Yin Shuangxi
Professor of China Central Academy of Fine Arts Chief Editor of Art Research Zhang Minjie showed us his robust innovation and versatility in his first solo exhibition in National Art Museum of China.
The sculpture Dialogue features the conciseness of minimalism. Human figures are simplified into columns, while only the nasal saddles give away the forms. The artist managed to place the six columns back to back, and placed fencing masks at the back of the heads, which shows pop art humor and humanistic touch. Obviously, the artist has his own way of understanding the reserve and openness in communication in today’s society.
In Spin and Balance, Zhang Minjie is trying to symbolize human figures, and define space and its varieties in motion.
Flow is an interest piece of artwork. Prints are stacked in the slot carved out of a log. The human forms in these prints are no longer relevant, while the vibrant concept of artistic innovation is what really matters. Prints have become an integral part of this piece, making Flow more of a device than traditional sculpture. In general, Zhang Minjie’s three-dimensional works seems to be ridden with metaphors, is this an exploration in sculptural language, or just a cultural concept of self expression in the form of sculpture? The effort he has made to symbolize and minimize the forms shows his unique understanding of sculpture.
Zhang Minjie’s paintings could also be seen as a natural extension of his prints. Human forms, motion, composition and style have all been properly expressed by his own prints language. It is only in Yellow Earth No.1 and Man and Dragon, that we are able to feel a more secular touch in the colorful scenes of the drum dance and dragon dance. But this doesn’t fundamentally change the characteristics of his works, Zhang’s works bear a more profound spiritual connotation.
From a personal perspective, I prefer Zhang’s wood carvings. His stone carvings in the 1990s were more of a transitional exploration. His themes were already established back then.
From the very beginning, Zhang Minjie’s subjects were not individuals, but the fate of a nation in a much larger context. That was how he portrayed the Han people and minority groups. For Zhang Minjie, individuals are just small grains of sand in the long river of history. Daily chores don’t really require artistic expression. Plain folk activities and games genuinely show the spirit and mindset of a nation. Games, music and dances, handed down through the ages, embody the hope and pursuit of its people. The room for a nation’s survival lies in the survival of its spirit. If a nation is so indulged in affluence that its language, culture and innovation fade away, its spirit will eventually perish.
In this sense, Zhang’s transformation and relocation of space in his works can no longer be viewed from the perspective of formal language. To me, the human figures in these paintings won’t be stopped by walls. Instead, they go through the walls like Taoists from Laoshan Mountain. They are connected and elated, stretching beyond the frames. I am really impressed by the vitality in Galloping Horses (lithograph), Yellow Earth No.1 (painting), Dancing on the Plain Series (wood print), and Wall Painting Series (wood print), which powers a whole nation. Once again, Zhang Minjie defined the power of unity and collectivity of oriental people, which will become the irresistible metaphor in time of constant change.
In contrast to Nietzschean individualistic heroism, Zhang Minjie is obviously more willing to incorporate himself in the fate of his nation, which is one of the reasons for the lack of his self-portrait. A deeper reason might be associated with his life-death experience in his youth. He was badly injured in Tangshan earthquake at the age of 17. In August 1989, he climbed a high-altitude mountain across Yunnan and Sichuan province. The passing of thousands of live at the moment of earthquake, and the imminent danger of walking alone in a no-man zone, both made him feel the loneliness and fragility of individuals in the face of nature. The survival of an individual is dependent on the fate of a nation, this is the untold caption I’ve learned in his works.
In Zhang Minjie’s works, architecture and music are both significant. Their rhythms highlighted the human’s spiritual journey. As the accommodation venue, architecture was redefined. In his works Stony Village Series VI and Dancing By and Above City Wall Series, the static ancient music performer and dynamic modern dancer both showed the standstill and flow of time and space. As the architect Peter Einsenman put it: “to create another venue…, venue must be liberated from its traditional definition, this includes the relocation of traditional explanation of its factors. “ In Zhang’s works, the stony buildings are no longer the venue for accommodation, they are the container of art and culture. The statues become iconic totems. City wall, once was a military facility, becomes the symbol for imprisonment and limitation, and is penetrated by dancers. This strongly suggests the concept of salvation and surpassing. The various figures in strange settings use apparent and similar moving language to express the freedom beyond words. The performers and dancers are given religious piety, thus their movements are sacred and lofty, as in a ritual. It is in the context of static building and moving dancers, Zhang is able to fulfill his long awaited wish to remove the shadow cast by the earthquake 19 years ago. “ arms around the body is begging for life, the wreckage is moved, heading for the sky.”
Zhang Minjie is lucky enough to receive multiple international awards, this also further inspires him to create more works. In this boundless community of art, he doesn’t just runs into the history and memory of our nation, but also cheerfully incorporates himself in the space of artistic language. As the morning fog rises, Zhang Minjie is seeing once again the dancers on the plain.
Art Research, Vol2, 1996