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Tang Qingnian - Known and Understood
Huang Du
I first met Tang Qingnian in 1988 when I had just graduated from university and was assigned to work at Meishu magazine, where he was working as the vice director of editorial house. Though we became colleagues at that time, I was young and new to society; as my elder, Tang Qingnian imparted much positive and memorable feedback. As one of the key participants in the contemporary art scene at the time, he was involved in organizing the China Avant-garde Art Exhibition (1989). His critiques were often published in Meishu and China Art Newspaper. In the first half of 1991 we left the editorial at almost the same time; he went to the U.S., and I went to Italy. We lost contact for seventeen years until recently meeting again in Beijing. Tang Qingnian is still humble, energetic, and eloquent. When he invited me to write about his work, I was honored.
Although Tang Qingnian has received an excellent education in art – he is a graduate of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts – he has maintained the innate instincts of an artist, which not only allows him to express his diverse and unique imagination, but also to represent his insights and analyses on social and cultural issues. An example is his unique view on life at a quotidian level: sickness in the hospital is cured with medication or complex chemical solutions; a commoner's life is fulfilled by a series of complex artificial products from complex processing involving DNA modification, chemical induction, packaging and transportation, as well as market manipulation. He sees the fulfillment of people's lives as two different forms of existence.
In my view, Tang Qingnian's attitude toward both traditional art and contemporary art is unconstrained. In regards to art, he does not want to categorize, stereotype, conceptualize or stylize it, but would rather transcend the two ends of the dichotomy, choose freely, filter, expand and explore the implications of art. In other words, he can not only explore and discover new possibilities in traditional art, but also experiment and search for new concepts and approaches in contemporary artistic practices. As is evidenced by his work, traditional paintings involve calligraphic elements. Looking more closely at his work, we notice his skill in the execution of the brush – dynamic use of lines that are vivid and uninhibited. More specifically, his calligraphy is imbued with the essence of stele calligraphy and letters. Not only has he adopted the solidity and volume characteristic of Han and Wei dynasty steles, but he also mixes the fluidity and freedom of Song and Yuan dynasty style calligraphy through writing that is natural and unconstrained – writing that shows a genuine command of the aesthetics of writing.
My first impression upon seeing Tang Qingnian’s ink paintings was one of surprise; this is because his compositions are embodied by the combination of lines that are executed, in essence, calligraphically. We can see that he is meticulous about rendering the tone and implication of the artwork, that he has appropriated ink painting for this purpose, and that he manipulates the relationship between rendition of ink and the flowing of lines. He unites their rhythm and tone into one composition, not only allowing for fluidity, but also allowing the weighty quality of ink painting to surface. He understands that “calligraphy and painting sharing the same origin” is something implicit, and from this he absorbs, transforms and engenders new art forms. He manifests traditional aesthetics in his execution of the brush rather than projecting it at a superficial level. The works are a manifestation of both traditional aesthetics and contemporary ideology based on the minimal aesthetics of traditional painting. Tang has constructed a new contemporary language via a “disharmonious” approach.
Aside from traditional painting, Tang Qingnian’s experimentation with conceptual art is also worthy of attention. He has broken away from realms of “ready-made art” and arte povera, and is more interested in the analysis of the internal relationships between social reality and the commonplace. Just as the British art historian Herbert Read points out in The Philosophy of Modern Art, contemporary art is a spiritual reflection of our lives in modern society; if we cannot comprehend and appreciate contemporary art, we are unable to understand the true meaning our of lives at present. Precisely for this reason, the artist Tang Qingnian has scrutinized this dynamic yet complex world from a rational and microscopic perspective: everything is interconnected and indispensable. Tang also clearly indicates that, aside from the constant changes in people’s lifestyles, mores, rationales and psychology consequential of modern society, we cannot neglect other crucial topics related to human existence, such as energy, consumption, pollution, war, race, violence, poverty, migration and other social and cultural issues.
Within such a social and cultural context, Tang Qingnian’s art does not aim to expand on identity politics, but rather to emerge from the perspective of social reality: a perspective in which the artist adopts abstract conceptual art to represent unpredictable social characteristics intertwined with temporality, ephemerality and coincidence. It is this temporal and momentary embodiment of artistic beauty – one consisting of pieces, fragments, fractures, happiness and gratification – that is not only embedded in temporality, but injected into eternity as well. The boundless desire and energy exerted from a strict social system supported by “rationale” and “capital” generates modern development at the speed of light, and such boundless social development is like a wild horse without reigns; even humans cannot fully comprehend such lack of self-control. This is an exact reflection of the contemporaneity of modern society, an antagonism woven with sorrow and joy; even though people are profoundly confused, helpless and anxious, they are also excited, energetic, ecstatic. Confronted with such a complex and contradictory social reality, he has developed his insights, imagination, criticism and expression, and has analyzed the condition of contemporary society with his distinctive artistic language; he has differentiated between the human spirit and the conditions of everyday life. Tang Qingnian’s work appropriates concepts of pop art, ready-made objects, collage, and methods of appropriation to represent his personal concern for humanity. His works not only criticize the desires of consumerism, but also cynically comment on and reenact post-modernism; the work not only embodies his interpretation of social reality, but also offers his analysis on culture in progress. Tang Qingnian puts forth a kind of inventiveness, freedom and passionate artistic quality. His art balances a positive spirit with a solemn attitude of social criticism.
(Translated by Fiona He)
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