Calvino has a short joke to a small town to live are thieves, they are every night to go out to steal, also put their own home door open, easy for others to steal the lives of people of the town very happy days a honest man - he did not steal a result, the balance were broken, because every night there is always one person you want to leave empty-handed last honest people died in this town.

I do not know why, artist Geng Jianyi always gives this feeling of 'honest man' The self-proclaimed 'timid' of artists, from the 1980s as the role of the pioneers of contemporary art, and then disappearing in full money games and lies art circles, he carefully abide by their own usual low-key until he can expressed his complete artistic point of view, this day - September the 7th to October 12, >> << ignorance :1985-2008 Geng Jianyi contrived The exhibition is on display at the Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum.

Geng Jianyi not in the traditional sense of the cultural elitism in the time context of the last 23 years, a lot of clues about the daily life looking, such as a mockery of collective Guangbo Cao, the darkroom scrap reuse of state-owned changes to the hair salon barber shop, and even taste the dishes on the table, he projected a sensitive and subtle feelings to these day-to-day experience, full of the plain and true humanity.

Shudder exaggerated

Geng Jianyi was originally known as 'laughing', even though he is not a joker. Objectively speaking, many contemporary famous artists' works, more or less have the concept Geng Jianyi's shadow.

Geng Jianyi started in 1986, graduated from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (the predecessor of the China Academy of Art, the creation of a series of exaggerated smile, called << the second state >>. These smiling faces no hair, ears and neck, looks more like a mask.

Exaggerated reality 'Laugh now easily be read off: joyous laughter behind, there may be some people uneasy and awkward ingredients at the time, his work is considered to be Western oil painting in China the context of the development of an important representative.

And try to figure out the true state of the people, Geng Jianyi has formed a good complete system: 'generally calm when you state your mood up when tempted when, that is to say when we followed a The kinds of things ran, that time is the 'state', you little extreme, involuntary, you want to do you have to lose judgment, it is a 'third state', to the 'fourth state' fly. 'he said.

Inevitable, and the young man in the 1980s was idealistic and resentments young Geng Jianyi along the excavation of the human ego state embarked on the road to doubt everything.

He was popular in the film and television posters 'Shining' tone without hesitation criticism as participated in the Venice Biennale in 1993, the first batch of Chinese artists will shine forever, he exhibits << >> using them the RMB in various avatar 'shine', even weave a variety of 'light' interpretation.

'At that time, the heart can be aware, the safest thing is to make money, other things are problematic, culture can not talk about it, so that come out from the Great Hall of the People in the face of a very funny thing Also, after you enlarge the image of those on the face of the workers, peasants and soldiers, if you look carefully, particularly fun, was holding on to ridicule the mentality, in particular, want it exposed, 'he said.

This humor seems curator Karen Smith, with the force of a resigned: 'His humor and smile and Zhang (Geng Jianyi acute expression of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts students and allies are not the same, and he seemed to walk in boundary of irony and cynicism, uncertain. 'she wrote in the article Geng Jianyi Tate Britain exhibition.

Today, a Zhang Mei Yan under the guise of cynical 'smiley' works has become a symbol of Chinese contemporary art, such as Yue Minjun creation 'laugh', Fang Lijun, 'laugh', they occupied the highest price of the Chinese contemporary art, constantly repeating the name of a 'pop art'. however, Geng Jianyi's 'laugh' seems more chilling.

Calvino's 'honest man'

Geng Jianyi 'culture' is commonly used words, this may well explain his works most of the meaning of the 'identity crisis'.

The two five-shot >> << Fashion Geng Jianyi creation in 1991, this series of works borrowed from the broadcast gymnastics in the form of wall charts, each icon has a mechanical description, seemingly serious, but Humor which the artist seems to teach people how to perform day-to-day behavior ulterior motives, and this behavior 'culture' means instinct will be lost. 'When basic human behavior is cultural future, means that differentiation began. 'he explained.

Of course, I also think that reflects common strengths of this generation of Chinese contemporary artists, Geng Jianyi, who is combing 'naughty' and 'ineffable' problem means clever at a young age and his artists of the same generation have a different overseas, he chose to forbear and reside, but strengthened him the kind of seemingly placid but inside surging expression of desire.

Such as >> << soul products showcase the works in the exhibition, this is actually unusual to see a capsule products in the supermarket in Shanghai in 1999, he is keen found to the capsule in the the Diablo box, change is not large, but the contact to the external air, the capsule will deteriorate, deterioration of the artists in the works of self-deprecating 'Geng Jianyi supermarkets sell his soul'.

The direction of his artistic creation, it seems that more and more toward not know how commercial mining in 2004 arranged a solo exhibition, the Shanghai a commercial art institutions Geng Jianyi, three days before the opening, he came to the empty hall, in addition to the phone book and a deck of cards, nothing with him two days to various friends and acquaintances to call, they presented their own waste products to three days, the exhibition hall suddenly filled with a variety of things. Geng Jianyi edge placement of those items and saying these things passed through his hands really completely 'useless'.

This may be why Geng Jianyi with commercial art over the years to maintain a true portrayal of the distance, no doubt, with a keen sense of observation and technical deconstruction, Geng Jianyi can become star artists ', enjoying life shrouded in spotlight but it seems for all this, is not very interested.

Geng Jianyi art downright purely his own work as a perceived challenges, not only the perception of the social environment, but also including the perception of art. The dim gloomy reality to his creative impetus let him continue to give modern lack of personal awareness and puppet lifestyle to merciless criticism.


from:
http://www.comprehensivenews.us/news-2110736-Calvino-39s-honest-man-you-do-not-understand-Geng-Jianyi.html