"Realism," solo exhibition by Yan Xing.
Galerie Urs Meile (No. 104 Caochangdi, Chaoyang District, Beijing). September 3 - November 23, 2011.
So what was the motivation for this exhibition?
I don’t really like the word “motivation,” and I’m also reluctant to rely on any “inspiration” or “ideas” to make artworks. I especially don’t believe in so-called “motives.” I just hope to work continuously, like a hardworking farmer in his orchard cultivating the land, day after day up to a ripe old age.
Why “Realism”?
Because I completely believe in it — in its power to question reality, realism, and the reality of art. I’ve been thinking a lot about this question.
The titles of the exhibition and the works are also worth discussing. Some titles sound ordinary and yet are unique and irreplaceable. Like with Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, a title directly reflects the artist’s creative approach, artistic competence or mastery, and values, and so on. Sometimes you can even “smell” if an artist is good or not just from a title. Just like how “Realism” conceals a weak realistic element: though straightforward on the surface, there was no better word.
How does it relate to your earlier work?
Of course, there is a relationship, a tight relationship that’s very hard to describe. I regard the relationship as a kind of judgment — a judgment made by an artist about his or her creative system. If you want me to provide a few keywords, I can’t. I don’t work that way, plus the topic is too broad.
Michelangelo is renowned, among other things, for his sexual ambiguity. Is this about public and private, knowing and not knowing, hidden and revealed desire?
Sexual ambiguity is not at the core of my work, but it unavoidably reflects a part of my individuality. I am just like someone on the outside, neither very excitable nor melancholic. Plus this question is a general barrier for everyone. It means everything, yet everything is empty.
Is the statue a self portrait?
No. It’s a fabricated image, the making of which involves methods derived from Soviet Socialist Realism.
There seems to be an ongoing philosophical struggle in China between a return to the ideal of the “Literati” (and I don't mean mere imitation of its forms) and a sort of tango with Western art traditions. How do you see it?
First, I want to ask you what is this so-called Chinese ideal of the “Literati”, and what is “Western Art Tradition”? Every artist has different definitions. I have never seen any struggle between the two. You are actually talking about culture at a remove. The compact and confrontation of cultures are all helpless, strategically speaking, and constitute a politically compromised art. What’s more, I believe any academic who observes society could describe this better than me, and I share their points of view.
Do you think there is a particular Chinese gay aesthetic? How would you define it?
Let me first ask you: do you think there is a “Chinese aesthetic” or “gay aesthetic”？I have never paid attention to such questions; what I care about is the art itself.
Can one be critical, joking and earnest at the same time?
Isn’t that me?
What next?
Probably in a more hidden and subtle direction.
