Daxing International Airport in the oil painting is covered with the brilliance of dawn; The millennium canal in Chinese painting flows with inexhaustible context... On December 12, the “2022 New Era Capital Art Exhibition” opened in the National Art Museum of China, displaying 126 masterpieces of Chinese painting, oil painting, sculpture and other masterpieces created by artists from 22 provinces across the country, presenting Beijing’s unique cultural temperament and style of the times.
The exhibition is composed of three sections: “New Charm of the Ancient City”, “City of Summer and Winter Olympics Games” and “One Axis and Three Belts”. Approaching the exhibition hall, the “New Charm of the Ancient City” shows the artists’ new insights into the changes of the times, urban construction, and life development of Beijing in the new era, as well as the latest exploration of innovative portrayal of the style and features of Beijing in the new era. Mo Xiaosong’s 7-meter-long traditional Chinese painting “The Spring Charm of Beijing”, with the red wall as the background, depicts the colorful spring; Guo Cuiying’s traditional painting “New Era of Ancient Capital” overlooks the modern CBD landmark from the ancient buildings, adding more artistic conception to the snow.
The “City of Summer and Winter Olympics Games” section of the exhibition depicts the unique architectural landscape and humanistic features of the Beijing Olympic Games and interprets the Olympic spirit in artistic language. Among them, Zhi Min’s sculpture “Boat”, which is composed of many pebbly ceramic particles, is like a light boat representing “helping each other in the same boat” and an olive leaf symbolizing peace and friendship. It was selected as the best public artwork of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games.
The “One Axis and Three Belts” section exhibited a series of excellent works created by artists after they carried out lifestyle sketching on the central axis of Beijing and the three cultural belts of the Grand Canal, the Great Wall, and the Yongding River in Western Mountains. For example, Li Liangchen’s Chinese painting “The Sound of an Ancient Capital: Watching the Olympic Tower at Yongding Gate”, Ge Yixuan’s Chinese painting “Meet the South of the Central Axis”, Song Yulan’s oil painting “The Charm of the Central Axis · Yongding Tower” and etc., delineating the moving style of Beijing, a famous historical and cultural city, from different points on the central axis.
From the perspective of ancient capital charm with a long history, rich and profound historical heritage, unique urban construction, thriving street scenery, and the image of the amiable and respectable people, the works exhibited are serious and profound in theme, rich and diverse in theme. The exhibition also presented the installation work “Ink and Wash Relief” and painted the ink and wash portraits of 19 literary giants, including Shen Congwen, Jiao Juyin, Mei Lanfang, Lao She, Qi Baishi, Cao Yu, Hou Baolin and Yu Shizhi.
Fan Dian, Chairman of the China Artists Association and Chairman of the Beijing Artists Association, said in his speech that the works in this exhibition presented a dynamic appearance, which concentrated on the rich practice of artists to portray the spiritual atmosphere of the capital in the new era, and reflected the cultural ideal and artistic feelings of painting for the times, writing a biography for the times, and showing virtue for the times. “The new era has provided an unprecedented broad stage for the prosperity and development of literature and art. The art circle in Beijing will take this exhibition as an opportunity to unite and pool the strength of artists in the capital, go deep into life, take root in the people, and elaborate on Beijing stories to promote the high-quality development of art creation.”
“As a painter, I feel proud to be able to express the capital with paintbrush and pay tribute to the new era.” Huang Huasan, a member of the Art Creation Committee of the China Artists Association on Major Themes and a professor at the School of Art of Renmin University of China, made a speech as the representative of the painter. He said that as an art creator, he should grasp the pulse of the times in terms of creative themes, conform to the spirit of the times in terms of ideological content, and highlight the aesthetics of the times in terms of expression techniques. “I will try my best to use pictures to frame the wonderful moments of the new era, which will live up to the times and the immortality.” The exhibition is hosted by China Artists Association and Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles and will last until December 21.
Translator: SHI Meiling
Reviewer: ZHANG Ruochen
