Preface
A significant figure in the Chinese contemporary art scene, Fang Lijun has gained international fame with his iconic ‘bald head’. Throughout his creative journey, the artist has not only been deeply devoted to his artistic efforts but has also constantly engaged in a wide array of disciplines.
Taking Fang Lijun: The Light of Dust held at the Macao Museum of Art (MAM) as an example, which includes a total of 190 pieces ranging from sketches, oil paintings, woodcut prints, ceramic paintings, ink paintings to sculptures and even NFTs in sizes from A4 to 8.5 metres, the exhibition showcases the artist’s extraordinary artistry in using different media, sizes and techniques. These works, spanning over four decades, reflect the underlying artistic path that extends in a vibrant yet orderly fashion; they are humorous, peculiar, composed yet dramatic at the same time with Fang’s creative deconstruction of figure (portrait) paintings, self-portraits and caricatures and daring combination of conventional media and contemporary brushwork. His works, be they images of hollow bald-headed men, groups of weirdoes, or ink representations of friends as if captured with a Polaroid camera, are all overflowing with tension, resembling a maze full of funhouse mirrors which change their angles to reflect the age-old mystery of ‘humanity’.
‘Self’ and ‘others’ are important motifs in Fang Lijun’s works. In contrast to the famous quote by French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: ‘Hell is other people’, Fang believes ‘a life with friends is a wonderland’ and has put it frankly that ‘humans are everything for me’. During his creative process, Fang sometimes conceals his true self with the plural ‘selves’ and sometimes makes it apparent by emphasising he figures’ features, using the unique ‘others’ as mirrors. In other words, be they warped self-portraits or faithful figure paintings, or the ‘spiritual absence while being present’ he has purposefully rendered in his works, the artist’s choices of whether or not to visualise the self-image or to reveal the figures’ identity are repeated deliberations about the self, others and social relations.
‘The Light of Dust’ is derived from the Chinese idiom ‘concealing one’s brilliance to merge with the dust’. It is particularly meaningful for this ‘human’-centred exhibition to be hostedin Macao, the city with close interpersonal relationships and the highest population density. We can not only see from the exhibits the ‘self’ who is sometimes solitary, wayward and disguised among people and the ‘others’ who are flesh and blood with weaknesses and souls attached, but also face ‘all beings’ through the works created by the artist in recent years and especially during the pandemic. Nowadays, when the streetscapes of people looking alike are part of our dailylife and social distancing has gradually become our habit, the long unseen, real and lively human faces behind the masks are something that we hold particularly dear.
It is essential for artists to establish a foothold by constructing distinctive visual languages without self-constraints. In contemporary art, ‘motivation’ often comes first and, like putting the cart before the horse, paradigms and routines are sometimes regarded as a shortcut to success. The unwavering routine taken by Fang Lijun is not about the form but is human- centred, with each and every work of his adhering to the same core idea of ‘how a human represents humans’. An abstract background is adopted for most of his works, with the sense of space rendered merely with the images of sky and water. By striving to remove figurative backgrounds and narrative, the artist urges viewers to focus more on the living circumstances of the subject, allowing the disillusionment of the times and collective confusion and anxiety to manifest naturally through the condition of the figures, which is also one of Fang Lijun’s strengths that has contributed to his prominence in the art circle.
Fang said: ‘Painting is about depicting people’s minds’. Before visiting this exhibition, viewers are recommended to tear off the labels such as ‘Rascal (popi) Culture’ or ‘Cynical Realism’, refrain from regarding his art as a return from ‘symbolised figures’ to ‘figurative figures’, and wander around the exhibition hall to truly feel the ever-changing human souls and the indescribable ‘discomfort’ in his works.
Take Fang’s ink figure paintings in recent years as an example. He pays more attention to the inherent spirit and essence of the figures than to the flesh and blood or the composition. Be they predecessors, friends or celebrities, the figures are all exaggerated to the extent of deformation, showing various expressions common to all men, such as head scratching, frowning and eye rolling. These extraordinary figures in ink, ranging from self-mocking idols, cynical-selves to the humorously depicted others, are slightly softer and more light-hearted than before, yet still give a sense of nightmarish ‘discomfort’ that is representative of Fang, reminding viewers of the lingering curiosity, alertness, incompatibility, self-restraint tendency and even the desire to overstep the boundaries when surrounded by a large group of people. The overwhelming stir of life, which has lasted for almost half a century to this day since the artist started to learn painting, is truly rare.
The success of ‘The Light of Dust’ exhibition is attributable to the support from the Guangdong Museum of Art and the Archives of Contemporary Art of China. As the largest artefact and art museum in Macao and an important platform under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau to promote culture and art, MAM upholds the humanitarian approach and the mission of leading aesthetic appreciation and encourages contemplation on art through diverse exhibitions. MAM has continuously held exhibitions of great Chinese contemporary artists, hoping to present the profound context and complexity of Chinese contemporary art from Asian and international perspectives.
The so-called entanglement of ‘self’ and ‘others’ is nothing more than knowing both ourselves and others well so as to get a solid foothold and live at ease in society. ‘Human’ is the eternal subject for artists, as the most touching essence of art starts from life and also ends with life.
Un Sio San
Director of the Macao Museum of Art