Images – the inner world

Images – the Inner World
the Exhibition of Chen Lingjie’s Oil Paintings
Opening: Friday 20:00,11th Nov 2005Exhibition time: 11th Nov – 12th Dec 2005
Add:Xi Ba Road No.101 LOFT, Kunming,Yunnan,China
TEL:0871- 4114691

From the Land

To understand young artist Chen Lingjie’s oil painting, we must mind two vital facts. One is that she comes from a peasant’s family who has been laboring on land generation after generation; the other is that she was born in the Jiangchuan County, a place of origin for Yunnan ancient culture. As early as two thousand years ago people in this area created great bronze culture.

As a peasant’s daughter, Chen Lingjie deeply loves her village and her native land. Although she has become an art teacher in a college, she still works with her family on the farmland whenever she goes back to her old home. Many of her paintings represent farm tools and articles for daily use, which embody her heartfelt love for country life.

If we have seen ancient Yunnan bronze work, which was created by Chen Lingjie’s remote ancestors, it is not difficult for us to see that her paintings have something to do with those great bronze works in terms of visual effect.

Land, country life and ancient Yunnan culture have nurtured the peasant’s girl and her art.

Modern art education is another important factor for Chen Lingjie’s development. The generation after “the Cultural Revolution” in China was faced with a period of economic development and opening to the outside world. Art education in China gradually freed itself from the Soviet Union and Russian system, and accepted world’s artistic achievement extensively. In the years when she learned art, China’s art creation had gained much more freedom and was very active in the world.

She was lucky enough to be admitted to the Second Oil Studio of Yunnan Arts Institute to study under Prof. Wu Jun and Prof. Dang Zhigang, from whom she developed a new realistic trend, that is, she emphasizes putting personal life experience and subjective ideas into objective representation.

As an excellent student from the Second Studio, Chen Lingjie had developed her own painting style by the time she graduated in 2001. This was shown by her graduation solo exhibition. She has kept painting for nearly five years since graduation. A great many of her paintings have been shown in Yunnan and other provinces and have won many awards. In this nice autumn she holds yet another solo exhibition at T-cafe Nordica Gallery, Kunming Loft, where artists are doing contemporary art most actively. Congratulations!

Mao Xuhui, 2005.10.