Things, landscapes, interiors, and exteriors can be both a material pursuit through external observation and a spiritual exploration inward. Whether in real space or in the formless realm it reflects. Although it may not encompass all of Shen Xinggong’s oil painting art, it is sufficient to see the essence of his art. As one of the representatives of oil painting artists from Ningbo, Mr. Shen Xinggong is renowned worldwide for his unique painting style, profound thoughts, and remarkable educational concepts. The works on display here are a concentrated presentation of the continuous collection of his works by the Ningbo Art Museum over the years. It is also a new understanding and reflection after bringing his works back to his hometown. Still life and landscape are two areas where Mr. Shen Xinggong has been continuously exploring. They are the fulcrum of his ‘returning to the origin and creating something new’, and can also be said to be the concrete visual points in his process of ‘exploring inward and outward’. They ultimately aim to achieve the integration of painting realm and mental realm, or realize the triple harmony of’stillness|landscape|realm’ in a coincidental way rather than a simple progressive statement. If we use a quote from Dong Qichang: ‘In terms of the strangeness of paths, paintings are inferior to landscapes. In terms of the exquisiteness of brush and ink, landscapes are definitely inferior to paintings’ to understand more broadly the ‘form and color’ in Mr. Shen Xinggong’s works. That is, no matter how high the painting skills are, it is difficult to reproduce the beauty of nature. But when the aesthetic subject is transformed from the original nature into forms and colors rich in humanity, then nature is only an important content in the work and takes a back seat. In this way, paintings surpass the literal nature. Then this ‘thing and landscape’ exists in the’recreation’ of art, or it is called’realm’. The landscape works on display roughly follow the seasonal alternation of ‘winter’, ‘spring’, ‘summer’, ‘autumn’, and ‘winter’. For still life works, according to the color tone changes, they are in the same frequency as the color sense. It is hoped that this’realm’ can serve as a’mirror’ to reflect and inspire the’realm’ of each person’s life.
The full text is open from March 29 to December 31. The specific business status is subject to the opening situation on that day.Exhibition of Shen Xinggong’s Works in Ningbo
Things, landscapes, interiors, and exteriors can be both a material pursuit through external observa[...]
