The 22nd "Jiangnan Spring" Art Exhibition Opening Printmaking | Art | Works Exhibition
On June 30th, the opening ceremony of the 22nd "Jiangnan Spring" Art Exhibition was held at the Art and Culture Space of the Jiukeshu Future Art Center in Fengxian, including Jinshan Farmer's Painting, Baoshan Yangxing Blow Sculpture Printmaking, Songjiang Silk Screen Printmaking, Jiading Bamboo Carving, Zhejiang Zhoushan Fisherman's Painting, Suzhou Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Painting, and Anhui Qingyang Farmer's Painting. The 154 exhibition works mainly focus on folk folk art such as farmer's paintings and prints, and also cover multiple art categories such as traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings, comic books, New Year pictures, bamboo carving, Paper Cuttings, etc., with thick regional characteristics, strong era characteristics and strong flavor of life, showing the overall face of the Yangtze River Delta Group's cultural and artistic creation in an all-round way.
Pay attention to traditional Shanghai style folk art
The "Spring of Jiangnan" came from the fields and fields in the early 1980s, and the exhibition mainly focused on farmer paintings and folk customs. With the continuous development of the times and the continuous improvement of citizen aesthetic education, art exhibitions have begun to incorporate art categories such as Chinese painting, oil painting, and comprehensive materials. Based on the theme positioning of each session, emphasis and adjustments have been made to the types of paintings. Although exhibitions have gradually developed into comprehensive art exhibitions, the focus on traditional Shanghai style folk art has always been on the positioning of "Jiangnan Spring".
This year's art exhibition adopts the methods of soliciting submissions from the Shanghai region and inviting exhibitors from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. After half a year of preparation, more than 3000 submissions were received from cultural centers and individual channels in various districts of the city. After various levels of selection, 124 award-winning and selected works were finally selected, as well as 30 invited works from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, totaling 154 works were exhibited. The judges believe that the overall level of "Jiangnan Spring" has reached a new level.
Chen Di, the project leader of the City Qun Art Museum, introduced that as time goes by, the "Jiangnan Spring" art exhibition continues to integrate and expand, with more fresh blood joining. The works gradually present a new pattern of diversification, combining tradition and modernity. The categories of works are more diverse, and traditional folk art has also expanded and improved in terms of materials and content. The expression techniques are endless, and traditional art is shining with new brilliance.
The exhibition is divided into three sections: "Looking at Shanghai" depicting the urban atmosphere of Shanghai; "Gongjiangnan" presents cultural works from various regions in the Yangtze River Delta; "Hua Zhang" depicts the beautiful modern life of citizens from daily life, major events, and other aspects.
The first prize winner, Liu Jingjing, a cultural cadre from Jinshan District Cultural Center, comes from a professional background. Her farmer painting "Between the Stoves" uses materials such as acrylic, and her composition and color expression are refreshing. Liu Jingjing stated that her goal is to enable farmer paintings to spiral up and innovate like other types of paintings.
The first prize work, Chen Xiaoyun's black and white woodcut "I Love Chinese Good Opera - Liang Zhu", chose black and white woodcut to depict the Yue opera "Liang Zhu". It borrowed typical forms of expression from folk wooden New Year paintings such as couplets and framed curtains, and used a relatively straightforward knife technique to make the shape and overall black and white distribution more crisp. The traditional Chinese painting "Scales and Towers" combines a large number of urban buildings in an orderly manner to form a full composition work. The author Qiao Xiaoyan combines contemporary art language with Chinese painting through pure ink elements, both virtual and practical, showcasing the prosperous scene of urban construction in Shanghai. Ma Jie, the author, recorded the happy atmosphere of the citizens and tourists on the Jiuqu Bridge in Yu Garden by means of farmer paintings in her Beautiful Lantern Around the Curved Bridge.
The linkage of art creation in the Yangtze River Delta region blows a new trend
Since the implementation of the "Yangtze River Delta Integration" strategy, Shanghai has always focused on the linkage of cultural and artistic creation in the Yangtze River Delta region. Starting from the 21st "Jiangnan Spring" in 2021, the art exhibition is widely soliciting works from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, adopting a combination of targeted solicitation and invitation to participate, further radiating the brand effect to the Yangtze River Delta region. This exhibition has opened up a special segment for the Yangtze River Delta region of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui - "a total of Jiangnan". Paper Cuttings, bamboo sticks, New Year pictures, fishermen's paintings, farmer's paintings, straw paintings... bring a Jiangnan style to the audience.
The traditional stilt performance form in Dongwang Village, Longhe Town, Sucheng District, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province has a history of nearly 500 years and is one of the intangible cultural heritages of Suqian City. Author Sun Yiwei's farmer paintings use watercolor pigments, with slightly exaggerated images, vivid colors, and childish techniques that give people visual impact and aesthetic enjoyment.
Feng Liping's grass weaving painting "Sunflowers" in Zhejiang Province is made of locally grown rush grass in Ningbo, carefully woven using various unique weaving techniques. Grass is a vigorous and vibrant plant, woven to become delicate and full. Anhui Fan Jie's oil painting "The Story of Huizhou" is inspired by the flowers, grass, scenery, and objects of Huizhou, documenting the fireworks life of Huizhou people.
Expand space and showcase the charm of special groups
Based on the Shanghai Citizen Culture Festival platform, this year's "Jiangnan Spring" art exhibition is still focused on promoting the development of group culture and art.
Among the exhibited works, there are two special award-winning authors. Xu Feng's black and white printmaking "City Rider" won third prize, while Tang Chunhui's printmaking "Jiangnan Tubu II" won the Excellent Award. After the results came out, the judges found out that the two selected authors for the Fengxian black and white printmaking creation demonstration site were those with hearing and language barriers. "City Rider" captures typical daily scenes of delivery boys, while "Jiangnan Tu Bu" presents the texture of the fabric through printmaking and rubbing, using abstract elements of fabric art and group painting forms.
"Some students with hearing and language impairments and ordinary students maintain barrier free learning, creation, and communication together." Qu Jun, the person in charge of the Fengxian Black and White Printmaking Creation Demonstration Site, is also a person with hearing and language impairments. They have been cultivating and building a core printmaking team since 2016, inviting different teachers to share various art styles. Nowadays, most students have progressed from zero foundation to forming their own artistic language, gradually emerging in national and municipal art exhibitions.
The "Jiangnan Spring" Art Exhibition not only carries the development trajectory of Shanghai's mass culture and art, but also grows into a popular, iconic, and authoritative brand art exhibition in the Shanghai art world. Secretary General and Judge Ding Shi of the Shanghai Artists Association look forward to more people participating, paying attention to and exploring Shanghai's local culture, integrating local culture with current creations, and jointly practicing and exploring better use of artistic language for national and even global dissemination.
The exhibition is jointly organized by Shanghai Mass Art Museum, Shanghai Artists Association, and Shanghai Fengxian District Cultural and Tourism Bureau.
