“Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army: Travel in the Country — Exhibition of Li Xianghong’s Works” Is Opened at ZJAM

pubdate: 2017/8/31   author: zjam  source: zjam  click:

Sponsored by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and organized by ZJAM and Zhejiang Artists Association, “Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army: Travel in the Country — Exhibition of Li Xianghong’s Works” was opened at ZJAM in the morning of August 31. Liang Pingbo, former deputy secretary of Zhejiang CPC Provincial Committee, announced the opening of the exhibition. Diao Yuquan, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture; Ying Jinfei, deputy curator of ZJAM and vice chairman of Zhejiang Artists Association; Major General Huang Baifu, former director of No.2 Division of China PLA General Political Department; Wu Shanming, a professor of China Academy of Art; Li Baochun, deputy secretary of Dongyang CPC Municipal Committee; Li Xianghong, the exhibition artist, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony, respectively. Leaders and guests attending the opening ceremony included: Major General Li Jiangtan, former deputy commander of the East China Sea Fleet; Major General Wang Rongzhou, former president of Beijing Armed Police and Regimental Police Academy; Major General Wei Liru, deputy director of the Political Department of the East China Sea Fleet; Major General Chen Shihui, deputy director of the Political Department of Air force of the Beijing Military Region; Lou Guohua, director of the   Zhejiang Provincial CPPCC Agricultural and Rural Work Committee; Chen Qirong, vice president of China Writers Association; Jiang Zhenming, secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang Police College; Shi Ying, deputy director of the Art Division of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture; Du Qun, deputy secretary of the Party Branch and deputy curator of ZJAM; Tao Chenghua, chairman of Jinhua Municipal CPPCC; Pan Honghai, honorary president of Zhejiang Academy of Painting; Shi Junyi, deputy secretary-general of Zhejiang Artists Association; Zhang Zixiang, chairman of Hangzhou Artists Association; Bai Xiaojun, vice president of Guangxi Normal University. The opening ceremony was chaired by Yu Liangfeng, deputy director of ZJAM.

At the opening ceremony, Diao Yuquan spoke highly of the exhibition. He mentioned that: Soldiers had sincere and warm feelings. The exhibition held at the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA both expressed the joy of a soldier and reflected homesickness of a Zhejiang native who wanders outside his hometown. From Li Xianghong’s landscape paintings, we could feel the broad vision of a soldier and a romantic feeling of a scholar. These were the valiant temperature and ink character that were naturally revealed from the true love for the great country. He hoped that this exhibition could further promote the local art masters, highlight the humanistic spirit of Zhejiang natives, and contribute to the building of a “cultural Zhejiang”. He also expressed the hope that ZJAM could play a leading role in establishing exchanges and cooperation with domestic and foreign artists, especially Zhejiang artists, in the second half of the year, and plan a series of high-profile cultural and art events under the guidance of the core values of socialism, around the theme of the Chinese dream, and on the basis of the excellent Chinese culture to sing of the Chinese spirit. ZJAM could make these attempts to create a good social and cultural atmosphere and meet the 19th CPC National Congress with outstanding achievements.

Approaching from the life stories and experiences of Li Xianghong, Ying Jinfei elaborated the cause for the natural and free artistic temperament of the artist, analyzed and summarized the artistic style of Li Xianghong’s works from multiple dimensions such as the Western painting, aesthetics, space, ink use, and level, and praised him as a military painter who brought us a magnificent exhibition and added remarkable splendor to the series activities designed to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the army.

Major General Huang Baifu, Professor Wu Shanming, and Deputy Secretary Li Baochun also congratulated on the opening of the exhibition and wished the exhibition a complete success!

Professor Wu Shanming, in particular, spoke highly of the artist’s passion about life and landscape and his selfless dedication to art reflected in his artistic creations.

In the afternoon, an “Art Seminar about Li Xianghong’s Landscape art Paintings” was held. Experts from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, China Academy of Art, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese National Academy of Arts, the National Art Museum of China, Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Academy of Painting, and Guangxi Normal University participated in the seminar. The seminar was co-chaired by Guo Xinghua, a curator and executive editor of the Art and Calligraphy of the People’s Liberation Army, and Huang Danhui, an academic director and researcher of the National Art Museum of China. The seminar was in a warm atmosphere, and the experts spoke highly of Li Xianghong’s artistic achievements and made sincere suggestions. Li Xianghong said in his speech that the exhibition was not only a report to the hometown fellows, but also a summary of his art practice and a revisit to the art thought of the “Zhejiang school”.

Li Xianghong was born in 1960 in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, and joined the army in 1978. He is now the deputy director of the Institute of Art and Calligraphy of the PLA Academy of Military Science, a senior colonel, a researcher, and a member of the China Artists Association. The profound cultural heritage and beautiful natural scenery of the hometown are endless inspiration for his art creations. Over the past 40 years of military career, he has been transferred many times and has traveled all over the country, appreciating great mountains. He traveled to Yanshan in the north, Lijiang River in the south, Songling in the east, and Gobi in the west. During the travel, he created many landscape works. In the creation, he always sticks to the “Zhejiang school” and absorbs its tradition, and actively explores the context of the times. The affection and love of the hometown is an important factor in his artistic achievements. “The affection is doubled when I paint my hometown.” The hometown affection makes Li Xianghong’s painting full of innocence. He has grasped the true meaning of traditional art from the lyric and poetic understanding of the life, has extracted artistic elements that combine tradition with contemporary, and has developed his own unique language and expression. Li Xianghong said, “A person may go far away, but he could never walk out of the embrace of his hometown!”

The exhibition not only shows the achievements of Li Xianghong over the years, but also reflects the affection of a military artist to the mountains and rivers of the motherland and the hometown. This exhibition is expected to further promote the local art masters, highlight the humanistic spirit of Zhejiang natives, contribute to the building of a “cultural Zhejiang”, and create a good social atmosphere for the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the army. The exhibition features more than 150 landscape paintings of Li Xianghong and will end on September 9.