Where is Meng Weidong from?

Meng Weidong

Meng Weidong was born in 1960, with the courtesy name Qingpu and the nickname Atu. His ancestral home is Tangshan, Hebei Province, and he has a university degree. Member of the Chinese Artists Association, member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and vice president of the Beijing Oriental Xianghe Painting and Calligraphy Academy. He is good at flower and bird painting, landscape painting and seal cutting.

Chinese name: Meng Weidong

Alias: Nickname: Qingpu. Number: Atu

Nationality: Chinese

Ethnicity: Han

Birthplace: Anhui

Date of birth: March 1960< /p>

Occupation: Painter

Main achievements: Member of China Art Association, member of China Calligraphy Association

Representative works: "Flowers and Birds", "Landscape", "Living and Living", "Chunhui" etc.

Introduction to Art

Meng Weidong, whose courtesy name is Qingpu and nickname is Atu, is originally from Tangshan, Hebei Province and has a university degree. Member of the Chinese Artists Association, member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and vice president of the Beijing Oriental Xianghe Painting and Calligraphy Academy. He is good at flowers and birds, landscapes and seal cutting.

There is no sect, no sect alone, no master of all things. In the creative project: discover yourself, know yourself, and express yourself. Use traditional brush and ink to explore new ways of modern painting. Based on Chinese traditional culture, on the basis of garden-style flower and bird paintings, and using the natural sculptures of the twelve zodiac totems as prototypes, we pioneered the Xingyimen painting method and strived to create new concepts of humanistic spirit and philosophical thought. .

Meng Weidong has his own clear judgment and choice on the road of art. Especially when he is exposed to the fresh atmosphere and cultural variation of modern society, he has new inspiration and touch, which makes him change his thinking. way, to understand things with new concepts, and to explore new ways of "speaking" in artistic practice to express new aesthetic ideals and aesthetic charm. It should be said that this is the responsibility and mission of painters of Meng Weidong's generation, and it is also the face of painters. Conscious requirements arising from a rich and vivid real world.

Art Criticism

Cultural Consciousness

Cultural Consciousness of Contemporary Aesthetics

Chinese painting is the most representative specific cultural style in Chinese culture One, therefore the existence and evolution of Chinese painting can be generally regarded as an abbreviation of the existence and evolution of Chinese culture. As a contemporary painter, how to improve and reflect his personal artistic style while inheriting it, so that his works of art can meet the requirements of the current aesthetic context, is the ultimate issue facing contemporary Chinese painting. "Cultural consciousness" is the self-awakening, self-reflection and self-creation of culture. From a certain perspective, Meng Weidong's artistic path and mental journey in the past forty years have been confused by and benefited from the spirit of "cultural consciousness".

It is said that Meng Weidong is confused by "cultural consciousness" because in his artistic practice, he has been confused about how to inherit and carry forward the excellent qualities of traditional Chinese painting; it is said that he has benefited from "cultural consciousness" and after several After ten years of repeated thinking and constant exploration, I finally found a creative path, or rather an artistic style, that suits me without completely going against tradition and in line with the current aesthetic context and taste.

1. The creative approach of being close to the context and nature

Guo Xi's "Linquan Gaozhi" quoted the famous line of "The Analects" "Aim for Tao, base on virtue, and rely on benevolence." ", wandering in art" is a value that has long been generally recognized in Chinese painting creation; and as a contemporary painter, Meng Weidong is of course thinking about his own artistic path all the time. Meng Weidong's Chinese paintings, whether they are flower-and-bird or landscape paintings, all embody the typical spirit of Chinese culture, "harmony between man and nature," and the pictures are tranquil and beautiful. In the process of transforming the "artistic conception of literature and thought" of traditional culture into the "artistic conception of pen and ink", good cultural literacy allows the personal cultivation of Confucianism and Taoism, Confucianism and Zen to be transformed into wonderful ink paintings, which transform the ancient Ecological aesthetics comes alive on the page, showing readers the exotic flowers, ancient trees and birds in the hot land where the Chinese nation rests and lives. Life in southern Anhui and his experience of traveling to Lingnan have greatly enriched Meng Weidong's creative sources. Stay close to the context, so that your works do not lose the elegance and taste of pen and ink, and pursue the eternal realm of "vivid charm"; stay close to nature, so that you do not deviate from the mainstream cultural awareness and theme creation direction of society.

2. The spiritual dimension of pursuing the "inner beauty" and "external beauty" of Chinese painting

Chinese painting is philosophical and pays attention to the "inner beauty" and external "form" of the work itself. "Beauty", this artistic quality of "beautiful on the outside and wise on the inside" is a favorite of all people with Chinese cultural genes. Inner beauty, of course, refers to the beauty and vividness of Chinese painting’s brush and ink. The brush and ink of Chinese painting have special cultural meanings. In "On Painting in the Summer Palace", Songnian even more meticulously described the six characters of "chatting, rubbing, hooking, cutting, silk, and dotting". The pen is capable of doing things, and it uses color and ink to help the color, charm, and beauty. A thousand words can be expressed in just six words: "use pen, use ink, and use water." When Meng Weidong studied painting, he practiced his brushwork diligently under the guidance of famous teachers. After many years of creative practice, he experienced the "square and round way" of the center and side brushes during the creative process, which produced the aesthetic effect of power and beauty. Through tens of thousands of ink and water experiments, Meng Weidong has mastered Chinese painting, mainly the "water gray" tone of landscape painting. This "unsaturated" ink technique adds a lot of spirituality to Meng Weidong's landscape paintings. , ink halo seal, rich and rich. His experience in using brushstrokes during the creation of landscape paintings resulted in unexpected visual effects in his bold attempts at painting flowers and birds. For example, his large tree trunks use the ax chop method of landscape painting to increase the lushness of the forest, and the branches are interspersed densely but not randomly, which reflects his ability to grasp the flexible and changeable lines in serving the creative theme.

There is a mountain in his chest, something in his heart, and his intention comes first with his pen, so his paintings give you the feeling of being completed in one go. The blank space or clouds in the picture appear more vivid because the intention is to put the pen first. "Let the charm flow in the picture" has become Meng Weidong's typical artistic style. Meng Weidong's pictorial style also has a strong sense of form. He likes full composition, pays attention to color and black and white contrast, and boldly adopts the "plane composition" and "image composition" in Western paintings to enhance the visual impact of the picture. .

3. Romantic ideas full of color and the pursuit of maximum "spiritual freedom"

Meng Weidong admired the great French artist Delacroix, who valued nature, emotion and form. , emphasis on contrast, emphasis on medieval absurdity. We appreciate Meng Weidong's Chinese paintings. Whether it is flowers, birds or landscapes, they are by no means simple figments made behind closed doors, but are inspired by feelings in life. Landscapes, flowers, birds and trees all like to use exaggerated techniques, which further distances them from the original appearance of nature. , and return to the essence of Chinese painting - image. Artists do not simply describe nature, but express their own perceptions of life, nature, and art using certain artistic means and forms. They fully express their life perceptions and personal emotions in their creations, and never care about the general meaning of pen and ink. Instead of pursuing gains and losses, he pursues the greatest freedom of the mind, "Looking at the autumn clouds, the gods flying, the spring breeze, and the vastness of thoughts." We can appreciate his forthrightness and openness from his works.

Comments on Shan Baocong

No sect alone, no teacher, no master of all things---Read Meng Weidong's collection of works

Getting to know Meng Weidong begins with his Paintings, entering his soul are also derived from his paintings. Mr. Weidong often sighs like this: "Discovering oneself, knowing oneself, and expressing oneself may be the true meaning of creation, but it is not easy to realize."

As a result, this pursuit permeates all his works. In his works, whether he paints flowers and birds or splashes of landscapes, he presents a distinct and rich "self" in the style of micro-winter. This kind of capital "self" makes flowers and birds shine with an otherworldly aura, and makes mountains and rivers reveal a magnificent and unbridled heroism.

Although he was influenced by his father-in-law when he embarked on the road of painting, what really guided him was a love from the depths of his soul, which was an innate infatuation. He is so obsessed with love and so hard to leave. He is looking for his "self" in his obsession. Only by holding the paintbrush can his heart truly be at peace. During this period, he was excited, proud, hopeful, confused, and depressed, but he was not discouraged. He constantly denies himself, and constantly searches for himself and freedom, and condenses them into his paintings.

Weidong was deeply influenced by Laozi in his creative thinking, which was fully reflected in his works. "No matter what stream or sect it is, as long as it can be used by me, it will be absorbed, digested, and carried forward." Although Weidong has no nominal teacher, all things in nature and every bit of life are his teachers all the time. Absence affects him and inspires his creation. He believes that everything has two sides to one body, and everyone has his own unique space, vivid pictures, and things worthy of others' appreciation.

There is no sect, no sect alone, no master of all things. Although his works moved from flowers and birds to landscapes, and then to landscapes, flowers and birds at the same time, the only thing that remains unchanged is his persistence and pursuit of painting. In his own words: Do only one thing in your life. He uses diligence and solidity to develop his own painting style, and he uses innovation to enrich his totem. It is this persistence and pursuit that creates a poetic, fresh, elegant, and colorful spiritual home and soul wealth in this impetuous real world.

Every time I read Weidong’s paintings, I can feel this easy-going and calmness. A benevolent person enjoys mountains, and a wise person enjoys water. Walking into the cold winter, you can't feel the impatience in him. He is an elegant, honest and wise man, like a friend and brother, simple and cordial; he puts his perceptual heart in the painting and the scenes presented by nature. In the light mist and mountain mist.

Let us stop in the hustle and bustle of the world, sit in front of the scene of mild winter, listen to the gurgling water, and listen to the petals falling quietly through the air

Hills holding bushes< /p>

In Beijing in the late summer of 2009

Jiang Tianbao’s comments

My heart’s voice, my heart’s voice, my mind’s image---Impressions after reading Meng Weidong’s landscape paintings

< p>An excellent artist must have his own creative ideas and artistic ideals. And he has practiced his own ideas and ideals in his creative activities for many years, constantly revised and enriched his painting language, and formed his own artistic style. Meng Weidong tends to agree with the theory of "imagery" as the essential characteristics of traditional Chinese painting. That is to say, the essential characteristic of landscape painting in Chinese painting is freehand brushwork. It is the artist's mental process of perceiving nature, getting close to nature, turning "object images" into "mental images", and then restoring the mental images to rice paper. The landscapes we appreciate on rice paper are no longer natural landscapes, but mental images, that is, images, that are depicted through the emotional intervention of the painter, the subject of creation. It is an image outside the image. This creative process is in line with the second leap in the cognitive process. There is both rational description and perceptual imagination in the creation. There is both philosophical induction and poetic expression, and the entire creative process is full of life sentiment. Even the realistic works of several landscape masters in the Song Dynasty are by no means simple descriptions of real mountains and waters, but rather detailed paintings. Because of the intervention of the Neo-Confucian thought of "Exhausting Physics" advocated by Song Dynasty, it only has a tendency of realism. Inheriting tradition means inheriting the "freehand brushwork" spirit of Chinese painting.

This freehand spirit is full of the philosophies of ancient Chinese sages, including the Confucian life realm of "gentlemen are more virtuous", the Taoist "simplicity" thought of returning to simplicity, and the Buddhist detachment of "quietness, emptiness, and emptiness" . The reason why Chinese painting is called one of the three quintessences of Chinese traditional culture stems from this.

In the creation of landscape paintings, Meng Weidong appreciates the "return to classical beauty" advocated by Teacher Fan Zeng. That is to say, we return to the philosophical rational beauty and poetic romantic beauty of traditional Chinese freehand landscape painting. The painting language has the beauty of Chinese calligraphy. The work must be moving and reflect the author's outlook on life and life sentiment.

It is said that "Chinese painting is philosophical". After many years of creative practice, Meng Weidong has a deep understanding of those traditional art works, especially the works of famous artists in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and the works of the Xin'an School of Painting in the Qing Dynasty. All of them reveal the philosophical thought of "the unity of man and nature". Some of this philosophical thought is positive, indicating classical ecological aesthetics, suitable for travel and livability, and full of poetry. Some works are escapist, with pictures of desolation and coldness, but One thing is unified, that is, man and nature live in harmony. People are full of awe in front of natural scenes. The essence of traditional Chinese culture runs through the works, and the simple philosophical thought of "Tao follows nature" has deeply influenced painters of all ages. As a contemporary artist, he undoubtedly also carries the social function of "helping others and educating people". The creation of landscape paintings should arouse people's love and protection for the ecological environment. The environment in which human beings live is the common wealth of all mankind. Therefore, Meng Weidong's landscape paintings always like to dot a few houses or huts in the green mountains and green waters. The quiet pictures are full of life because of the intervention of "people". And this fairyland-like realm makes urban people yearn for it even more.

Saying that "Chinese painting is poetic", Meng Weidong started to create landscape paintings more than ten years ago. He followed the mainstream path of Chinese literati painting, painting in a freehand style. He opposed the simple description of real landscapes, that is, the imitation of scenery. Instead, he focused on "searching for the wonderful and creating the true" and worked hard on creating artistic conception. Only the beauty of artistic conception can produce poetic nature. In other words, only poetic nature can create works that make people daydream about each other and have endless charm. When we appreciate Meng Weidong's works, there is always a kind of "literary artistic conception" that moves us: green mountains, distant mountains, small bridges and flowing water, lush trees, clouds and fog, and several houses looming in the green mountains and green water. In the mountains. In terms of specific creative style, Meng Weidong is best at "leaving white space". His predecessors are very skillful in using the technique of "thinking of white as black". The flowing spring and the white clouds are not a single ink, they are just painted eyes, making the whole picture look quiet. There is movement in it. "Let the charm flow in the picture" is his artistic pursuit and his artistic characteristic. Li Rihua in the Ming Dynasty said: "For any shape-like object, it is better to obtain its shape than to obtain its potential; to obtain its potential, it is better to obtain its rhyme; to obtain its rhyme, it is better to obtain its nature." Meng Weidong is good at interpreting the natural spirituality of mountains and rivers in various places and adding poetic flavor to it, so his works are highly readable and long-lasting, leaving people with endless aftertaste. It is said that "Chinese painting is calligraphy". Since landscape painting became an independent branch in the Tang Dynasty, China's calligraphy art has been very developed. The intervention of the beauty of calligraphy undoubtedly adds unparalleled vitality and beauty to the creation of landscape paintings. The aesthetic level of Chinese landscape painting has been greatly improved. The addition of "the artistic conception of pen and ink" to the "artistic conception of literature" in landscape painting adds many cultural functions to the modeling function of landscape painting. Wu Changshuo, a modern painter, said that "the five mountains are the source of his mind, and the majesty of his paintings is the inspiration for his painting." When appreciating Chinese landscape paintings, the first of the six methods is "vivid charm", but if you leave out the "bone method and brushwork", I'm afraid the work will be compromised. Meng Weidong was an early member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association and was good at seal engraving. He moved the brush in the center and swept the brush sideways. His familiarity with the mood, style and meaning of the brush gave his landscape paintings a bit of a scholar's calligraphy tiredness. "The brushwork should be strong, the ink should be vivid, the hills and valleys should be strange, and the charm should be elegant." This is what Gong Xian of the Qing Dynasty said, explaining how important brush and ink are in the creation of landscape paintings. Meng Weidong has always regarded "elegance of spirit, elegance of charm, traceless brushwork, wonderful use of ink, changes in layout, and sublime colors" as his artistic pursuit. Height determines vision. Meng Weidong has a correct understanding of the key points of landscape, so the landscape paintings he creates are full of ancient charm and refreshing breeze.

Saying that "Chinese painting comes from life" may be what Meng Weidong feels most deeply. Meng Weidong mainly lived in Chuzhou, a scenic spot in the Jianghuai River when he was young. It is Ouyang Xiu's paintings of Chuzhou, surrounded by mountains and surrounded by Chuzhou Mountains, that are so beautiful and profound. The influence of its natural beauty and rich and prosperous culture made Meng Weidong a little more emotional than many artists of his generation in his love for nature and traditional culture. . This feeling gave him a bit more passion when he traveled to the north and south of the motherland as an adult. His love for nature and his enthusiasm for pen and ink are unforgettable. "The ancients put their love in things, and the intention was to write first, so that their interest would leap forward and they would be handy (Shen Xiang said in the Ming Dynasty). Because of his creative passion, his works are filled with the sentiment of life. . Because of the sentiment of life, he can "hold the pen and sweep away all things, and sweep away the gold with a stroke of brush" (Han Zhuo in the Northern Song Dynasty). Many of the small scenes of Jiangnan landscapes he painted are like "spring mountains are like beauties, summer mountains are like fierce generals, and autumn mountains are like masters." , the winter mountains are like old monks." This is the artist's feelings, and it is also the artistic result of the artist integrating his individual life into nature. The history is profound and beautiful, and the charm is timeless.

"The pen and ink should follow the times" (Shi Tao said ), this is a frequently discussed topic. Artists of every era are naturally affected by the background of the times in their creative process.

Today, the brush has been far away from our daily life, and its core function has been degraded. However, it is inseparable from the creation of Chinese paintings. It is self-consolation to say that the brush and ink can be compared to the Song and Yuan Dynasties. This is the collective helplessness of today's artists. How to transform Chinese painting from a traditional painting form to a modern painting form is a question that artists must think about, and it is also an unavoidable problem. Meng Weidong knew that he had to start from two aspects, one is to improve his pen and ink and have his own personality in pen and ink, and the other is to develop his own personality in pattern to achieve novel composition. Frankly speaking, the innovation of Chinese painting is nothing more than the exaggeration of form and the publicity of brush and ink. This kind of creative activity is carried out on the premise of learning from the ancients and learning from nature. We are pleased to see some of the southern Anhui landscape paintings created by Meng Weidong, which are full of rich ink and rich colors, full of richness and splendor. "I saw how charming the green mountains were, and I expected that the green mountains would be like this to me." The passion for creation has not diminished; and in those works that reflect the western region, the bitter pen and ink and desolate pictures obviously have more thoughts on life and society - "Green Mountains" It cannot contain too much sorrow." This is the embodiment of the artist's humanistic care spirit in his works, and it is also the contemporary appeal of art itself.

Media reports

Painter Meng Weidong: Garden-style flower and bird painting

Q: Teacher Meng, please talk about your new understanding of traditional flower and bird painting.

Answer: Flower-and-bird painting originated from the mainstream of Chinese painting - landscape painting. It is actually a derivative of landscape painting. It can truly become an independent genre of painting from the time when Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty started branch-breaking painting to Zhao Ji in the Southern Song Dynasty. Founded by the Xuanhe style, these two were emperor painters so they could dominate the fate of painting and even form a style or school. Xuanhe style is mainly based on fine brushwork, which combines the previous branch-breaking painting techniques and is still used today. During this period, many predecessors wanted to make breakthroughs and innovations on the basis of tradition, especially in modern times. The earlier Yuan Dynasty may have been worse, because in the Yuan Dynasty, foreigners entered the Central Plains, so they did not understand Han culture that well. So, This period was the trough of Chinese painting. Chinese painting moved from the court to the folk, and then from the folk to the court, coupled with the application of religion. It is the continuous summary and accumulation of people in the daily labor process, forming a scale and forming a school. On the one hand, it is the role of the royal family, and on the other hand, it is religion. All types of paintings around the world originated from religion, including oil paintings, and gradually formed a system.

Q: Please talk about the characteristics of modern flower and bird paintings.

Answer: In modern times, many painters are thinking about changes in flower-and-bird painting. Among them, a group of great flower-and-bird painters appeared in modern times, such as Pan Tianshou, Qi Baishi, and Ren Bainian. During this period, Chinese painting was reformed. Pan Tianshou and Guo Weiqu, the most representative ones, moved the flower-and-bird paintings to the wild and into nature, carrying forward the old and bringing forth the new. What they wanted was to not only inherit the tradition, but also improve it, and use the branch-folding method of the flower-and-bird paintings to expand the scene. , coupled with rocks, streams, and distant mountains, a new look appeared during this period. During the Cultural Revolution, some painters incorporated the products produced by workers, peasants and soldiers into their paintings. In flower and bird paintings, for example, they painted a pile of harvest fruits and paired them with a bamboo basket, stone rollers, shovels, and even straw sandals worn by laborers to combine these elements. They are all integrated into the Chinese flower-and-bird painting system and are the styles of that specific period. These themes are indeed consistent with the social environment at that time, and the common people can understand them and find them very familiar. The ancients said that pen and ink should adapt to the times and apply the social background and historical conditions of the time. At that time, they must adapt to the environment of the times. At that time, we couldn’t say it was a sect, it just kept pace with the times. This style was still used until the 1980s at the beginning of reform and opening up.

Q: What do you think of the innovation of modern flower-and-bird painting?

Answer: Modern society is already in the information age, and the material conditions are incomparable with those in the past. It also needs changes and innovations. Every painter who is committed to painting is thinking about changes and innovations, and there are many categories. , some borrowed from foreign sources, and combined Chinese and Western styles. As a modern painter, I am no exception. I also want to explore new ways of modern painting using the traditional language of pen and ink. After the mid-1990s, various formal styles emerged. A large number of painters advocated forms, such as symbolic style, and used their own imaginary forms to model their works. This became a fashionable trend in the period and led a large number of people to do this. Why does this kind of thing become popular? It is indeed very effective in the real society. A very fresh thing, if it is fixed and repeated over and over again, and promoted everywhere, it will always arouse people's cries and recognition. I conclude Take a look, this can be regarded as a way for modern people to quickly become famous. Many painters do this, and the things they paint are almost the same. They are very skilled. This is a symbolic form, and it is very influential. If you tell a lie too many times, it will become true. It was formed by the social environment. I once wanted to use this Eastern and Western method in this team, but I felt something was wrong when I walked around. The seriousness and attitude of painting were not in line with my personality, so I was thinking about my Flower and bird paintings to express. Previous painters placed large scenes of flowers and birds in nature's rivers and lakes. I use modern wisdom to standardize and garden them. Whatever you show is what you show. A complete picture is either a forest or a piece of grass, plus the air. The scene is too big, and it is difficult to express it realistically. Which part should be real and which part should be virtual. If you are not careful, it will become dull, so I put the fog in it. The picture flows, reflecting the new compositional charm through the fog.

Garden-style flower and bird paintings

The creative aesthetics of garden-style flower and bird paintings

Chinese paintings - mainly referring to literati paintings, have experienced a century of turmoil. From the traditional painting form to the modern painting form.

This is the evolution of art in the process of development, and it is also an objective requirement for social changes or progressive aesthetic changes. Creation must "advance with the times." Shi Tao's long-standing proposition that "pen and ink should keep pace with the times" has broad relevance today and even in the future. meaning. Traditional literati paintings have been favored by people because of the intervention of calligraphy aesthetics and the creative freedom of expression. The lyrical meaning they express has long been adapted to the needs of traditional aesthetics. But in today's society, the "pen-and-ink-centered theory" obviously constrains the creative innovation of creators and cannot meet the broader aesthetic needs of today's people. As an art developed from traditional interpretation, inheritance is beyond reproach, but innovation is also necessary. It is necessary to not only achieve the tension and interest of traditional Chinese painting, but also have the formal beauty, creative connotation and spirituality that meet the aesthetic needs of the times. This is the current problem and difficulty facing the creation of Chinese paintings. Like many artists, Meng Weidong found his own creative path after years of exploration and thinking. Although this artistic road with a distinctive artistic personality and style has gone through ups and downs, today it seems that the future is getting smoother and brighter. He is a versatile painter who has made many achievements in flower-and-bird and landscape paintings. Here we will only analyze his creative aesthetics in flower-and-bird paintings, and briefly analyze the aesthetic characteristics of his "garden-style flowers and birds".

Chinese flower-and-bird painting has adapted to the social aesthetic needs of the Chinese people during its long-term historical development, forming a tradition based on sketching and relying on humor and freehand brushwork. "Poorly" conveys the vitality and different characteristics of flowers, birds, trees, birds and animals. Through the description of the creative objects, it embodies the author's unique feelings, and uses artistic means similar to poetry's "Fu, Comparison, and Xing" to convey feelings and support to the objects. Things express ambition. It emphasizes the leading role of "meaning" and expresses feelings as vividly as the art of calligraphy. This kind of artistic quality determines that the traditional flower and bird painters appear in the form of "private space", that is, the private communication and play among scribes. Today's Chinese painting has already moved from the "private space" of painting to the "public space", that is, from the stately place of study to the art of halls and palaces. This major change in aesthetic style forces artists to create larger-scale works of art that are richer in content and full of the life and spirit of the times. As we all know, the essence of innovation in Chinese painting is nothing more than exaggeration of form and publicity of brushwork. During the difficult artistic exploration, Meng Weidong discovered that parks and gardens are the ideal places for urbanites to spend their leisure time. Gardens are the perfect unity of nature and humanistic thought, and the perfect combination of natural beauty and artistic beauty. Chinese garden architectural aesthetics almost absorbs the essence of traditional Chinese culture, and is a materialized form of culture and art. How to learn from the aesthetic characteristics of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign garden aesthetics to open up a new path for his flower and bird creations. Meng Weidong combined the artistic creativity of "big flowers and birds" from his predecessors and contemporary famous artists to create an original garden-style flower and bird painting.

Chinese gardens can be said to be the perceptual manifestation of the Chinese classical cultural spirit, including the aesthetic spirit. This is inseparable from the comprehensive nature of the garden. Small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, terraces, buildings, pavilions, famous flowers and exotic plants, as well as strange stones and ancient trees are all collected in the garden. The Jiangnan gardens during the Ming and Qing Dynasties became a magnificent and unique work in the history of architectural art in China and the world. You can travel and live, and you can have both Confucianism and Taoism. The style is elegant, the charm is vivid, and the emphasis is on charm. All the beauties gather together, beyond the realm of happiness, looking forward and responding. Heaven and man are one, a paradise on earth. Today's urbanization process and pressure from all aspects have made people farther and farther away from nature. Appreciating natural beauty, including the beauty of gardens, has become more and more luxurious. Although urban landscape gardens and zoological and botanical gardens can solve or meet some of the requirements, the perspective through glass windows cannot eliminate the anxiety and confusion in the heart. There is nothing poetic about a jungle of reinforced concrete. Meng Weidong attempts to create "big flower and bird" paintings that have the aesthetic characteristics of classical gardens and the ecological aesthetics of modern urban landscape gardens and urban botanical gardens. This kind of garden-style flower and bird painting does not paint the picture into a Chinese garden or botanical garden, but in the creation of flower and bird painting, it learns from the conception, layout and arrangement of the garden from the conception, layout, structure, composition, pen and ink and other artistic symbols. , harmoniously unify traditional Chinese cultural elements and artistic symbols into the picture, enhance the visual effect of the picture and enrich the connotation of the art itself.

Li Yu, a famous artist of the Qing Dynasty, believed in his monograph "Heavenly Skills Presented" that Chinese garden architecture is based on painting to understand the gardens, and that structure comes first and must "come from the heart and benefit both elegance and taste." ". We think backwards, and the reason why a garden is pleasing to the eye is related to its richness and layout structure. The shortcoming of traditional literati paintings is that they overemphasize the lyricism of the creator, and the pictures are too simple, too cold and desolate. Therefore, when Mencius-style flower and bird paintings represent jungle fruits and trees, the pictures are very full, with branches intersecting each other, complex and dense, and enhanced The impact and visual effects of the picture. Increase sketch relationships, enhance color tension, and enhance visual contrast.

The architect Ji Cheng of the Ming Dynasty emphasized in his garden monograph "Garden Governance" that garden architecture is: "The skill of gardens lies in borrowing reasons, and the essence lies in the appropriateness of the body." "The garden is elegant and elegant, but it is also refined." This is the embodiment of Chinese Confucian culture in garden architecture. Confucian elegance leads the social style in any era. "Gardens should be pure and clear, and the dust should come out." This is a typical Taoist thought. The pursuit of "loveliness under the forest" is the transcendent character of Chinese literati.

Meng Weidong was deeply inspired by the aesthetic character of garden architecture that combines Confucianism and Taoism. The beauty of traditional Chinese painting must not be lost in the creation of Chinese flowers and birds. The reason why his double-hooked flowers and birds, boneless freehand brushwork, is so popular is that His profound pen and ink skills. The main reason why his works are attractive is that there is always a "freshness" in them, an otherworldly and refreshing style.

Chinese classical aesthetics generally regards "qiyun" as the form of life. Xie He of the Southern Dynasties regarded "vivid Qiyun as the first requirement of Chinese painting aesthetics." This aesthetic character is also reflected in Chinese garden architecture. "Qi" focuses on the exposed side, and "rhyme" refers to the hidden side of life, the quiet side, the infinitely divergent side. "Qi" is the form, and "rhyme" is the aftertaste. "Rhyme is the most beautiful thing." Pay attention to implicitness. , pay attention to virtuality and reality, winding paths lead to secluded places, and unique caves. In the creation of flowers and birds, Meng Weidong pays special attention to the balance between reality and reality, and pays attention to white space, so his paintings are complex but not clumsy. Letting "charm flow in the picture" has always been an aspect that he pays more attention to; "painting and poetry are in harmony with each other". Only when painting has poetry can it produce artistic conception, and only when it has artistic conception can it have charm, and all of this is inseparable from the beauty of form. To a certain extent, the flower and bird paintings created by Meng Huidong have the formal beauty of urban landscape gardens and the inner beauty of Chinese classical gardens, which are beautiful on the outside but wise on the outside.

Perhaps, the idea of ??creating garden-style flower and bird paintings came about accidentally, but as an artist who actively explores painting, he always incorporates innovative thinking into his creations, and changes are within reason. Meng Weidong is a contemporary painter with romanticism and outstanding imagination. We can deeply feel his artistic characteristics in the large number of flower and bird paintings he created; he is a painter with relatively obvious expressionist ideas and emphasizes subjective emotions and natural feelings in his artistic creation. The newly created works boldly unify the freehand spirit of Chinese painting and abstraction in the painting, which is unique. He is always thinking and exploring. His flower and bird paintings combine the brush and ink, perspective, and modern color sketches of traditional Chinese paintings, and have an obvious modern "composition". He is one of the few artists in contemporary paintings who has the traditional brush and ink charm of Chinese painting and a modern sense. He is one of the rare artists who retains the touch of calligraphy and stone in the movement of the brush lines.

(Jiang Tianbao/Text)

Art Exhibition

Origin

March 15-18, 2009, "Fresh "Elegant" Chinese painting exhibition by Beijing painter Meng Weidong is held in the Ershizhai on the third floor of the Xiamen Old Library and is open to the general public free of charge.

Development

On February 12, 2010, on the occasion of the Spring Festival, the "Meng Weidong Traditional Chinese Painting Exhibition" was hosted by the Chaozhou Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication Bureau and hosted by the Chaozhou Chinese Painting Academy. "Works Exhibition" held an opening ceremony for an 8-day personal exhibition of traditional Chinese painting works at the Cultural Changkou in the Central Square. Chen Xiaoli, deputy secretary-general of the Chaozhou Municipal Government, Lin Guangpeng, director of the Chaozhou Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication Bureau and other leaders and guests attended the opening ceremony.

From August 17th to August 19th, 2012, Meng Weidong’s Chinese painting exhibition was organized by Shenzhen Artists Association, Shenzhen Bao’an District Government, Beijing Oriental Xianghe Painting and Calligraphy Academy, Guangdong Chaozhou Chinese Painting Academy, Shenzhen City It is hosted by Huacai Moyun Culture Co., Ltd. and co-organized by Guangdong Meibang Furniture Industrial Co., Ltd.

On March 27, 2013, Meng Weidong’s flower-and-bird landscape painting exhibition was held at the Chaozhou Guopintang Cultural Exchange Center. The exhibition displays nearly a hundred of the artist's recent works of flowers, birds, and landscapes.

"Wonderful Creation of Nature·Meng Weidong Painting Exhibition" opened at 15:00 on December 24, 2013 at Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Shenzhen.

Li Zhonggui, former deputy secretary and secretary general of the Chinese Artists Association, and his wife, honorary president of the China General Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, former deputy commander of the Jinan Military Region and commander of the Jinan Air Force, Lieutenant General Guo Yuxiang and his wife, representatives of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and representatives of the National People's Congress , Major General Dong Shumin, political commissar of the Chongqing Armed Police Corps, Mr. Zhang Hongmin, anchor of CCTV's "News Network", director of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Calligraphers Association, vice chairman of the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and chairman of the Shenzhen Calligraphers Association Chen Qinshuo, deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau Director Chai Fengchun and the leaders of the museum and organizer Beijing Oriental Xianghe Painting and Calligraphy Academy and