Introduction

Echoes of Lisao——Exhibition of Ink Paintings by Liu Yiyuan

Liu Yiyuan’ creation of modern ink painting began in the 1980s.  For the past half a century, he has been creating ink paintings with the keywords of  “heart image” (心象), ”dots and lines” (点线) and “feelings of the changes” (感时), providing a profound narrative of the ink arts in the field of Chinese arts. Based on the local life experience, he confronts the present world with a perceived and reflective attitude, taking the advantages of ink arts theories in Chinese traditional painting such as “aesthetic experience with peace of mind” (澄怀味道) and “expressing Taoism by shape” (以形媚道). From the 1980s to the beginning of this century, his works adopted the traditional painting techniques of “creating a circumstance in the mind" (因心造境) and “expressing one’s heart by the brush in hand”(以手运心) since Song and Yuan Dynasty, giving full play to the expression quality of the ink painting. Hence, a sense of compassion for all mankind was integrated into the images and paintings to express multiple understandings about human’s life after “modernity”, which arouses wide resonance. His works has been studied by theorist and critics who focus on the contemporary transformation of Chinese culture. Critics have been revealing the sense of history, reality and characteristics of his creation methodology in his works from different perspectives, which provides fresh starts for the practice of Chinese contemporary ink art. 

Themed on the “Echoes of Lisao”, this exhibition aims to demonstrate the spiritual elevation of Liu Yiyuan’s art creation as well as the subtle changes of his artistic language during the past decade. The exhibition showcased 35 of his works, among which 25 were created after 2005. In these works, he reoriented his exploration and research on the traditional culture from the Song and Yuan paintings to the more ancient Chu culture that dates back more than 2000 years ago. The sense of compassion in his early works turned into a pursue to poetic nature and connotation, which was related with the traditional Li Sao and its rhyme. It’s not only a modern practice of “landscape expressing Taoism by its shape” (ZongBing), but also a spiritual transcendence and sublimation.  The selected works in this exhibition echo with the Chu art in its advocation of life, movement and vitality as well as the artistic spirit of yearning for freedom. For example, strong color contrasts in “Reborn” and “Sound of the Chu Hero” express the spiritual pursuits; flowing lines in “Reminiscence of the Miluo River”, “the Milky Way”, and “the Trace of Time” bear poetic connotations. Hunan and Hubei are the birthplace of Chu culture and therefore boast strong tradition of Chu culture and abundant resources of Chu art. It is highly expected that this exhibition in Hunan Museum can promote our imaginative robust and mettlesome ethos, encourage the creation of modern and contemporary local art in China and exert its positive effect on culture development.