Young Master Ke Ming kindly introduced us to Master Leng Jun not too long ago. Ke Ming is quite an accomplished artist in his own right, and the club had a brief opportunity to sit down with him and talk about his art. He specializes in North Korean "socialist realism," which is a general subject that has been of recent interest to me during my trip to China. "Socialist Realism" is part of a long history spanning quite a few decades in the Russia, Eastern Europe, the former soviet republics in Central Asia, and Latin America. This genre is quite interesting for me because it is technically very proficient, but pictorially points to a reality that is more ideal than real. In Ke Ming's case, his efforts seemed to arise from genuine personal interest in the genre, rather than any state-sponsored impetus, which I thought was very unique. Ke Ming shared with us his largest piece, "The Moon Rises from the Ocean," which is a tribute to socialist realism of North Korea. It is an immense work, measuring 1660 x 380cm, a size and format that is quite breathtaking in the amount of effort it took to complete. The work is structurally grandiose. He displays deft handling of flowers, people, costumes, and architectural settings in a collage. The coloring and detailing is dazzling. Proportions, anatomy, facial expressions, hands, feet, clothing textures are spot on. Another interesting piece is "Farmer's Dancing," 150 x 247 cm, which is another fairly large piece representing traditional North Korean dancers celebrating during a harvest of plenty. Last year, Ke Ming also painted this landscape, which is quite different from the others. It is titled "Pine Tree Standing," oil on canvas, measuring 151x295cm. It is a tribute piece to the venerable tradition of Chinese landscapes executed by ink wash, and contains calligraphic scripts in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian (Cyrillic). Quite ironically, art like this was suppressed and actively destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (the Four Olds: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, Old Ideas) in favor of socialist "realism," which begs the question: how "real" is socialist "realism"? Is the pine tree symbolic of old traditions still standing? Or is the painting an allegory of the seeming contradiction that is evident in contemporary Chinese culture and politics - a country that is trying to come to terms with its rich history within the context of contemporary Chinese communism and technological innovation? It will be interesting to see how this young man's career and works will evolve within the next few decades as China rushes into the new century.
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Last weekend, the club paid a visit to Hubei Art Institute outside of Wuhan, which was holding its end-of-year exhibit for graduating students. We were curious to see the works and subject matter being taught, take a peek inside an academic studio, and perhaps scavenge or find a good deal on easels as departing students were going home.
Thanks to Cecilia, who drove us there and back again. A few weeks ago, the Club had the immense privilege and honor to meet with Master Leng Jun, who graciously accepted an impromptu phone call and invited us to visit his home on short notice. Thanks to Jane, a fellow club member, the Club was able to visit Master Leng and meet his assistant. The introduction was made by young artist Ke Ming (more on him later, who is a large panel virtuoso). We all were wanting to see some of Master Leng's works, but unfortunately he was in the middle of doing home renovations. However, we were able to see an amazing master copy he painted of one of Rembrandt's self-portraits, which was hanging in his dining/living room.
Master Leng is perhaps one of the most influential hyper-realist in China. His works sell in the millions, and his technique is truly exquisite. Despite his fame and fortune, it was astounding to meet such a kind-hearted, gentle, and unassuming man. It was a living dream come true for me to meet and get to chat with a living master, and the Club enjoyed the pleasure of his company for a very enjoyable evening. I had 10 questions written in my little black book for him, mostly to do with his technical method and materials, but we were only able to get through #2 by the end of 3 hours of very thoughtful conversation about his art journey and his approach to art. He talked at great length about how things have changed since he was growing up in China and the struggles he endured. ... Ecce Club Caravaggio... Behold, Club Caravaggio... established last year in 2018 as a private, non-profit, informal course for work colleagues, this club was and continues to be the incubating genesis for Amphitheatrum Anatomicum. It all started quite harmlessly, when I was approached by a small group of work colleagues who had zero or limited experience with art, but with great zeal and enthusiasm for learning how to draw and to learn some "secrets" of the Old Masters. While some people call it "secrets" of the Old Masters, I have much fun with this term because these secrets are just visual tricks that can be learned quite rapidly, but requiring much repetition and practice. I realized a while ago, in part thanks to my friend and professional artist/master Anar Rasulov, that art must be approached with much specificity, rigor, and repetition, and that hard work in and of itself is talent and perhaps superior to it, since talent without application is truly a sad waste.
Specificity of motion and thinking is fundamental. For instance, if one wishes to be good at jumping rope, one must jump rope constantly. If one wishes to excel at ice skating, then ice skating must be undertaken obsessively, and the same is true with any type of applied learning and skill development. Thus, I realized that if one wishes to be good at artistic anatomy and oil painting, then one must practice this with singular focus, constantly, repeatedly, and fully immersed 1,000%. I used to draw and paint quite a bit in my younger years, out of leisure and enjoyment, but then life and work got in the way. I stopped painting and drawing for quite a long time, and it wasn't until a few years ago that I decided to return to my passion. When I returned to painting, I discovered that my skill had suffered quite a bit during my inactivity, and that the more I sketched, painted, and doodled, the better faster my technique would improve. Furthermore, I realized that if I committed myself to teaching and helping other amateur artists along the way, I would force myself to attain higher technical experience as I tried to explain the fundamentals. This is when I decided to take a radical departure in teaching methodology. While some art instruction is geared to spending much time with basics, drawing circles and squares, I decided to dispense with all of this in my approach and experiment with fully downloading as much information as I possibly could (in as short a time frame) to my new group of eager students. The concept was to fully immerse students from day one, and jump head-first into very advanced artistic themes, concepts, and rich historical background... hence Club Caravaggio. Why Caravaggio? Like many other artists and art lovers, I happen to suffer from Caravaggio disease, an incurable malady that is acquired by prolonged exposure to the works of Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio. Falling under the spell of Caravaggio is very high-risk behavior, like sharing heroin needles. I have even taken to painting with lead white paints like he did, a very dangerous proposition where it not for the fact that we probably breathe more lead in our toxic air than whatever I'll be exposed to in my palette and brushes. To put it simply, Caravaggio is my master (whether he likes it or not), and it is through the legacy that he has left behind (through his many "oeuvres" and "tour-de-force") that I owe my on-going apprenticeship. He lived a very short, but intense, life. Hidden within the pigments and brush strokes are many lessons that have yet to be discovered. I consider myself only a journeyman, willing to share whatever I have learned through self-study, purist reconstructions of his paintings, and countless hours reading and obsessing about his works. Aside from the better known Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, both easy to digest for mass consumption, Caravaggio is more complex and perhaps one of the most influential artists ever (personal opinion). A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to give a conference for the US Consulate in Wuhan, China about art, which I titled Introduction to Western Art Appreciation. It was a great pleasure and honor for me to give this presentation to the general public. I focused on a very brief history of Western pictorial art (I had to condense over 40,000 years in less than 60 minutes), and that was probably the greatest challenge. I also gave a list of famous museums that should be on everyone's bucket list, as well as the top 10 works of art (according to variety of contemporary sources) and basic museum tips/etiquette. I had a chance to present some of my own current works, which are reconstructions of Old Master paintings (one of Caravaggio's St. Jerome, and another one of Luis Egidio Melendez's "Bodegones." I consider myself an eternal student of art, and even though I have taught myself to paint like Caravaggio, I don't deem myself worthy to hold his brushes or mix his pigments if I were his pupil. I make mention of Caravaggio because this is what I am calling my budding local art club: "CLUB CARAVAGGIO." Perhaps this will be the subject of my next blog entry.
Hello dear reader... My name is Francisco. I am the creator of this website and academy dedicated to artistic anatomy. I am an architect and civil engineer by profession who never had a chance to go to art school for a living and answer my real calling in life, which is art. I am creating this website and (hopefully one day) a brick and mortar academy for students of all ages and backgrounds who want to study anatomic art and Old Master techniques.
First and foremost, I'd like to thank many people whom I have met along the way who have encouraged me in my own art journey (too many to list here). It is to them that I dedicate this endeavor. Just as they have encouraged me, so would I like to encourage anyone and everyone to embark on a personal journey, and to freely share the joy of art. "Art Appreciation is Life Appreciation." |
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