Historical Testimony—On the Works of ZHANG Jie and HE Jinwei in The Intersection of Time
By/Wang Chunchen
Today,we often raise questions about history。First,what is history? Second,is there a certain history or not? Third,how does history exist? Since the ancient times,history has been a chain of time that extends seamlessly and endlessly。We can hardly assume its starting and ending points。Compared with the immemoriality and continuity,human existence is only ephemeral。In the face of the vast universe,human fate seems to be tragic。
And in the present,we are caught in the state of ignorance,since we don‘t know whether it’s the inevitability of history that leads us here or history has been like today all the time。But we are all clearly and physically experiencing and realizing all the changes in our lives,even some drastic ones。Scenery and people can all be new and strange。In today’s society,on one side,there are dazzling neon lights and numerous high-rises,and on the other side,the large-scale disappearance of the past things。When cities are expanding without restriction and devouring the green lands unscrupulously,what we gain are not home but endless lust and perturbed humanity。
What kind of history is this? What are the causes for such results? The reality is both in this moment and in the history,since the past no longer exists and the future is being changed。If history is a record,we can only be faithful to it;if history is a memory,we can only paint it with pigment that never fades;if history is going to embrace the future,then these canvas should be the physical evidence in the future,proving that at the beginning of 21st Century there is a group of people who have produced some paintings and writings for keeping our attention away from oblivion。
These are the deeds of people who have the sense of history。ZHANG Jie and HE Jinwei are artists who come from the Sichuan and Chongqing region of China。Born in the 1950s and 1960s,they have gone through the Cultural Revolution,Chinese society’s opening up in the 1980s,the market transformation in the 1990s,and the profound social fission from the beginning of 21st Century till now。This life and living background is no longer their personal experience,but the portrayal of the whole era and the mental journey of a couple of generations in this era。The whole social transformation is shocking:living in such an environment,what they see and the information they receive every day are the large-scale urban expansion,the disappearance of rural green lands。More importantly,people are encoded in a new way,which means all the old and preexisting modes are remolded,and people’s identities are undergoing unprecedented situations and changes。The houses,streets,and neighbourhoods that have been lived by the past several generations all disappeared,along with all the memories。When they are replaced by brand new urban architectures constructed by steel and concrete,we can only hope this is the birth of new history where new generations will come onto the stage and be able to safeguard their home and belief。ZHANG Jie uses his skilled brushes to recount the contrast between these historical scenes and the reality。While time does not freeze in reality,it freezes in under his brush。His The Story of Empty-Nest Elderly serial works are both the historical depiction of the real China and the visual literature for archaeology in the future。Here streets and allies are no longer carriers of the poem but the helplessness of history and the regret of future。
亚洲现场陈家大院项目 Chen‘s Yard Project of Asia Scen Art Space 2016
These paintings are not created by painter’s brush,but by the historical moments。Reality crushes the history and reorganizes the history;reality erases the memory and plants new genes into it。The situation for people in reality has already exceeded our imagination:all the left-behind children can equal to real sadness and tears of their relatives。HE Jinwei’s has created a series of realistic works themed on the theme of left-behind children in recent years,and these children have become a scar ironed on his heart。He is constantly seeking the traces of memory and trying to preserve the time,hoping those children who are living in the same land as ours have a healthy and complete childhood。However,these most sincere and daily meanings of life are broken,which makes HE Jinwei sign and feeling sad at heart。Is this our land? Are these children our next generation? Is this the future created by own hands? Children will always be the inevitable continuation of human beings,and we all grow up from childhood。So what does incomplete childhood means? Due to social transformation,distorted social structure,and boundaries of social identities,alienation is taking place in China,which leads to the separation of thousands of families。Children are living distantly from their parents,parents find no way to meet their missing for children,and children are losing parental love and suffering emotionally and spiritually。If this sort of separation only takes place in several families,we cannot call it the tragic of history;if the pains are only in several Souls,we cannot criticize it as the absurdity of reality。But the situation is different from this assumption。The reality is that millions of people in China are suffering this sadness and pain,and millions of families are experiencing separation。What a tragic and cold reality it is!
I once visited HE Jinwei’s hometown with him and saw a newly built temple and a Buddha statue inside the temple under the mountain rock。A giant reclining Buddha is lying under the cliff,with extravagant red and golden decoration。Inside the three-layer temple,there are Bodhisattva statue,Luohan statue,and folklore gods and Daoism figure statues。Their glamor and luxuriousness derive from the desperation of local people,who devoted their utmost passion to these decorations for the purpose of having a place that safeguards their inner peace。All the wish is to be free from turbulence and sufferings。Praying for afterlife peace is absurd in reality! The reality of today’s society should be harmonious and peaceful and should march towards progress,rationality and modern civilization。But what the reality brings to people are endless regrets and worries。
ZHANG Jie’s empty nest series and HE Jinwei’s left-behind children series have constructed the two dimensions of scene and people,which talks with one another in dialogues。One group reveals the vanity of reality with rich colors and the other group express the graveness of reality with black and white。In these two series,history and reality are lasting reflections;in the mutual gazing between history and reality,the intersection of time during this centurial transformation is even more pronounced。ZHANG Jie and HE Jinwei use their historical approach to record and present the scenes of China,which leaves proof for future and alert for today。It is true that we will never be able to arrive at the Faramita of future。Therefore,we can only fulfill the responsibilities of a person with integrity,pursuit and conscience in reality。How can we realize the salvation of mankind? Will Messiah come again? All the attitudes on human beings,both Western and Oriental,have become our most pressing concern。
While living on the earth,we can only conscientiously and relentlessly express our existence in the reality through writing and painting,praying that the history will not。
June 6,2017,Beijing