Duan Jianwei: The Departure to Xindian
From 20 August to 22 October 2023, artist Duan Jianwei鈥檚 latest solo exhibition, 鈥淭he Departure to Xindian鈥� will be held in Long Museum (West Bund), curated by Yang Zi, featuring more than 20 works on the theme of countryside people that created by Duan in the past ten years. Since the beginning of the 1990s until now, rural figures have been the iconic subject matter of Duan Jianwei鈥檚 practice. Such a subject was once firmly grounded in the realist paintings of peasant themes. The choice of the subject in Duan鈥檚 early career came almost naturally because of the prevalence of this type of mundane imagery during the artist鈥檚 formative years. But in his later practice, he discovered the many possibilities this type of pictorial history extends, thus establishing a gateway for the subject to be articulated with art.
The title of the exhibition, The Departure to Xindian, is a reference to Duan Jianwei鈥檚 beloved short story, 鈥淎bashiri Made,鈥� famous for its meticulous depictions; xindian is commonly used as the name of a street or district in the suburbs or the countryside in China in recent years. Xindian ambiguously explains the exhibition鈥檚 motif of the countryside. Also, xin, meaning new, signifies the artist鈥檚 attempt to explore an alternative to the established system of knowledge - his paintings have often been described as art-historical, especially with regard to the early Renaissance frescoes. In fact, the immobilised sublime is only a part of his works, without the artist endorsing any precise vocabulary to replace or describe them. In The Departure to Xindian, historical painting techniques are used eclectically. They are borrowed in a manner so implicit in provoking such interpretations and speculations: in Duan鈥檚 recent years of paintings, the history of painting transcending the East and the West is only considered as a necessary and practical discourse, while his interest lies in the portrayal of humanity鈥檚 intangible spirituality.
What Duan Jianwei creates are non-realistic realism paintings. That is, as he retains the shell of realism, the viewers can easily recognise the images, movements, and relationships of his painted subjects. Yet, these elements do not serve the narrative of which they comprise, instead escaping from the narratives and the edifying incentives behind them. In his 2022 work, Do the Laundry II, two young girls in rainboots by the lake wring out their laundry together; the one with her face turned to the viewer directs her eyes towards the twisted garment without eventually settling on it, and a faint smile emerges - apparently, her mind has wandered to the thrilling (or smile-inducing) land afar. The lake鈥檚 mottled green surface, the voluminous shrubs, and the circular water basin in the foreground soaking the clothes all correspond to the figure鈥檚 tranced state. As such, the reality and the spiritual world beyond reality are inextricably nested in one place, forming an indivisible whole and rapidly expanding the capacity of the canvas. This nested structure pervades every work in the exhibition and prompts: Is there a place afar (and if we were to designate it by name, would it be xindian?) that is beyond the reach of the senses? How do we arrive at that faraway place with our mortal sight?
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From 20 August to 22 October 2023, artist Duan Jianwei鈥檚 latest solo exhibition, 鈥淭he Departure to Xindian鈥� will be held in Long Museum (West Bund), curated by Yang Zi, featuring more than 20 works on the theme of countryside people that created by Duan in the past ten years. Since the beginning of the 1990s until now, rural figures have been the iconic subject matter of Duan Jianwei鈥檚 practice. Such a subject was once firmly grounded in the realist paintings of peasant themes. The choice of the subject in Duan鈥檚 early career came almost naturally because of the prevalence of this type of mundane imagery during the artist鈥檚 formative years. But in his later practice, he discovered the many possibilities this type of pictorial history extends, thus establishing a gateway for the subject to be articulated with art.
The title of the exhibition, The Departure to Xindian, is a reference to Duan Jianwei鈥檚 beloved short story, 鈥淎bashiri Made,鈥� famous for its meticulous depictions; xindian is commonly used as the name of a street or district in the suburbs or the countryside in China in recent years. Xindian ambiguously explains the exhibition鈥檚 motif of the countryside. Also, xin, meaning new, signifies the artist鈥檚 attempt to explore an alternative to the established system of knowledge - his paintings have often been described as art-historical, especially with regard to the early Renaissance frescoes. In fact, the immobilised sublime is only a part of his works, without the artist endorsing any precise vocabulary to replace or describe them. In The Departure to Xindian, historical painting techniques are used eclectically. They are borrowed in a manner so implicit in provoking such interpretations and speculations: in Duan鈥檚 recent years of paintings, the history of painting transcending the East and the West is only considered as a necessary and practical discourse, while his interest lies in the portrayal of humanity鈥檚 intangible spirituality.
What Duan Jianwei creates are non-realistic realism paintings. That is, as he retains the shell of realism, the viewers can easily recognise the images, movements, and relationships of his painted subjects. Yet, these elements do not serve the narrative of which they comprise, instead escaping from the narratives and the edifying incentives behind them. In his 2022 work, Do the Laundry II, two young girls in rainboots by the lake wring out their laundry together; the one with her face turned to the viewer directs her eyes towards the twisted garment without eventually settling on it, and a faint smile emerges - apparently, her mind has wandered to the thrilling (or smile-inducing) land afar. The lake鈥檚 mottled green surface, the voluminous shrubs, and the circular water basin in the foreground soaking the clothes all correspond to the figure鈥檚 tranced state. As such, the reality and the spiritual world beyond reality are inextricably nested in one place, forming an indivisible whole and rapidly expanding the capacity of the canvas. This nested structure pervades every work in the exhibition and prompts: Is there a place afar (and if we were to designate it by name, would it be xindian?) that is beyond the reach of the senses? How do we arrive at that faraway place with our mortal sight?
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