"To the south of the Mountains": 11 Chinese contemporary artists to 28/2 the Cathedral Museum

"To the south of the Mountains" 11 Chinese contemporary artists (“South of the Mountains” 11 Contemporary Chinese Artists) It is the title of the exhibition promoted by the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, and organized in collaboration with Art Trealm. Inc. e Huaxi Culture Company, open until 28 February, with free admission, nello spazio esposizioni temporanee del Museo dell’Opera del Duomo a Firenze.

The exhibition marks the start of a collaboration between the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore with Chinese cultural institutions and reality to raise awareness in their countries their cultural heritages.

Cui Xiuwen, Fan Bo, Fang Lijun, Guan Ce, Qin Ai, Shang Yang, Su Xinping, Wu Didi, Xu Hong, Xue Song, Ye Yongqing sono 11 contemporary artists among the most active in China today, living in Beijing, Nankeen, e Guangzhou.

The title of the exhibition "To the south of the mountains" is derived from a poem by Bada Shanren (1625 – 1705), one of the greatest Chinese painters, written on one of his paintings: "The south of the southern mountains, the north of the northern mountains, I would like to make sacrifices to rivers and brush up on the trail of the northern barbarians ". This phrase is defiantly subversive and shows a strong expression of individual feelings.

Bada Shanren chose the stage name "Bada Shanren" to hide his surname Zhu, and so that he comes from the royal line, being, In fact, the descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The fear of persecution is present in his paintings, in which he tends to use a variety of techniques and unusual reasons to vent his frustration disguising it with symptoms of insanity.

Bada Shanren is a contemporary artist in the spirit: It is always innovative, May imitativo; he is rebellious and yet submissive; it is insane, but at the same time sober. Many contemporary Chinese artists, including the eleven artists featured in this exhibition, They are constantly inspiration in the works of Bada Shanren. The inspiration is mainly manifested in the ways in which contemporary artists are concerned with the tradition, and in the way they hide their dissatisfaction with the problems of contemporary China.

“Sia nella Cina contemporanea che nell’Italia rinascimentale si riscontra un analogo rapporto di amore-odio verso la propria tradizione – scrive nel catalogo della mostra il curatore Gary Xu – La critica mossa nei due Paesi alla tradizione ha reso questa più resiliente e aderente ai veri stili di vita e nell’Italia rinascimentale ciò si è tradotto nelle arti figurative in un riflesso sofisticato della dialettica interna alla tradizione”.

The contemporary Chinese art receives influences from both its tradition from the West which has now become an integral part of it: a modern visual languages ​​side serve to Chinese contemporary artists to reflect, criticize and carry forward the Chinese tradition; the other Western traditions when they take form in contemporary Chinese fine arts tend to strengthen that relationship of love-hate relationship that already exists to the same Chinese tradition. Gli artisti cinesi selezionati per questa mostra usano le loro espressioni individuali per offrire un tributo speciale a Bada Shanren e per riflettere sul complicato rapporto con la tradizione della Cina moderna. Even more, as Bada Shanren has used his paintings as a tool to insinuate his criticism of his time, these contemporary artists give asylum to strong criticism on contemporary problems through their apparent and harmless observe the landscape and creatures.

Michael Lattanzi
By the number 144 – Anno IV del 25/1/2017

“South of the Mountains“ 11 Contemporary Chinese Artists
"To the south of the Mountains" 11 Chinese contemporary artists
Museo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore
Piazza del Duomo 9 – Florence
Free admission
Until 28 February 2017
Time: 14-19,30