On Saturday, September 22, 2018, at 16:30, at the ZERO Zero Art Center in 798, the exhibition of the new works of Professor Li Xiangqun, President of Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, "Peer" opened on time.
The exhibition features three new works from the "Other Shore" series: "Saint - Other Shore", "Sage - Other Shore" and "Ren - Other Shore". These three single sculptures present the three states of a wise man, which are Li Xiangqun's artistic meditations and expressions on the various states of life in today's society. The three gestures condensed from the classical gestures of the ancient and modern worlds give the series of works a strong religious, ritualistic and ritualistic spiritual power. Saint on the Other Side" presents a high degree of confidence, openness and balance. The flat outstretched arms and stretched hands, with one palm up and one palm slightly down, are like a saint walking openly between heaven and earth. By modestly withdrawing the arms and slightly leaning forward in a gentle gesture, "Sage - The Other Shore" constitutes a subtle and gentle body language ready to listen, which is a kind of reconciliation with the world and can be seen more as a power of respect. In "Ren - The Other Shore", the left arm is raised to the chest with the palm outward, forming the Seal of Fearlessness; the right arm is lowered to the abdomen, forming the Seal of Harmony with Wishes. The two hand seals together have the meaning of compassion, indicating that the Buddha can make all sentient beings do what they wish for. Li Xiangqun uses these two classical Buddha's handprints in the opposite direction, which seems to be a metaphor that this is not the Western Pure Land, but the real world; this is not the other shore, but this life, which needs to be strengthened and not to slacken in order to reach the other shore. Moreover, the artist also uses multimedia technology to transform the entire exhibition into a "sea of ocean", with a small boat swaying amidst the turbulent waves, coexisting with grandeur and insignificance, thrilling and confident at the same time, further highlighting the meaning of "walking together".
The "Walking" here means walking with the times, walking with society, walking with oneself, and walking with the direction of the public's pursuit of a better quality of life. More than that, "Walking" is also a walk with faith. Just like the question "Who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I want to go?" is an eternal philosophical proposition, and it can also be said that "to stay" is the common desire of human beings - whether it is the preservation of the physical body in ancient Egypt, or the preservation of the mind and spirit in future generations. Li Xiangqun's "Walking Together" can be seen as a kind of "leaving behind", shaping great love into his works, and realizing eternity by realizing the great self.
As one of the leading figures of Chinese contemporary sculpture, Li Xiangqun has transformed the method of the academy into an exploration of contemporary art, cutting through the traditional techniques of art to its own accumulated cultural characteristics, making it an activation mechanism for contemporary art. He follows a law of comparison in his creation, treating artworks as an artificial phenomenal factor that transcends the meaning expressed for facts and content. In other words, beyond the superficial subject matter and titles, he obtains another cross-sectional emotional and psychological feeling. In "The Other Shore" series, Li Xiangqun intends to explore a more unique spirit of sculpture with more open-mindedness and broad-mindedness, under the common context of the official system and Chinese contemporary art.
