Vivian Wang
Xu Longsen’s paintings are such peaceful existence that they don’t speak, instruct, narrate nor pour out. Viewers are insensibly involved in with nihility by the silent call. Layers of grey ink colors appear rich and meaningful. The image scene tension makes the works borderless. Mountains are straight up to the sky and indefinable existed light are from the above. The surrounding space of his paintings is controlled by such sense. The huge works are hanged from the top ceiling with their bottoms lying on the floor. This kind of display method strengthens the feeling of majesty. His painting technique is natural and a bit clumsy without playing skillful tricks to please the public. That’s the reason why people don’t feel his huge paintings corpulent. Though Xu’s paintings express magnificent mountains, he seldom pays great attention to the substantial nature objects. His mountain and water paintings go beyond realism, becoming the expression of pure spirit. His paintings are what Troxler said: Substance at the moment of immaterial.
There’re considerable resources of academic style in ink landscape field, however, how to surpass the predecessors and combine the ink paintings with contemporary time is extremely difficult. As a contemporary artist, Xu unavoidably reflects the relationship between ancient classics and his paintings.
His private collections of masters’ paintings and curios are the basis for him to think and learn from ancient classics. His paintings are not simply the reflection of the traditional paintings. The images of his paintings have all connections with the literati paintings, but their forms are beyond people’s visual experience and imagination. It’s especially obvious in his present works. The more recent works he paints, the less a recalling to the past classical. Though he has surpassed the well-known ink painting technique languages, people are still feeling that they’re aesthetically familiar. His comprehension and understanding of the past history turn to be the foundation for him to stand in the contemporary art field. His great knowledge of the past is the key to the property of contemporary. This is so called: Understanding the changes of past and present, and then organizing the unique thought.
In a sense, Xu’s paintings are free expressions without a well-shaped plan. He adventures his attempts from the beginning to the end for each of his paintings. Eventually, those paintings may totally different from people’s imagination. Apart from everyday’s painting, he also spends great amount of time to sit in a chair and examine his paintings on the studio wall. Rational meditation and creation with purposely keeping out of prejudice occupy his every-day’s working process. With sediments of traditional culture and life dynamics of free instinct, he steps forward to fulfill his dreams of immortal sounds of nature.
There’re considerable resources of academic style in ink landscape field, however, how to surpass the predecessors and combine the ink paintings with contemporary time is extremely difficult. As a contemporary artist, Xu unavoidably reflects the relationship between ancient classics and his paintings.
His private collections of masters’ paintings and curios are the basis for him to think and learn from ancient classics. His paintings are not simply the reflection of the traditional paintings. The images of his paintings have all connections with the literati paintings, but their forms are beyond people’s visual experience and imagination. It’s especially obvious in his present works. The more recent works he paints, the less a recalling to the past classical. Though he has surpassed the well-known ink painting technique languages, people are still feeling that they’re aesthetically familiar. His comprehension and understanding of the past history turn to be the foundation for him to stand in the contemporary art field. His great knowledge of the past is the key to the property of contemporary. This is so called: Understanding the changes of past and present, and then organizing the unique thought.
In a sense, Xu’s paintings are free expressions without a well-shaped plan. He adventures his attempts from the beginning to the end for each of his paintings. Eventually, those paintings may totally different from people’s imagination. Apart from everyday’s painting, he also spends great amount of time to sit in a chair and examine his paintings on the studio wall. Rational meditation and creation with purposely keeping out of prejudice occupy his every-day’s working process. With sediments of traditional culture and life dynamics of free instinct, he steps forward to fulfill his dreams of immortal sounds of nature.
