Using high-quality construction to build urban sub-centers, a new highland of public art can then be created in the capital. On July 29th, the Capital Public Art Creation Center was officially established in Beijing Municipal Administrative Center, and the first "Beijing City Sub-Center Public Art Exhibition" with the theme of "Future Picture" was opened at the same time. 40 sculptures, oil paintings, prints and other works are on display, and some excellent works are expected to land in public spaces in the form of urban sculptures or public murals. The exhibition is jointly sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, Tongzhou District People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the China National Academy of Painting and Beijing Investment Group.
On the northwest side of the Central Green Forest Park, the newly established Capital Public Art Creation Center is both retro and trendy. It is composed of 6 reserved buildings, 1 reserved chimney, etc., with a total scale of about 4100 square meters, which will enhance the function while saving the old and will provide exhibition display, artistic creation, talent incubation and supporting services. Held on the 1st floor of No. 1 Hall and No.6 Hall of the Creation Center, this year's exhibition aims to present the artist's new vision of the urban culture and urban aesthetics of the capital in the future in the form of a public art exhibition. The theme of the exhibition, "Future Picture", is not only a fantasy of the future picture of the Beijing MC under the coordinates of the new era, but also a plan for Beijing's urban public art picture of "embracing the future together" in the post-Winter Olympic era.
Public artworks often present the aesthetic and spiritual stance of a city. Focusing on the strategy of Humanistic Beijing, Green Beijing and Scientific and Technological Beijing, this year's presentation is divided into three sub-themes of "Humanistic Generation, Natural Generation and Relationship Generation" to demonstrate the future-oriented picture of Beijing's humanities gathering, natural ecology and harmonious integration. The exhibition features 40 works by 40 artists, including Chen Lianfu, Jing Xiaolei and Zhang Xinyu. The works of young and middle-aged people, artists from inside and outside Beijing appeared on the same stage, especially the artists in the sub-center of the city.
In No.6 Hall, "Four Gods of Heaven - Xuanwu" by Zhi Min, a professor of the Sculpture Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts, attracted the attention of many visitors. "This is one of a group of works inspired by the four gods of the Han Dynasty Wadang, the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Suzaku, and the Xuanwu, respectively, representing the stars in the four directions of the heavens." Zhi Min introduced that this group of works presents the understanding of nature and astronomy in Chinese culture through a combination of ceramic monomers in hexagons, which is a re-creation of China's excellent traditional culture. Looking closely, the work also hides a mysterious machine, and each piece of ceramic scale on the sculpture relies on magnets to adsorb on the main structure, which can be dismantled and flexibly reorganized. Some ceramic scales show different patterns due to high temperature firing, which is quite impressive to visitors.
Shi Weiliang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, said that the presentation sounded a new call for public art in the capital. In the future, it will create an operation art base in the mode of "government + enterprise + professional" and deeply cultivate the experimental field for the innovative development of public art. "The exhibited works are three-dimensional samples of sculptures that can be enlarged into urban sculptures in the future, as well as oil paintings and prints that can be converted into public murals, etc. We will actively raise funds together with relevant departments in the urban area and strive to promote the selection of some of the excellent works in this exhibition in appropriate public spaces."
The reporter learned that the China National Academy of Painting will settle in the creation base, set up the Capital Public Art Research Institute, form the Public Art Committee of the Capital Public Art Creation Base, and create a small fine art exhibition hall. In the future, it will also be listed in the Capital Public Art Creation Base Art Museum, providing exhibitions, public art publicity services, undertaking various public welfare activities related to public art entrusted by the government, as well as market activities such as art trading and collection, art training, and art socialization services.
"Beijing public art has always played a leading role in China. We look forward to Beijing continuing to play an exemplary role and contributing to the 'Capital Plan' that keeps pace with the times." Li Jixiang, deputy director of the China Architectural Culture Center, said.
Translator: WANG Jiahui
Reviewer: LIU Yu
