LOVE AIJING: Solo Exhibition curated by Chen Lusheng, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Ai Jing, Artist:
I come here and have a place for me. Before me, there were masters like Lin Fengmian and Wu Guanzhong. What does my exhibition bring to this Museum? I want to challenge myself in a different way for every exhibitions. Before this, the exhibition at the National Museum of China was conceptual and integrated. From the National Museum of China to the China Art Museum, there is a formula to the exhibition called "Ai's Formula": I LOVE AIJING=LOVE AIJING=AIJING=AI+=AI=JING. I came up with it during a trip, and it is reductive. I want to talk about the last part "Jing", which is the word I chose to represent my collaboration with Mr. Kengo Kuma. So for the China Art Museum exhibition, I wanted to show works that transformed from a conceptual language to a more painterly and expressive language. We showed the series I Love Color and Mr. R, and I also brought my installation Once Upon a Time on Yanfen Street. The works discuss the relationship between memories and emotions from the past and the society, and I hope that people can sense the exploration of time and space in my works.
Words by Chen Lusheng, Vice President of National Museum of China:
But with AI JING's wisdom and her unique theme, her comprehensive art exhibition in Shanghai showed us one unique aspect of her idea. This showed how she controlled the relationships between art and audience, art and the public in the world development trends of today. To which, Ai demonstrated a distinctive ambulatory state of exhibition by means of variety. And it was a big difference from a vast majority of exhibitions, or 99% of them. Ultimately, the ambulatory state comes to a end, with the encounter between Ai Jing and Kengo Kuma, which is a perfect ending I reckon. Just like the exhibition's opening, full of climax and steadfast to the end. I used to write an article about the deep cultural connotation amongst Ai's artistic ideas. That is she spread universal value to audience, because the theme of love, as a universal value regardless of race, country or nationality, even under the conditions of war will show a special care of love. So Ai Jing did a lot of painting, by a variety of methods, to present a pluralistic society and diverse culture.
Therefore, during this art exhibition process, she connected her art work to the audience closely through four special activities. Of course, objectively speaking, artist today must make their work understandable by the public. before less consideration was given and many artists did not pay much attention to heir audiences. But today's artists, they aware of this problem, and they need to focus on their own art creation and audiences at the same time. Without the support from the audience, regardless how elegant or how profound art is, great limitations would appear I guess.
Thus, Ai Jing's artistic expression is similar to her music work 10 or 20 years ago. Under this cultural connected relationship, she demonstrated a lot of core ideas from her last exhibition (2012) at the National Museum of China in Beijing, but also did some great adjustment for her audience in Shanghai. Which I appreciate most was that she tried to exhibit her work in flow-mode with a fixed name. This is a great art curating idea that many artists nowadays or curators never had before. With this, we witnessed Ai Jing's various art concepts and art style, especially her collaboration with Mr. Kengo Kuma which generated a new space of her art. And this space is also imagined and full of material, possessing both spiritual connection and cultural association. The relationship between the spirit and culture of the art, we can see her variety. This I also repeatedly emphasized before, as a young artist Ai Jing's life and growth is represented by her creative spirit and not only in her music career, but also in her artistic life even though she started from zero. That's why we can find her in a brand new way, although she really wants to restart her life anew, it is not likely possible because to make one artist gives up everything that has been made is impossible. Like Ai Jing's music production, her artworks represent her true disposition, or the real Ai Jing. The real Ai Jing was not in the exhibition for us to find, only when she showed us her comprehensiveness, can we understand Ai Jing's essence of art and her artistic character.
The essence of Ai Jing's art, besides her "Love" theme, is showcased in her various art forms during this more than one month's time. What I want to emphasize particularly is, with such different art style, when she met Kengo Kuma it pushes us to think about Ai Jing and her art, a construction which we ignored in the past. This construction form was actually a space, a construction space and painting space, and her decoration space, they were all different. When the structure emerged, Ai Jing would paint with "LOVE" theme, and this produces new change. In the middle of this relation, we see a new style of art. So when we are about to draw a finish line on the exhibition, we look back to the past, from the National Museum to China Art Museum, Ai Jing and her art, I sensed a great sublimation within this very short time. Of course we need to thank the Shanghai audiences, Ai Jing's show skills, and to push the public in the pursuit of cultural development in China.
Robert C. Morgan, Editor at Asian Art News
The Ai Jing i know is not only a famous singer but also a famous painter and artist now. I think I have just used many words to describe Ai Jing, and there is someone similar in the United States, his name is Bob Dylan. For a long time, people think that Bob is a country singer, and he sings folk and rock&roll. In fact, he is a painter as well. I use this example to show that it is possible for an artist to do well in one context as well as another one. But you have to be a superman, like Ai Jing.
Kengo Kuma, Japanese Architect
Not only is there warmth in Ai Jing's work, but there is also a state of Zen. "Zen" came to Japan from ancient China, and you can see the idea of Zen incorporated in different kinds of industries. In Ai Jing's work "The Tree of Life", she used disposable chopsticks. This is a very ordinary material, and few people would pay attention to it, but she noticed it. For the exhibition, I used recycled newspaper to make an object similar to an egg crate; it is a very basic material, but it became a Zen and natural work. Ai Jing always says that I can teach her about space, but I learn about space from the Chinese Zen.
Li Sheng, Deputy Director of China Art Museum
I can feel the love; Ai Jing has dedicated her love to the pursuit of art, the ongoing exploration of art, and the persistent advocacy of art.
Dr. Pier Francesco Fumagalli, Vice Prefect & Director of Far Eastern Studies at the Accademia Ambrosiana
When I was at Ai Jing's exhibition, I saw many children with their parents; a lot of them were mothers with three or five-year-olds. There was a child who was probably five, very interesting, he took the letters L, O, V, E off the floor and put the word "Love" together on his own. He had a good time. I think what is great about Ai Jing's art is that it is even comprehensible for children. Love is very very important, for humanity and for nature. We keep talking about protecting the nature and creating more love for humanity. This is a great example. I was very happy to see the children at the exhibition, and it feels like a new fire, full of hope.
Liu Fangfei, Famous Television Host
I am sure Chinese people are all quite familiar with Ai Jing-she is the exceptional singer in our memory. And I have witnessed her talent and grace in making art last year when she held her exhibition on "love" at the heart of Beijing: the National Museum of China next to the Tiananmen Square. I still remember that at the exhibition, many walked in with curiosity. In the end, the exhibition and Ai Jing's own transformation from singer to artist struck them with awe. A soft-spoken woman on the outside, Ai Jing has switched path with determination and elegance and has now become an artist that perceives the world from various vantage points. Everyone will have a different reaction when looking at Ai Jing's work. I think her work is oriental because of her homeland China; it is Western too because of her journeys abroad, especially her time in the United States. Her work is abstract; the color blocks inspire us to think about art. Her work is also figurative; we can see a mother figure knitting a sweater. Her work is about the past, with nostalgia for the 70s and 80s. Her work is about the future, helping us imagine a futuristic beauty. As there are one thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes, Ai Jing's work is like a pebble that causes distinct waves in everyone's heart. I wondered what inspired her to change, and the answer seems to be the theme of the exhibition: love, love for family, love for friends, and love for life and future. It has been an honor to be part of her art journey.