Ye Yongqing's related comments

An artist like a migratory bird-Ye Yongqing

Chongqing

This is a post office.

"Some people left while you were here." Painter Ye Yongqing told reporters: "I am such a person."

"I always set off from somewhere for a period of time and constantly travel around. Then change a starting point and start again ... "Ye Yongqing said that the starting point of his artistic life originally began in Chongqing.

From 65438 to 0978, 20-year-old Ye Yongqing was admitted to sichuan fine arts institute with all his talents, came to Chongqing, and became classmates with Luo Zhongli and Zhang Xiaogang. At that time, after the Cultural Revolution, people began to emancipate their minds, and most artists around them developed the style of critical realism, which caused a sensation throughout the country and formed a climate after Ye Yongqing graduated. However, everything around him made Ye Yongqing feel out of place with his own thoughts, and different thoughts made it difficult for him to resonate.

Therefore, Ye Yongqing began to run back to Yunnan and the place where he grew up and lived. Like Gauguin, he returned to that distant land with the ideal of purification in primitive and simple culture.

Chongqing at this time is more like a post station. Ye Yongqing has been traveling around for nearly 20 years, leading a traveling life. So the teacher of the Academy of Fine Arts gave him a nickname-"Reconnaissance Hero", because he always brought back all kinds of information when he returned to Chongqing.

Yunnan province

A paradise for losers

Ye Yongqing said, "Yunnan is a paradise for losers. This is a place where losers go to forget themselves. " 1997, Ye Yongqing returned to Yunnan with an unhealed wound after appendectomy and regrets for his family.

But as Zhang Ailing wrote in her novel, "We can't go back." Ye Yongqing said that after leaving his hometown for many years, he actually found himself far away from home. At this moment, art has become something that comforts and tortures each other.

It was not until a year later that he saw an old house, a deserted garden in the city, a dilapidated scene and a lazy temperament in the deserted grass, which suddenly caught him and touched him. In this way, there is the Shanghe Guild Hall. This is a restaurant and a gallery. Ye Yongqing put art in a consumption environment.

On the opening day, Ye Yongqing made an "all-round opening" exhibition with obvious meaning: in an isolated city like Kunming, open the window and see the world. In the desert garden, a brand-new glass building and the original ancient building are rigidly put together without any seams. On this day, famous artists from all over the country parachuted into Yunnan. On this day, Shanghe Guild Hall became a gathering place for contemporary artists in China.

Soon, Shanghe Guild Hall became synonymous with fashion, art and trend in Kunming. Ye Yongqing later recalled that the most unforgettable thing at that time was driving out with his wife to buy stools on weekends, because stools were never enough, and there were always people waiting outside the hall.

Of course, the most important core of Shanghe Guild Hall is that there are many works of outstanding domestic artists, and many of the first works of famous Yunnan artists are also sold there.

At the end of the year, the sales volume of paintings exceeded Ye Yongqing's expectation, but what surprised him even more was that among so many buyers, none of them were from Yunnan! Ye Yongqing described the feeling in his heart at that time as, "I made an enclave, suspended over Kunming."

The next year, Ye Yongqing spent more time eating and chatting with different people. He accompanied businessmen and bankers to dinner, and at the same time did seven or eight art exhibitions a year, so slowly, more local people came to visit the gallery. Ye Yongqing became a famous "escort" in Kunming, because he either drank and chatted with his friends, or on the way to drink and chat with his friends, he led his friends around Kunming to find delicious food. In the eyes of Yunnan people, he even became the tourism image ambassador of Yunnan. On the surface, Ye Yongqing is a restaurant owner and a gallery owner. In fact, he "just wants to go home like this."

A cool

theme

After Shanghe Guild Hall became a fashionable place, Ye Yongqing turned away and left it to the manager, but he wanted to create a bigger and more free art scene. Ye Yongqing said that he really wanted to be an igniter. When he saw a pile of dry wood, he wanted to light it, and then when it was burning vigorously, he chose to leave, because in the later defense, he often deviated from his original intention.

Ye Yongqing always likes to see the world from a unique angle. He thinks and acts with the nature of Yunnan people's entry into WTO and an artist's moderate transcendence. Of course, he takes the unique leisure way of Yunnan people, such as drinking and chatting and hanging out with others.

When Tang Zhigang discovered the old workshop of Kunming Machine Model Factory at Xiba Road 10 1 in Kunming and asked Ye Yongqing to look at it, Ye Yongqing had an impulse in the face of this old workshop: "We don't want to be a gallery or a bar, but we want to be a non-profit space. Let this place become a hotbed of different ideas and new ideas. "

So, Ye Yongqing began to eat and chat with people constantly, let painters rent it as a studio, let bar operators and restaurant operators operate here, and let art have a relationship with the public.

Shanghe Chuangku is defined by Ye Yongqing as "a living area with manual and individual labor as the lifestyle, individuality as the symbol, and LOFT as the basic style", so besides outdoor painting, there are photography studios, design studios, tea rooms, restaurants and bars coming in one after another. Ye Yongqing originally named his site "Shanghe Chuangku", but it was still under construction at that time, and was regarded as the painter's territory of the whole machine model factory by the local media, so it had to be renamed "Shanghe Workshop".

After three years, Chuangku has once again become a fashionable place for Kunming people. It has not only become one of the most expensive places in Kunming, but also the center of communication between Kunming and artists from all over the country and even the world. The Swedish government has built the Nordica bar here into an art exchange window. Foundations established by several art colleges in London also recommend award-winning artists to come here for artistic exchanges every year; Many top artists in China have set up their own studios here; Some artists simply turn this place into a home full of flavor. ...

Ye Yongqing said that at present, the establishment of the library is very peaceful, and it has continuously become a part of people's lives, which is actually a great thing. "When the people understand, I should go." This time, Ye Yongqing put the starting point in Beijing.

Temporary accommodation

Is a new starting point.

Ye Yongqing likes a sentence from Stendhal in Red and Black: "I can never forgive those who have never left their hometown." He said that going out means seeing more things and learning more things.

Even in Yunnan, when building the Shanghe Guild Hall and the library, Ye Yongqing shuttled between different cities like a trapeze artist. For him, every place does not mean stopping, but starting again.

He is a teacher in the Academy of Fine Arts, but he often comes to class for weeks stupidly. He can be in Beijing today, fly to London tomorrow to hold an exhibition, and then fly to Yunnan to meet friends. During the day, he is an exhibition curator and social activist. He was even nominated as a candidate for Mr. Fashion with Andy Lau in 2005. However, once the night is dead, he paints where he stays. We have our own studios in Chongqing, Yunnan, Peking, London and Ye Yongqing. He said that at two or three o'clock in the morning, he came back to be an artist and painted bit by bit under the lamp.

Ye Yongqing, who lives like a migratory bird and has painted birds for more than 20 years, likes to paint 100 more than one oil painting "Birds". "In fact, I have been living elsewhere and living like a migratory bird." "It means a lot to me to draw birds repeatedly, because this is my life record as a migratory bird."

Ye Yongqing and His Art

"What is art? Today, when we chat like this, some people may regard it as an art,' performance art'. " When talking to each other, Ye Yongqing is eloquent and his mind jumps. Friends and people who know him are used to calling him "Ye Shuai", which is obviously a symbol of achievement and status: a famous painter, planner, professor of famous universities, and "the chief helmsman of modern art in Yunnan". Now, although he has settled in Beijing, the contemporary artist still flies back to his hometown Kunming several times a year: "I have many friends here, my parents and my artistic roots."

"In that bleak youth, there were also many fascinating times. I insist on painting, and those sketches and landscape sketches and music illuminate my life. "

-Ye Yongqing wrote in an article recalling his youth. Graffiti teenagers and clumsy teachers

"I am just an igniter, and the atmosphere of creating a library has long existed and has already started. So I gave it to others with confidence. " "Ye Shuai" said to me easily. It was raining in Kunming, and he remembered his birthday: "I was born in1April 5, 958, and it rained in succession during Qingming."

Ye Yongqing's parents are cadres of state organs. In his childhood in Kunming, he was not good at words, but he was very active. His favorite "entertainment" every day is to use a piece of loess as chalk and draw horses and soldiers on the wall and on the ground. He was accused of graffiti, but he refused to change his mind.

Ye Yongqing loves painting, but he has never met a suitable teacher. When he finally met one, Ye Yongqing was already 17 years old, and the teacher backed him down: "Do you still have to learn painting at your age? It's already late. " This is a big blow. In desperation, Ye Yongqing began to collect all kinds of sketches and sketching methods by himself, and then spent many afternoons and evenings outdoors with colors, homemade photo clips and sketchbooks.

1976 after graduating from high school, Ye Yongqing lost his job. For two years, he worked as a builder, breeder, cook, farm guard, substitute teacher and other temporary workers. He is still introverted, shy and clumsy. Later, the Complete Works of World Fine Arts read by Ye Yongqing at his first girlfriend's house made him happy for a long time. He first knew the names of masters such as Qi Baishi and Huang.

1978, Ye Yongqing, the second college entrance examination, was admitted to the famous sichuan fine arts institute. At that time, many of Ye Yongqing's classmates later became big names in China painting. For example, at the beginning of this year, a painting by Yunnan painter Zhang Xiaogang was sold in Hong Kong for over HK$180,000.

"There are galleries, bars and studios where artists can stay. I want to recommend the artist's lifestyle to the public. "

-After nine years, Ye Yongqing still clearly remembers the day when the Shanghe Guild Hall, the first artist's self-operated space in China, opened. Painters and bosses who sell paintings.

65438-0982, Ye Yongqing stayed on as a teacher after graduating from sichuan fine arts institute Oil Painting Department. At that time, he had made his mark in the domestic art world, and his paintings were often published in various newspapers and periodicals.

Two years later, Ye Yongqing got married. In those years, with the support of Fu, my lover and teacher of Chuanmei, I went to Aba, Sichuan and Banna, Yunnan, and went to Tibet in the snowy area, waving my passionate artistic pen and creating a lot of excellent paintings. From 65438 to 0989, Ye Yongqing, who won many awards and participated in the exhibition, held his first solo exhibition at the French Embassy in China. Since then, Ye Yongqing's name has gradually become familiar to international painting circles. Since the second year, his solo exhibition has appeared in France and other European countries as scheduled, and he has been invited by European and American governments to travel, give lectures or conduct artistic exchanges many times.

From 65438 to 0998, Asian Art Newspaper listed Ye Yongqing as one of the 20 most dynamic avant-garde artists in China in recent 20 years. It was this year that China's first artist's self-operated space "Shanghe Guild Hall" was born in Kunming. On the opening day, he held an exhibition called "All-round Opening", which had obvious significance: in an isolated city like Kunming, open the window to see the world. Many famous artists from all over the country parachuted into Kunming on this day. Soon, "Shanghe Guild Hall" became synonymous with art, fashion and trend.

"I feel that I have to buy a stool every afternoon because it is always not enough to sit." The popularity of Shanghe Guild Hall exceeded everyone's expectations. Ye Yongqing, a new boss, is not used to his new role. People often shout "boss boss", but he stands there in a daze. It took him a long time to finally wake up and realize that it was calling him. He quickly trotted over, and people said, "Boss, bring a pack of napkins." So he respectfully handed the napkin to the guest.

Shanghe Guild Hall basically holds an art exhibition once a month, and there are always many people watching and buying. Later, many famous Yunnan artists sold their first works from here. But to Ye Yongqing's dismay, all the buyers are friends from other provinces and foreign countries, and none of them are Yunnan natives.

Ye Yongqing must learn a little bit about philistinism: invite local businessmen and bankers to dinner, establish contacts and promote sales. After all, it's a celebrity effect. It really works. He said, "Who doesn't appreciate the works of those painters now? Some even rose thousands of times, and those bosses who bought paintings could make a fortune. Speaking of it, it is not an exaggeration for these people to kowtow to me when they see me. "

"Yunnan is a paradise for losers. If you are tired, injured or frustrated, you should come back and have a rest. "

-Ye Yongqing said that when he saw the scene of demolition on the streets of Kunming, his heart would immediately cramp, and he even felt a sense of fear, but he was still willing to return to his hometown. A paradise for simple birds and losers.

During this time, a large-scale art exhibition called "Painting Birds" was held in Beijing, but the painter himself sneaked back to Kunming. It turns out that China's latest sharp magazine "New Weekly" and Kunbaida jointly created the "2007 Kunming Life Forum, the ideal second home for China people". As an old friend of Sun Mian, Ye Yongqing certainly made a special trip to pay tribute. This also allowed me to interview this legendary figure who has been flying around the earth all the year round in Kunming.

"Chuangku and Shanghehui are my' works'." Sitting with me, the atmosphere was a little noisy, and he deliberately emphasized the word "work".

We talked about his art exhibition in Beijing. Since 2000, Ye Yongqing began to deliberately reduce the content in his works. He extracted local and individual symbols from those graffiti works and decided to proceed from two extremes: Duchamp's identity position and the literati of the schema. He combined Duchamp's clear concept with the ancients' understanding of "quantity" or "complexity", and even understood Duchamp's rationality from the ancients' thoughts of "being" and "not being". Thus, "bird" becomes "non-bird". It is said that this has a lot to do with the influence of Duchamp, a French modernist artist, and it is a logical inversion. What looks very simple and fast is actually created in a very slow and complicated way.

This exhibition is a concentrated display of these "birds". The name of the exhibition is strange, and the painting rules are simple. This has caused some incomprehension and even criticism. The word "bird" has multiple meanings in China's writing, which can be negative, abusive or even abusive. In fact, this is a mockery of painting, but you can understand why it is not. Ye Yongqing explained: This mentality can be seen in Duchamp. Later, he felt that art no longer needed to be played. He can play chess, plan or do anything else.

A few years ago, Ye Yongqing settled in Beijing with his wife and daughter. But this does not affect the frequency of his going back to his hometown several times a year.

"My thoughts are leaping, and I often feel suspended and feel that I can't land safely. I have been running a lot abroad, and I always feel confused in time and space when I come back. This confusion is not only in time and space, but more importantly in thought and culture. " Ye Yongqing said that whenever he walked in the streets of Kunming and saw some scenes of demolition, he could not help thinking of the ancient buildings preserved in western countries for thousands of years, and his heart would immediately cramp and even feel a sense of fear.

Today, Ye Yongqing and his wife both teach in sichuan fine arts institute, and they often go back and forth between Chongqing and Beijing. His wife said that over the years, Ye Yongqing has changed a lot, from clumsy and introverted to eloquent and intelligent.