"Looking Up to the Mountain - Xu Jiang Art Exhibition" was recently exhibited at Ningbo Art Museum, presenting the landscape world depicted by Xu Jiang, as well as his exploration of the spiritual dialogue between tradition and modernity, vision and philosophy.
Xu Jiang is a professor and director of the Academic Committee of the China Academy of Art, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and President of the China Oil Painting Society. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the China Academy of Art in the 1980s and subsequently studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, Germany. From 2001 to 2020, he served as President of the China Academy of Art for twenty years.
Xu Jiang at the exhibition
For over two decades, Xu Jiang has used the sunflower fields and landscapes of China as his canvases, employing a variety of media, including oil painting, watercolor, and sculpture, to forge a modern Chinese reverence for the mountains. Entitled "Looking Up to the Mountains," the exhibition explores three chapters: "All I Think of Are Mountains," "The Scene and Howl of a Prairie Fire," and "Growing in the Wasteland of Fire." Through the lens of Zhejiang's landscapes, Sunflower Theater, and the symbiosis of sunflowers and lotus, Xu Jiang's landscape world unfolds, constructing a dialogue that connects tradition and contemporary thought, visuals and philosophical reflection, across the spirit of the landscape.
Xu Jiang
In recent years, Xu Jiang has focused on landscape painting. The mountains he depicts are "this mountain," rooted in the soil of Jiangnan and breathing the winds of time. The "Remembering Mountains" section features a series of nearly 180 oil paintings: "Mighty Rivers" transforms the lament of the passing of time into a surging declaration of life; "Mounds of Clouds and Mountains" reveals the frozen rumble of thunder and the ridges of the earth; "Longquan Pines" exude strength, while "Towering Trees" exhales with a powerful presence; "Ten Miles of Ginkgo" shimmers like gold, and "Immortal Mountain Dwelling" exudes a transcendental quality. Finally, "A New Journey Through the Mountains and Streams" leads the viewer on a spiritual journey spanning ancient and modern times.
Exhibition site
Sunflower is another major theme in Xu Jiang's work. In his preface, he writes: "Deeply exploring the sunflower fields, I feel their breath, graze them through the seasons, and listen to the call from the depths of time. My sunflower field creations capture the vastness of the land, forging poetic landscapes imbued with Eastern spirit. I weave sunflowers across the layers of mountains and valleys, striking out a magnificent and resplendent epic."
In the exhibition, "Sunflower Field Scroll" uses thick layers of oil paint to depict the vastness of the sunflower field, with sunflower stems like a forest and sunflower heads like torches. The exhibition hall also displays thousands of sunflower heads and shower heads made by Xu Jiang and his team.
Xu Jiang, "Oriental Sunflower·Hanging Sunflower", oil on canvas
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Ningbo Art Museum. The museum occupies the site of Ningbo's old wharf, where the Yong River converged eastward into the sea. For two centuries, it served as a welcoming and welcoming port for Ningbo residents. Later converted into an art museum, the exhibitions within reflect this nostalgic sentiment. Xu Jiang says, "Looking Up at the Mountain is a tribute to our hometown, the mountains of Ningbo, a loving tribute to the cultural heritage of our people, and a heartfelt tribute to the monumental mission of this art museum."
Xu Jiang, “For Whom Does the Evening Wind Chase?”, oil on canvas
Note: Sponsors include Zhejiang Federation of Literary and Art Circles, China Academy of Art, Ningbo Federation of Literary and Art Circles, China Oil Painting Society, and Xu Wanmao Meiyi Charity Foundation.
The exhibition will run until December 3rd.
