In the Six Dynasties period, Zong Bing wrote, \u201cThe cliffs and peaks rise to dazzling heights and the cloudy forests are dense and vast; the wise and virtuous men of ancient times found innumerable pleasures which they assimilated by their souls and minds.\u201d\u00a0He was already articulating a theory of landscape painting,\u00a0although it could not be compared to later landscape paintings that had their own aesthetic significance. After gradual development in the Sui and Tang periods, landscape became truly independent of figures, oxen, and horses by the Song dynasty. As Guo Ruoxu wrote,\u00a0\u201cWith regard to Buddhist and Daoist figures,\u00a0palace\u00a0maids, oxen, and horses, the recent is inferior to the ancient. With regard to mountains, waters, forests, stones, flowers, bamboo, and birds, the ancient is inferior to the recent.\u201d\u00a0In the Song and Yuan, not to mention the Ming and Qing, dynasties, artists pushed landscape painting to the peak of perfection, but this was not simply a change in an art form or creative methodology; philosophical ideas based on economics and real life\u00a0informed this complete system of visual symbols.<\/p>\n
For modern people confronting different landscapes and moods,\u00a0what kind of experience should shanshui\u00a0(traditional Chinese landscape painting) offer?\u00a0Can you imagine the landscape one thousand years ago?\u00a0Here, in the black and white, as well as the countless subtle shades of grey, mountains and waters are identifiable yet unidentifiable. In a space in which time stretches infinitely, they seem to represent a\u00a0vast, level distance,\u00a0calm yet melancholy. The depicted past and present seem to turn the clock back to the golden age of melancholy landscapes. Perhaps because of the assumptions of histories and anecdotes,\u00a0ceremonies and traditions,\u00a0these landscapes attempt to reveal power. The Western cast bronze sculpture and the porcelain incense box with bird feather patterning cannot be described precisely with words. There are also scenes comprised of different times, objects,\u00a0and people that collectively constitute the place in which you find yourself.<\/p>\n
Liao Mingming has called some of his recent work\u00a0\u201cTangpu,\u201d\u00a0developed around his painting, collections, and lifestyle. Liao was born in Anhui, and he began studying calligraphy and painting at a young age. After graduation, he worked at an art magazine and he studied ancient calligraphy and painting, as well as porcelain,\u00a0gardens, opera,\u00a0and tea.\u00a0He often engages with the past and present through traditional Chinese landscape painting. Like the majority of Chinese artists living in this era, he is experimenting with languages, methods, backgrounds, and materials while confronting the mediums of traditional art and the context of contemporary art. When engaging with the style and scope of landscape,\u00a0Liao Mingming\u00a0is moved by tradition, but he similarly realizes that, as a modern person, the genre must change, and he actively seeks out ways of transforming traditional visual content and presentation methods. In a way, he chooses to begin from his own way of life, condensing an exploration of ancient sources in\u00a0space and integrating life experience. Full of traces\u00a0and reflections, these objects, works of art, and the stories they inspire shape his way of engaging with and understanding landscape. Liao Mingming returns to\u00a0landscape from\u00a0landscape, which was his way of looking after himself.<\/p>\n
Landscape is the source of \u201cTangpu,\u201d which became Liao Mingming\u2019s way of interpreting traditional culture and engaging with everyday life. The project is not limited to aesthetic pursuits; it is more often a spiritual or values judgment. Here, I\u00a0do not see it as a\u00a0simple image or referenced text; it is a process of considering and advancing subjective identity. This stems from the complexity of the classical Chinese landscape, but the project also involves more complicated backgrounds and references in the context of contemporary art, as well as the ambition that Liao expressed when he initiated \u201cTangpu.\u201d The diversity and complexity of the project has already transcended the content of two-dimensional painting. These are the advantages and challenges of \u201cTangpu\u201d as an artistic entity. The discussions that it could inspire, specifically in combination with the museum as a public space, gives the idea the ability to expand outward. The project has more possible meanings and discussions\u00a0than conventionally-presented works, but it will take time before we can give it a precise definition.<\/p>\n
Liao Mingming\u2019s work is rich and deep, and in his artworks, we can see the influence that the ancient sensibility has had on him. He sees his work as an obsession with spiritual cleanliness, engaging more deeply with the evaluation, appropriation, and transformation of traditional sources from the perspective of cultural spirit. He freely uses the language of ink to reveal his sensory world, expressing a\u00a0focus on life, an appraisal of tradition and modernity, and an understanding of everyday life. Today,\u00a0Liao Mingming once again comes to Chengdu. In\u00a0Twenty Frames, we see that\u00a0\u201cthe wind blows away the mist and the obstructions to painting.\u201d\u00a0Bu Cun Zai\u00a0(meaning \u201cit does not exist\u201d) conveys the sense that\u00a0\u201cthe unrestrained, leisurely mind accords with heaven, earth, and all things.\u201d\u00a0Dongpo braised pork belly also makes an appearance at the banquet; as they say, \u201cMild is the fire, shallow is the water, give it time, and it will be divine.\u201d\u00a0Feeling, consciousness, flavor, and taste are what really\u00a0brought \u201cTangpu\u201d to Sichuan.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":3386,"template":"","categories":[1],"exhibitions_category":[42,43],"class_list":["post-3399","exhibitions","type-exhibitions","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a4-art-museum","exhibitions_category-yishujiagean","exhibitions_category-xinanyishushengtai"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions\/3399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/exhibitions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3399"},{"taxonomy":"exhibitions_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a4artmuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions_category?post=3399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}