Young Master Ke Ming

"The Moon Rises Up from the Ocean" Oil on canvas, 1660 x 380 cm, 2018

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. 

Detail, "The Moon Rises up from the Ocean"

Detail, "The Moon Rises up from the Ocean"

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.

Oil on canvas, "Farmer's Dancing," 150 x 247cm, private collection

 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.