Law of Perspective:Wang Peng
Shape of Art-Wang Peng
Christina Y Z
"All children seem to be unconsciously following the eternal law of form"--Wilhelm Wiola1
In 1984,when Wang Peng was a CAfA graduate,he found traditional art styles overwhelming.In the summer of that same year,he presented his first performance work in a CAFA classroom.Star Art had started over five years before,and the'85 trend movement' had not yet been unveiled.It was a special period in time,with this special work the nineteen-year-old boy marked the begining of his journey as an artist:For about 30 minutes Wang Peng dipped his body in ink and dyed paper on the ground;the performance had something in common with Yve Klein's Anthropometrie sans titre in the 1960s,(in that work Klein arranged several models and women dipped in ink and used them to draw,like a pen on paper,but Wang Peng drew the work with his own body.）Yet at that time,nobody saw the future.Also at that time,in a conservative college system,in addition to the artist himself,only three spectators saw this spontaneous creative act-two of which were the assistants of this work,and the other one was a classmate who passed by and peeked in the door just by chance.2 And Wang Peng,when the photos were taken,the work was completed for him and the images were immediately collected and hidden at the bottom of his work.
Wang Peng continued to receive strict traditional realistic painting training until his graduation.He found the creative colour impact emancipated him from his former static state,in a world,where he could only sketch models endlessly in the studio.We could say the performance,four years before was a diversion and avenue for his creative energy and his resistance towards stagnation and restraint.At this time,colour became the reason for everything.Just like "Cezanne and his followers are far away from scaffolding,pointing out a completely different road."3 These brand new methods provided Wang Peng the direction to leave the traditional art system of that time and his immanent impulses told him that he must leave the old static rules.The world of painting is not just sketching models,as he saw taught in the school,as the old masters had developed great skills and output.In the understanding of Wang Peng,art is another shape--it should be constantly surging,questioning and growing.This way of creation has diverged by him and has been signified by time.
With regard to the naming and understanding of abstract painting,Wang Peng claims that his practice does not need to be labelled as abstract,and he does not think his abstract painting should be classified as abstract,in his understanding they are not contradictory to realistic painting.Realistic painting depicts our immanent feelings and exprience.They are the continuation of a different description,and for Wang Peng these descriptions are far more real and closer to his inner feelings than the appearances,without the renderings of secular contents,abstract description seems more difficult to accurately show space compositions of colour and shape.
Wang Peng thinks that to arrange shapes of different colours in a specific space,he needs to find the proper relationship between them,to adjust the structures continually,and finally to make the general appearance a picture that is both conflicting and harmonising.These colours imply different emotions,shapes and sizes,each of which has a differernt expression.An occasional drop of colour on the canvas may be the beginning of his new work,as if there are many intersections to be chosen,different roads lead to differernt ends,if the artist grasps well the progressing direction,ceaselessly,one will arrive at the final destination.With his unceasing practice of abstract painting,Wang Peng regards them as colour travels on canvas.
To consider Wang Peng's works,we should adopt a method of time clues and space contrast:a vertical and a horizontal axis.His experimental art practice for years,such as intallations,performances,videos and other works,together with his colour explorations present us with an open artistic horizon that has a strong context of time,history space and memory,which has the artist's individual mark.In Wang Peng's pioneering art experiments,we as audiences can appreciate "art needs not to be predicted by history,instead it leads it."Wang Peng revealed the precious value of a pioneer artist with his art experiments .We realise the works of the artist are not just some paintings hanging on the walls in one's living room,they are the sincere expressions of life from an artist who continuously presents his created works.They are overlaid and folded and finally presented from time to time,and at the end the ever changing shape of art is to be shaped.
In the creative track of Wang Peng's art practice all the energies such as curiosity,creativity,and inner calls proved to us "the creative work of art does not need to be befended by soldiers".4
1Mark Rothko,Ecrits Sur L'art 1834-1969,Pdition de notes de Miguel L 'opez-Remiro,(Spain),Ai LeiEr translated into Chinese,Beijing University Publication House,2016,page 22
2Btitta Erichson interviewed Wang Peng,A Spontaneous Release:Wang Peng Talks about His '84's Performance,China's First Nude Performance Piece
3Mark Rothko,Ecrits Sur L'art 1834-1969,Presentation,edition de notes de Miguel L'opez-Remiro,(Spain),translated into Chinese by Ai LeiEr,Beijing University Publication House,2016,page 28;
4Mark Rothko,Ecrits Sur L'art 1834-1969,Presentation,edition de notes de Miguel L'opez-Remiro,(Spain),Ai LeiEr translated into Chinese,Beijing University Publication House,2016,page 20.
