“异想 · 天开” “Heroes and Paradise” 李泽嵩个展
“Heroes and Paradise” Li Zesong Solo Exhibition
Exhibition Date: 26 May – 28 June, 2018
After showcasing the latest White and Black series in 2018 Art Central in HK, Chinese artist Li Zesong continues his art discovery in his third solo exhibition Heroes and Paradise in Shanghai, covering a wide collection of his popular Black and White Series, Buddha Series, Totem Series and the latest Childhood Series. For the first time, Buddha, Totem and Childhood Series are unveiled to the public in Shanghai.
Li Zesong was Born and bred in Dali Yunnan, this ancient town has nourished his artistic state of mind with its rich tradition, history and the splendid nature. Inspired by the Chinese spiritual totem and the Buddhism, Buddha, Dragon and other creatures are playing the leading roles in Li Zesong’s art world this time. Li Zesong not only considers them as the spiritual figures, but also visualizes them as our mankind’s heroes from paradise through his canvas, who are able to protect us from human wars, to have success in the revolutions, to safeguard the freedom and homeland, to uphold the morality and justice, to maintain national values and traditions. In these paintings, the spiritual symbols are no longer abstract, they become real and vivid warriors walking through the history events in front of the viewers’ eyes.
Different from the well-known Black and White Series, Li Zesong’s Buddha and Totem series lost its tranquility and harmony, it appears conflicts and struggles between mankind, instead of paying his homage to the ancient life style based on the co-existence between the nature and the human. In the new series, Li Zesong painted a colourful real life with various contradictory objects: ax against longevity peach, symbolizing death against life; tank against buddha and dragon, symbolizing modern military power against traditional spiritual power; red kerchief against 義 (yi), symbolizing revolutions and wars against morality and justice. Li Zesong attempts to find out: “Between spiritual power and military power, who will be the final winner to save our life?” Not come singly, but in pairs, this question provokes deep thoughts over the severe chaotic situation in the middle east, where people are suffering from constant wars, revolutions and terrorist attacks in recent decades.
Despite of the contradiction, Li Zesong smartly merges the conflicts into a harmonious visual image with his creative imagination and sense of humor, which makes the cruelty of reality unnoticeable. Clouds, Stones, Birds, Lotus, Fish and Peaches still remain as the major oriental aesthetic interest in Li’s artwork.
At the end, Li Zesong’s true experience of being a father leads him to this latest Childhood Series. His daughter’s curiosity, innocence, dreams and imaginations arouse Li Zesong’s own childhood with unforgettable memories. Li Zesong intends to take the viewers away from the reality and to pick up their own childhood memories in those gone days.
“异想·天开” 李泽嵩个展
展期 : 2018年5月26日– 6月 28日
云南艺术家李泽嵩继2018 香港中环艺术博览会上亮相了其最新的黑白系列作品后，将在上海举办其第三次个展。此次个展融汇了艺术家从事职业艺术创作十年来所有的绘画类型，其中包括“黑白系列”、“佛系列”、“图腾系列”、“孩童系列”。
李泽嵩得益于家乡云南大理所赋予他对传统自然人文的耳濡目染，以及他对东方图腾文化的浓厚兴趣，使他的艺术创作拥有了广阔的视野和想象的天地。在李泽嵩的“佛”和“图腾”系列中，代表着古老东方的传统精神图腾以及人生哲学信仰的龙与佛，褪去了神秘的光彩，从天国下凡走入了我们的真实生活中。这些被李泽嵩从小尊崇为人类的英雄的神们，此时此刻正在李泽嵩的艺术世界里演绎着历史事件中正真的勇士们——他们手握坦克，身背斧头和长矛，头上扎着红色的起义头巾，脸和身上带着伤口，正在为维护道义，捍卫自由和祖国而战，这些来自天国的英雄离我们如此之近，感觉是如此之真。画面中看似毫无关联的佛像、龙，石化兽人、寿桃，花、鸟、鱼，以及红头巾、胸甲、斧头，长矛，这些带有中国式审美趣味的元素，却恰恰表达了生与死，战争与道义，现代军事力量与传统精神力量，这些人与人、人与天地万物间的矛盾冲突，对立与统一。
最新的“孩童系列”则源于艺术家身为人父后对孩子世界中的天真无邪，以及对万物充满好奇的一种切身体会，而这种体会也恰巧与他的异想世界趣味相投。
纵观李泽嵩的不同系列作品，无论“黑白”系列中所表达的“天人合一”古代哲学思想，抑或“佛”和“图腾”系列中所展现的“冲突和谐”问题，皆是艺术家从小到大的所见所闻和所思所想，他用自己特有的绘画及幽默方式把现实世界、虚拟世界、本土文化、历史意识等进行重组构建，从而创建了一种中国式的异想世界。在李泽嵩的矛盾冲突世界中，艺术家试图想找到一个答案：“谁将是最终拯救我们生命的胜利者？”无独有偶，回望近十几年来混乱不堪的中东局势，这可能也是那些正在饱受着战争的摧残和蹂躏以及遭受宗教极端分子残忍杀戮的人民们想要得到的人生答案！