Artitious is the Artists Who’s Who, an online select directory of artists https://artitious.com/
‘Bird Painting without Bird’
Although Ji Dachun’s his works occupy a special role in a Chinese context, he has created his own personal aesthetic in a seemingly playful way. The past and the present that interest him refer to the experiences of the individual and not a society’s political situation. With his bizarre, primarily figurative scenes, he has invented an inimitable pictorial language, while his figures embody a new brand of the traditional literati painting that attains to the Asian ideal of a spiritual image of man. During his studies, Ji Dachun closely investigated western modernism and contemporary painting, including Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, and Georg Baselitz; he was also fascinated by Maurizio Cattelan and Robert Gober. Despite this, to this day he is in no danger of imitating western contemporary art. In his new paintings, he unites Chinese tradition and western modernism. Bernhard Fibicher, who showed Ji Dachun and Liu Ye in 2007 at the Kunstmuseum Bern, discerned two different “styles” in their work: “a drawing style derived from the traditional literati painting and reminiscent of the ‘scribbling’ technique of a Twombly, and a painterly style roughly in the manner of Picasso and Philip Guston.”
Ji Dachun “Holy Mother, a Hostage” 150x110cm, 2011 (image courtesy the artist and Artitious)
Ji Dachun “Skull”, 24x3cm, acrylic on canvas, 2016 (image courtesy the artist and Artitious)
The technical realization, however, brings about a break with tradition. Instead of using ink on paper, Ji Dachun paints with acrylic on canvas. The materiality of the paint and its pastosity open up new painterly possibilities. The acrylic paintings, in which figures or objects are placed in the middle of the canvas on a white ground, convey the artist’s dry wit.
In formal terms, it can be observed that none of Ji Dachun’s works contain central perspective. As in traditional Chinese painting, the viewer is invited to enter the picture and let his or her spirit wander freely without being bound to any one fixed point. According to Ji Dachun, this undefined quality is not a question of form, but a very concrete and subtle life experience. Thus, he surprises the viewer on his
journey with many minute details, confronting him with inconsistencies and contradictions. Yet just as in traditional Chinese painting, Ji Dachun never presents the viewer with a single moment, but rather an entire span of time. The Chinese curator, critic, and gallery dealer Pi Li calls Ji Dachun’s paintings “fables of contemporary spiritual life” that have sprung from a series of mysterious stones. “In his paintings, countless possibilities have remained open through overpainting and corrections. In this regard, his works always show us the process of their making, and even in the finished work, the creative act merely seems interrupted, while painting itself remains an eternal, never-ending process.” Finally, the artist himself should have the last word here: “Painting in every last detail and leaving no room for explanation are undesirable exercises for me. The parts of the canvases that are left untouched invite viewers into the realm of imagination.”
Text by Uta Grosenick
* Bird Painting Without Bird’ was the title of a show in Galerie Barbara Gross, Munich
ARTITIOUS
WHAT
Artitious is a Portal to the finest Artists and their Art
Artitious gives you rare insider views into famous and upcoming artists studios, a glance into their creative process and regular updates on their developments. Artitious is a space for the public to learn more about artists, and also stay up to date with their latest exhibitions. Artitious hosts artists from all over the world and has visitors from over 120 countries. We are a center where the art world meets and a hub for collectors to discover and purchase artworks from renowned artists and upcoming talents.
Buy Art from Curated and Renowned Artists
Each artwork purchased on artitious is a unique piece produced by one of the world finest artists, across a range of media from painting to sculpture. The Artitious experts curate all new artists in order to present to you only the highest calibres. Our experts’ knowledge, together with the provenience of renowned galleries, provides you with the security that your purchased artworks are worth value and sustainable.
Features
You can browse through artists’ profiles, view countless photos of their work, read interviews and find information on the latest events in the art world. Once you have discovered your favourite artists you can follow their journals to receive updates on their latest news and upcoming exhibitions. We continue to strive to bring you the best from the contemporary art world!
Invitation to Artists
Artitious invites artists of the highest calibre to participate in our website. Enabling artists’ to show their artworks on a profile and share news and events. Our platform allows artists to expand their public following and have the attention of art enthusiasts. Every artist published on our platform will receive our full support, including features on our front page, inclusion in our newsletter and additional social media features. It’s all free of costs! You can ‘sign up as artist’ and submit your profile.
Invitation to Guests
Artitious invites collectors, curators and the public to join the platform. Instead of navigating through individual websites and social media, Artitious offers a bespoke and crafted hub purely for the art world. You can become a Premium Guest by signing up for free which will give you the possibility to follow artists and share content. Artitious can be your source for discovering new artists and a place see more of artists you already know.
WHY?
Artitious believes that a strong platform is beneficial to artists, galleries, collectors and the art-interested public. Instead of navigating through individual websites and social media, Artitious offers a bespoke and crafted hub purely for the art world. Artitious makes it simple for artists, collectors, curators, galleries and the public to show, view and buy.
WHO?
Artitious Content Board
Manuela Alexejew • Dr Pascal Decker • Dr Ulrich Köstlin • Philipp von Matt • Markus Peichl • Dirk Schönberger • Dr Birgit Sonna • Dr Alice Trier • Brigitte von Trotha-Ribbentrop • Ingeborg Wiensowski • Gudrun Wurlitzer
Artitious Founder
Gudrun Wurlitzer comes from inside the contemporary art scene. As an architect, she has always been friends with the most thrilling contemporary artists and shared their art. This is how collecting started – and later it became passion.
Gudrun’s initial idea when starting Artitious was to pass on some of her great experience to the art interested public. After the platform became successful within a short time, she continued to expand Artitious to a veritable art portal. Gudrun Wurlitzer is a board member of the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe.
Artitious Consultant
Bernd Wurlitzer was running a gallery in Duesseldorf in the 1980s where he showed a long list of artists who have later become famous. Over the last two decades he has been working as art adviser for a number of top contemporary art collections. He was the agent of Malcolm McLaren. Bernd Wurlitzer served as board member of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München.
Artitious Director
Goetz Christmann is an architect and race driver. Besides these two professions he has been curating the work of contemporary photographers, which has given him deep insight into the significance of artists work and the art market.
Contact us:
General questions: contact@artitious.com
Questions concerning a purchase: sales@artitious.com
+49 30 280 96 154
