Why him?, The first special exhibition after the reopening of Shanghai Museum East Hall is here! A new series of modern and contemporary art masters is launched
Starting from July 3, the exhibition "Thousands of Years of Thoughts: Chen Shiying's Half Century of Jewelry Art" will be open to the public at the East Hall of the Shanghai Museum. This exhibition is not only the first special exhibition after the reopening of the East Hall of the Shanghai Museum, but also the first exhibition in the Shanghai Museum's "Pick up Wisdom from Ancient and Modern Times" series of modern and contemporary art masters.
Chen Shiying is one of the most important contemporary jewelry artists in China in the 21st century. This exhibition will display more than 200 of his works, which is also his largest personal art exhibition in the world.
Why was this artist chosen? Today, the reporter went to the exhibition to find out.
The Return of the King, collected by the Shanghai Museum. Photo by Lai Xinlin
The entrance to the first special exhibition hall of Bright Dairy in the Shanghai Museum's East Hall is decorated to look like the bracelet of Chen Shiying's work "The Return of the King" which has been collected by the Shanghai Museum. As the exhibition hall is like a mountain, the jewelry artworks are displayed in the space decorated with art installations, as if floating in the space, with light and shadow swaying. "This can be said to be the 'most beautiful exhibition' in the history of the Shanghai Museum." At a previous press conference, Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum, revealed that not only are the exhibits themselves beautiful, but the exhibition design is also different from the exhibitions familiar to the audience, and complements the exhibits.
"Understanding the Cicada and Knowing Jade" is one of Chen Shiying's representative works. When Chen Shiying became an apprentice in gem carving in 1973, the first challenge he encountered was carving a jade cicada. "Cicada" and "Zen" have the same pronunciation and rich connotations in traditional Chinese culture. This 2012 work is Chen Shiying's nearly 40 years of thinking on this subject, and is displayed alone in a space. Walking into this space, a huge cicada is hanging upside down above your head. Looking into the exhibition booth, the cicada, which is made mainly of jade, is lying on bamboo leaves. The veins of the bamboo leaves are the patterns that often appear on ancient bronzes. In the background, on the background made of metal mesh that looks like ruins, there are plain cicadas, which remind people of the meaning of "rebirth" contained in the cicada.
Several titanium flower installations in the exhibition hall attracted attention. In addition to the graceful petals, the fine and complex metal carving patterns and the stamens transformed into butterflies, through multiple mirror reflections, the audience standing in front of the installation can see different sides of the flower. Such installations correspond to the jewelry cutting technology named after Chen Shiying, "Shiying Cut". It was this gem cutting technology that was created in 1987 that established his status as a master engraver.
The mirror design allows you to see different sides of the installation artwork.
On the platform opposite the flowers, there are many works that use this technology to cut gemstones. One brooch is called "Spring Goddess", with a huge crystal inlaid in the middle of the tulip shape, and the image of the goddess in the middle of the crystal. In addition to the front face, you can also see the side view of the goddess from different angles at the same time.
To achieve this visual effect, one needs to first chisel away at the back of the crystal, carve the image of the goddess inwards, and then cut and polish the front and sides of the crystal to create a multiple mirror effect that reflects the carving inside.
This kind of carving technique, in contrast to traditional Chinese jade carving which directly carves out the appearance on the jade, is to "dig" out the specific image inside the stone. Although there is also a "magic cut" in the West represented by the German Manstein family, which uses geometric lines to cut, the "Shiying cut" has more of the concreteness and delicacy of oriental carving, while carving on the back of the stone and then reflecting it from the front.
In the exhibition, many patented technologies such as "Shiying Cut" are reflected in the exhibits one by one. There is also an "easter egg" in the exhibition that hides the artist's tribute to craftsmen and skills: in a corner of the exhibition hall, many jewelry cutting and inlaying tools are displayed in a narrow space, and through the "Shiying Cut" reflection, this space has become open and rich. In another booth, a piece of jewelry is disassembled to show the whole process of making a work.
Exhibition "Easter Eggs" - Jewelry Making "Tool Box".
"During Mr. Chen Shiying's 50-year creative career, he had many opportunities to embark on another path of 'commercial empire' through his inventions. Any transfer of technical patents for his inventions could bring huge economic benefits. But he gave up this path." Chu Xiaobo felt that Chen Shiying "had a strong sense of national responsibility" during his long-term contact with him. "In the past, the right to speak in the field of jewelry creation has always been in the hands of the West. Mr. Chen Shiying pursued the pinnacle with such a sense of responsibility, just to tell the world that China's traditional culture is no less than any Western civilization. Through his creations, the West also realized that Chinese people also have strong creativity in the field of jewelry."
The exhibition features the collision and integration of Eastern and Western cultures, and the inheritance and development of ancient and modern wisdom. In the middle of the exhibition hall, twelve independent display cabinets are connected at the bottom to form a circle, reminiscent of ancient instruments for observing celestial phenomena. The twelve works on display here form the "Wheel of Time", with the twelve zodiac signs as the theme. The twelve animals are connected head to tail in a three-dimensional sculpture format, and the corresponding zodiac signs are particularly highlighted.
In order to let the audience see this difference and connection, the exhibition also exhibited a number of cultural relics from different periods and regions. Chen Shiying's works are famous for butterflies. In addition to a whole wall of his butterfly works with different styles and postures, the exhibition also displays Ming Dynasty jade butterflies from the Shanghai Museum and an Art Nouveau butterfly pendant from the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, which was created by the outstanding French goldsmith Lucien Gaillard around 1900. Next to another peacock-themed work by Chen Shiying, "Goddess Hera", there are peacock works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the famous Art Nouveau designer René Lalique, and an ancient Chinese phoenix-shaped kingfisher hairpin.
The peacock and the traditional Chinese phoenix inlaid with kingfisher feathers made by Lalique.
"When I create works, the works are also creating me." Chen Shiying hopes that the audience can understand from these works how the technological innovation brought by science and technology is integrated with the wisdom of the ancients, and how they communicate with various materials in different fields to become works at the spiritual and philosophical level. "I especially hope that the exhibition can inspire young people to cross boundaries, fields, and materials in their studies, which is also the driving force for my continuous innovation."
Tickets for the special exhibition "Thousand Years of Thoughts: Chen Shiying's Half Century of Jewelry Art" will be sold through the Shanghai Museum's official WeChat applet and on-site ticket offices. Visitors can enter the "Shanghai Museum Visit Reservation" applet, or go to the ticket office on the first floor of the East Hall or the self-service ticket machine to purchase tickets. The exhibition will run from July 3 to October 7, 2024.
"Shanghai Museum was positioned as an art museum when it was first established. In addition to ancient art, it naturally also includes modern and contemporary art." Chu Xiaobo said in his speech at the exhibition that paying attention to, studying, collecting and displaying the essence of modern and contemporary art can not only expand new horizons and resonate with the times, but also "collect the present for the future." He said that the newly planned and launched "Shi Hui Gu Jin" series of exhibitions of modern and contemporary art masters will focus on modern and contemporary artists who enjoy a high reputation at home and abroad in various fields, gather classic works, innovate display methods, interpret humanistic spirit, and follow the masters to draw wisdom and inspiration from traditional culture. The series will select modern and contemporary art masters who are highly influential at home and abroad and unanimously recognized internationally in various art fields.
Chen Shiying is the first Chinese jewelry artist in history to be invited to participate in the Paris Antiques Biennale, TEFAF European Art Fair, and London Masters Art Fair. His works are permanently collected by internationally renowned museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the British Museum, and he has pioneered Chinese contemporary jewelry art on the international stage.
