Chinese Artist Takes Invisible Journeys
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
``Invisible Journeys" is the title of Chinese artist Qiu Xiaofei's solo exhibition at Doosan Gallery, Yeonji-dong, Jongno, Seoul.
Taken from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's dearly loved classic ``The Little Prince," ``Invisible Journeys shows parallels between the Little Prince's travels around the galaxy to find life's true meaning and Qiu's own artistic journey.
``Like the Little Prince, Qiu values the connection between the sensory and the external world. He appreciates his immediate environment and doubts the changes in it. Throughout his artistic journeys, his subject matters share a humanistic tendency and encourage spiritual fulfillment over a materialistic one," said curator Charade Woo, in the exhibition catalogue.
The exhibition, which runs through March 26, presents oil paintings, sculptures and mixed media installations that Qiu made between 2003 and 2009.
Born in Harbin, northeastern China, in 1977, Qiu studied oil painting techniques under contemporary master Liu Xiaodong at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing.
Unlike many of his contemporaries in the Chinese art scene who focus on socio-political themes, Qiu chooses to represent everyday life in his works. He is very much interested in personal memory.
His early work ``Photo Paper" explores the concept of documenting memory through oil paintings.
``Most of my earlier works that feel full of memory are actually not too closely related to the past. When I graduated from college, Beijing was developing quickly, with everyone and everything around me. Every day was entirely new. I wanted to slow down time, and painting is a very time-consuming method of doing so. In those paintings, the final result is very simple, just an imitation of some past time or place without any particular meaning. But I think that process is very important. This process consumes the time of the now, consumes the present, and this made me very excited," Qiu said in an interview with the Boers-Li Gallery.
In ``Vocabulary Charts," Qiu replicates photographs that are used to teach children about the world. He engages himself and the viewer to redefine the values of the environment.
Qiu uses photographs as the basis of his paintings. ``More often I look for my scenes and objects in photographs. Without photographs there is nowhere to store the details of memory…
"I like using those family photographs instead of fine art pieces. The imperfections and chance elements of these images make me feel like I'm not quite sure of what I'm saying," Qiu said
Nature obviously inspired Qiu's recent works: ``Deer and Plum Blossoms," ``Sea and Sky" and ``Two Broadcasters."
``As an outsider, the Little Prince continually referred to his own planet as a reference point in relating to others. Qiu himself has embarked on a comparable journey as an artist, reflecting his personal experiences. In this modern era, while searching for his identity, Qiu's inquisitive journeys with memories, daily life and nature exemplify his raison d'etre as an accomplished conceptual oil painter," Woo said
Woo noted that Qiu offers a ``refreshingly earnest and genuine perspective on the modern Chinese society, which will leave a mark in contemporary art history."
Doosan Gallery is located on the first floor of the Doosan Art Center. The nearest subway station is Jongno 5-ga, Line 5. Call (02) 708-5050 or visit www.doosanartcenter.com.