-violence and non-cooperation” movement. Hu:Usually, it is very challenging to paint hands well. However, you painted about ten paintings of “Hand Series”. What are the reasons behind it? Xia:First, I think hands have their own expressions. If I only paint human faces, people will think my paintings artificial. However, hands are much more delicate. If handled properly, it will be easy to control the balance between the emotion in the picture and the appearance outside the picture. Second, just like what you said, it is very hard to paint hand well; so I want make some attempts in this aspect to challenge myself. Hu:In your “Still Life and Scene Series”, the pictures seem relatively cleaner. Xia:As a matter of fact, when I look at these paintings again, I realize that it is these paintings that best express my original thoughts, that is, they did not say or express much. I am very content if they can make people feel so. Portrait painting sometimes makes people feel that you have so much to say and express. However, still life paintings are not like this. Besides, I always believe the essence of painting is portrayal. There is no need to ramble too much.
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Awkward
works of Xia Yu
2011.12.10 - 2012.01.15

□ Artisanship and Literati Complex

Hule

Cyan, a simple but elegant color, perhaps best represents the current artistic state and cultural ideal of artist Xia Yu. Graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CCAFA) as an oil painting major, Xia Yu is nonetheless very interested in Chinese literati paintings before Yuan dynasty. In his view, cyan is the color that most appropriately represents Chinese literati traditions. However, by now, almost all of these traditions have disappeared. Therefore, Xia Yu sometimes defines himself as a “wordy bookish man”, in the hope of contributing his humble efforts to the continuation of these traditions. At the same time, he disdains his “wordiness” as well. In his eyes, the essence of painting should be “portrayal”, so “there is really no need to ramble too much.” Then, how should we interpret this kind of conflict in Xia Yu? For my part, it is more of the artist’s choice to honestly follow his heart and shoulder his responsibility than the permanent contradictions between art and society and between spirit detachment and worldly life.

Conversation: Hule= Hu
Xia Yu= Xia

Be an honest and kind man.

Hu:To begin with, would you please tell us your art learning experience briefly?
Xia:Like other kids, I enjoyed drawing pictures during my childhood, for instance, tracing illustrations. I started learning fine arts when I was a junior sophomore, and later I joined the art coaching class before the college entrance examination. I entered China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2000 and studied in Studio 3 from 2001 until my graduation in 2004.

Hu:Did the four years of college life influence you a lot?
Xia:To be honest, like many other freshmen who were young and lacked social experience, I didn’t have much art accumulation at the very beginning of my college life. For example, I didn’t have the motive that “I will draw great pictures and live a marvelous life” at that time. As a result, I was not active in any aspects of study. I fooled around and wasted as much time as I could. I often think that I have already lost to many people at the so-called “starting line of life” if there does exist such kind of starting line. On the other hand, I read a lot and I think this was the most meaningful thing I did during my college life, for those books helped me to form a clear outlook on world and on life. Although I was not sure who I was then, at least I knew what kind of person I would not be.

Hu:Then, what is the direction you find and decide to follow?
Xia:To be an honest and kind man. This is very important, because your paintings directly reflect your character. Therefore, I often tell my students that I can only teach them skills, the rest depend on themselves. I hope that they would spend more time on reading and experience more at the same time.

No preparation, no gain.

Hu:You began to teach the coaching class before the examination right after you graduated from CCAFA, right?
Xia:Yes.

Hu:Was it for earning some money?
Xia:Not exactly. As a matter of fact, I didn’t have strong desire to make money at that time. I was just wondering what else I could do if I decided to stay in Beijing. I didn’t want to hunt for a job. I didn’t want to paint, either. Besides, I could not ask my parents for money, which left me no choice but to run classes.

Hu:Why didn’t you want to paint then?
Xia:I think life is like a biological clock and part of it is for accumulation. All I can say is that I was not well prepared at that time. In fact, I seldom painted these years while I was running the classes. I was just studying skills or doing something else most of the time.

Hu:You also studied at Beijing Film Academy for some time.
Xia:Right. I studied picture photography there for half a year. Actually I have strong interest in film all the time. I wanted to shoot movies long since I graduated, but too many resources are needed. Unless you are powerful enough, it will be very hard to get it started. After that I wanted to make animated cartoons, for cartoons could be finished alone and there was no need to deal with many people. However, I later found it also improper, because, if I want to paint, I am qualified at least in terms of skills. Nevertheless, if I want to make cartoons, I have to master another language. As a result, I gave it up too. After all these wrong trails, I gradually realized what I couldn’t do and started painting again.

Hu:If you are asked to summarize your life during these six years, will you describe it as “fruitless days”?
Xia:Please allow me to cite an example. I go to bed at 12 every night and get up at 8 every morning. However, I got up at 10 o’clock this morning. You may think that the two hours were wasted. The problem is that I can’t wake up until that very moment, so you may call this “a waste of time”, or you may also call it “compensation”. What I want to say is, I need some time to do preparation, or I will achieve nothing no matter how hard I try.

A feeling of simplicity and gentleness

Hu:After you started painting again, speaking of creations, which aspects do you value most?
Xia:First, it is the word “artisanship”, because it is the foundation of all my creations. Relatively speaking, I care more about picture itself, such as composition, texture, shape, and color and so on. The next thing I value most, you may call it a kind of “literati complex”. So far, many of our cultural traditions have disappeared. Take color as an example, people often talk about colors like China red and palace yellow, which respectively represent civilian and royal aesthetic orientations only. However, in my opinion, cyan is the color that best represents Chinese literati traditions since scholars in the old times usually wore cyan gowns. Now seldom can we find such kind of color. Only monks and Taoists are trying to preserve this kind of color. Besides, “cyan” is not necessarily directly reflected in the pictures, because the ancients didn’t use “cyan” or “green” much in their paintings. Most of the time, it represents a state of mind, a feeling of simplicity and gentleness.

Hu:How do you understand the literati painting traditions of China?
Xia:You see, I think every art form has its own basic attributes. The attribute of painting is portrayal. The attribute of photography is recording. And the attribute of film is description and narration. The reason why painting was so popular during the Renaissance period was that its ability to portray nature suddenly broke out after the Middle Ages and the painting then showed its attribute of “portrayal” to a very large extent accordingly. Paintings in Song dynasty were the same. Compared with the mountains, the artists deeply felt that they were so small. They were moderate and humble, always holding the feeling of worship towards nature. However, as time goes by, the artists become more and more striking compared with the scenery. They think highly of themselves, often carrying an air of superiority. What’s more, painting with pen and ink is actually a double-edged sword. If you depend on pen and ink completely, you will focus too much on form. If the sense of form is too strong, the painting will seem hollow with no in-depth meaning. Of course, paintings before Yuan dynasty also depended on pen and ink, but the artists then hided them skillfully. If you display your ability completely and appear too aggressive, others will think you and your paintings are skittish.

Hu:Literatis seem to have a bad habit, that is, having fun, enjoying themselves, and being self-centered.
Xia:That’s right. When painting, I don’t want to take the attitude of “concentrating on and enjoying myself”. Although sometimes I can’t help focusing too much on my own feelings when painting, I always believe that it is improper for literatis to focus too much on themselves, because there is another aspect that the literati tradition emphasizes a lot, that is, the cultivation of ourselves and the responsibility of supporting family, state and even the whole world”.

They are just out of place.

Hu:I noticed that most of your creations in recent two years are portraits. Besides, you “modified” men in real life more or less when you painted them. Is it so?
Xia:Yes. My recent interest is painting man. What’s more, most of them are people around me. Certainly, some of them are “invented”. So figures in my paintings are all labeled with “Xia Yu”. On the other hand, such kind of wish will bring on a terrible consequence, that is, imposing the artist’s own world value on others. Therefore, I often remind myself not to be arrogant while painting portraits which obviously carry my own characteristics.

Hu:Most of the figures in your paintings seem to be patients. They either lie in bed or look different from others, right?
Xia:Yes. Their “illness” does not necessarily mean that they have poor physical health or a certain kind of disease. They are just out of place. They may be a little bit timid, stubborn, or lazy, which is apparently not in conformity with the vigorous and positive values of the current society. According to our present social standards, they may be psychos. They are all “ill”, but they are in good spirit. They have their own insistence and aspirations. It is their active choice to leave the stage and take the road less traveled by a little bit like a “non-violence and non-cooperation” movement.

Hu:Usually, it is very challenging to paint hands well. However, you painted about ten paintings of “Hand Series”. What are the reasons behind it?
Xia:First, I think hands have their own expressions. If I only paint human faces, people will think my paintings artificial. However, hands are much more delicate. If handled properly, it will be easy to control the balance between the emotion in the picture and the appearance outside the picture. Second, just like what you said, it is very hard to paint hand well; so I want make some attempts in this aspect to challenge myself.

Hu:In your “Still Life and Scene Series”, the pictures seem relatively cleaner.
Xia:As a matter of fact, when I look at these paintings again, I realize that it is these paintings that best express my original thoughts, that is, they did not say or express much. I am very content if they can make people feel so. Portrait painting sometimes makes people feel that you have so much to say and express. However, still life paintings are not like this. Besides, I always believe the essence of painting is portrayal. There is no need to ramble too much.

□ Artisanship and Literati Complex

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