Historical Perspective

Born in 1962, Zhang Xinquan is just one of those born-in-the-60s artists, enthusiastic while yearning for tenderness, ambitious but abstaining from extravagance, prudent but active in innovation. Thus, their art and life are deeply imprinted with visible “post-Utopia” culture.

The so-called “post-Utopia” is marked with historical sense, and that sense has undoubtedly extended to Zhang Xinquan’s works, most of which are obviously related to the modern history of China: some are the direct transplant of images at that time, such as “Zhongshan Vessel” painted in 2008; some others may have a more complex source, but what is expressed is still the historical sense of the scene, such as “The Metropolis Old Shanghai” in 2003, “The Tram” in 2004, and “The Suzhou River” in 2006 and so on. Outwardly, old photographs are the source of the paintings. But more than the accurate narration of the volatile social background and the ups and downs of those influential figures, Zhang intends to relate them with a more peaceful and rational atmosphere. In his eyes, distance breeds the historical sense, that is, what artists should do is not to reproduce history through works, but to form a new image with their own interpretation.

To be more specific, Zhang Xinquan strives to balance dynamically between realism and expressionism. Take “Zhongshan Vessel” as an example. Realism is to shape historical figures and create historical scenes, while expressionism is to form the structure and emotional tension of the painting. Actually, most of his works relate more to the historical sense rather than the historical event itself. The classic scenes of “old Shanghai” in “The Metropolis Old Shanghai”, “The Tram”, and “The Suzhou River”, remind audience of the Bund and the Suzhou River, which symbolize the splendid past of Shanghai, but have a visibly different situation today. With the deliberately created distance, Zhang Xinquan aims to have the historical sense, as well as to reflect the artist’s own historical concept.

Zhang Xinquan insists that reviewing the past doesn’t necessarily prevent you from moving forward, for you may come across with the characteristics of the times in your review. In other words, he is reflecting on the past, the present and the future as an individual artist, just as T.S Elliott puts it in poetics, the historical sense “is at the same time what makes a writer most acutely conscious of his place in time, of his contemporaneity.” Thus, Zhang expands his territory of works by the transition from historical sense to historical perspective.

Since 2007, Zhang Xinquan has been working on the “Vessel” series, which is connected to the earlier produced “Zhongshan Vessel” and old Shanghai-related paintings, where vessels just worked as scenes or part of the scenes. His choice of the vessels appears to be out of his persistent interest in history, as he collected numerous images from newspapers and magazines and postcards from that time, so as to reshape those vessels. Virtually, apart from the painting “Zhiyuan Vessel” produced in 2009, most of his works, which were later classified into “Vessel” series or “Sea Soul” series, given the name of “The Patrol Vessel”, “The Yacht”, “The Merchant Ship” or “Lying at Anchor”, don’t stress on some specific historical value or meaning, despite the fact that they are all about the vessels in late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. He was trying to evade portraying the vessels themselves. For instance, in “The Patrol Vessel” produced in 2007, the ship was relatively complete, surrounded by the realistically painted sea surface, surf and skyline, while in “Sea Soul No 11” and “Sea Soul No 12” in 2011, parts of the ship are prominent, with abstractly painted surroundings. Through his “Vessels” series or “Sea Soul” series, Zhang is extracting images to express his own historical perspective. What he aims at is to suggest more possibilities with expressive art forms, breaking down the boundaries of a certain narration or visual expression.

On contrary to his discussion of the past in his “Vessel” series, his latest “Landscape” series focuses more on the present. To be more concrete, the “Vessel” series probes into those covert moments in history, which are of symbolic and transitional importance rather than a mere record of the history, whereas his “Landscape” series painted after 2009, which reflects historical changes through the interaction of people and the time, is closely related to the current cultural position and social environment as a whole.

“The Sea View House”, “Sanjiang Normal College” and “Jinling Machine Factory” painted in 2009, which obviously lay special emphasis on architecture style, are slightly related to the previous series of old Shanghai. But his latest works come out in a sketch style rather than imitating old photos.

“Sanjiang Normal College” and “Jinling Machine Factory”, the symbols of the Qing government’s effort to innovate and make social changes, are often ignored in our life. They have already faded away from our sight in the historical process. In those sketch style works, Zhang Xinquan mirrors the changes of history, as well as the changes they bring to human being. “The Sea View House” demonstrates how the sketch style can create a sense of presence and cast emotions on the work. The western style old buildings by the shore, together with the sea line, are sketched with skilled perspective in the painting, where the liveliness of the style can be seen from the traces of strokes.

“There is nothing so stable as change,” as Bob Dylan puts it. Definitely, it’s also Zhang Xinquan’s style. Zhang is no advocate of what has already gone. What he is probing into is not the artificial aspect of history. In his latest “Landscape” series, he emphasizes that history is not intentioned to be determined by any individual, but is a reflection of the deep social emotions. The old town of Suzhou became the target of his investigation all because it’s the epitome of the whole China, as well as a base for artists to produce their works. In Zhang’s eyes, those classical gardens and picturesque outskirts are just a glimpse, a section or a flash in history. He recognizes the endlessness of history, so instead of pursuing the alleged purity and eternity, he thoroughly appreciates the freedom of producing skillfully. On that point, Zhang’s works are approaching truth rather than illusion, soul instead of reality.

-- By Zhao Li, a Professor in China Central Academy of Fine Arts