Master Lecture Room | Xu Hongfei:Delivering Joy, Humor and Love to the World
About Xu Hongfei
Born in Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province
Graduated from the sculpture Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
President of Guangzhou Sculpture Academy
National first-class artist
Member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Director of the ninth China Artists Association
Vice Chairman of Guangdong Artists Association
Librarian of the Research Institute of Culture and History, the People's government of Guangdong Province
Xu Hongfei: Delivering joy, humor and love to the world
Interviewee: Xu Hongfei
Interview collated by: Liu Jing
Date: August 16, 2022
Location: China National Academy of Painting, Mingde Building, Guofeng Hall
【Introduction】On July 3, 2022, the exhibition "Coming with the Song - Xu Hongfei Sculpture Exhibition" was unveiled in the West Exhibition Hall and public space of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. On July 8, 2022, the "Happy Zhaoqing" Xu Hongfei Sculpture World Tour Exhibition- Zhaoqing Station kicked off. On July 29, 2022, "Telling the Feelings of the Countryside and Helping with Revitalization - Xu Hongfei Sculpture Exhibition in 100 villages - Yangxi Station" was inaugurated. On August 12, 2022, the exhibition "Xu Hongfei Art Space" was inaugurated in Lingnan Impression Park. On August 15, 2022, "Times of Glory - Welcome the 20th National Congress, Strive for a New Journey" Xu Hongfei sculpture exhibition was held in China National Academy of Painting. Holding different exhibitions and activities in different places for several days in a row has been the norm for Xu Hongfei. Unlike other artists, Xu Hongfei believes "the more exhibitions I have, the more works I can produce, the richer the content can be". Xu Hongfei proved with his action that "art can only play its value better if it keeps spreading".
Art News of China: You have recently held solo exhibitions at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the China National Academy of Painting in Beijing. Please tell us about these two exhibitions.
Xu Hongfei: The "Times of Glory - Welcome the 20th National Congress, Strive for a New Journey" Xu Hongfei Sculpture Exhibition at the National Academy of Fine Arts is my sixth exhibition in Beijing. Previously, my sculpture exhibition was held at the National Art Museum of China in 2013, the Imperial Ancestral Temple in 2015, the National Museum of China in 2019, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Research Institute of Culture and History in 2021, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing last month. The exhibition at the NCPA is named "Coming with a Song" and features more than 120 pieces of works, including four sections: "The Dance of the Sound", "The East Wind Enters the Rhythm", "The Flower of the Ridge" and "The Rhythm of China". Among them, I chose to exhibit many works related to music and dance according to the site of the NCPA. China National Academy of Painting is an academic institution where famous artists from all over the country gather. For me, the exhibition here is mainly for academic exchanges. Therefore, the works I exhibited covered themes of revolutionary history, major events and real life. Nearly 160 pieces of works were displayed. Due to the pandemic, the exhibition was postponed several times. During the postponement period, I also created some new works and added them to this exhibition, so some works were shown to the audience for the first time. I hope my works can bring happiness and joy to everyone.
Art News of China: Mr. Huang Yongyu jokingly said that you are "famous by fat ladies". Indeed, your "fat ladies" series, as one of your personal labels, highlight your personal artistic style and are very popular. Where did you get the inspiration for these "fat ladies" in all their forms?
Xu Hongfei: I have been engaged in sculpture creation since my school years. I studied sculpture in Guangdong Arts and Crafts School, and continued my study in Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1986, and worked in Guangzhou Sculpture Academy after graduation. I invested so much time in sculpture that I can't live and work without it.
At the beginning of my studies at the academy, I was inevitably influenced by the academy system and made a lot of technical-level works. Later, I also made some large-scale customized sculptures in many urban spaces. However, these sculptures were displayed in urban public paces, which were more technical with limited personal space. Therefore, I have been exploring my own creative direction to make some original artworks, so that people can know who made them at a glance. It was not until 1998 that I made a sculpture of a "fat lady" by accident. The next year, Mr. Huang Yongyu saw it and liked it so much that he exchanged it with me for one of his paintings. That's how the story between me and the "fat lady" began.
Some time later, I made a second "fat lady" and brought it to Beijing to present it to Mr. Huang Yongyu. On that occasion, he advised me to concentrate on this series from then on. My first reaction was “no, I can't get an award or a title for doing this”. He went on to persuade me that artists must have their own things, and that a hundred sculptors in China are all the same, just like a big mouse with a string of little mice ... During my stay in Beijing, he kept instilling such a concept in me, so I made up my mind. Persevering until now has made me understand one thing that art is like digging a well. Keep digging and the water will become more and more abundant. Many people have asked me why I make such fat female statues. In fact, it is not a question of being fat or thin. Both I and other sculptors can make good statues of thin ladies, but the more expressive fat lady statue is a characteristic of mine. When you see a piece of art, you can tell who made it at a glance. This is a success. Artwork with uniqueness and creativity can impress people.
Art News of China: What kind of aesthetic pursuit and artistic ideal do you hope to convey to the public through "fat lady"?
Xu Hongfei: I believe that beauty comes from the natural and open temperament of a woman after she finds her inner balance. A woman needs to love herself first before showing loving to others. She is confident and knows how to appreciate herself, and will not define herself by external things. Loving herself, open to others, having their own fun in life, having their own space, such women are always shining and charming. The appearance is a reflection of the mind. Times are changing, but what remains the same is the eternal firmness of the mind and the abundance of self-love. There are thousands of interpretations of beauty in the world, but love, tolerance, compassion and joy are the beautiful icons that are never missing.
After the exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in 2013, I started to hold more than 40 exhibitions in dozens of countries on five continents. I found that "fat lady" is generally welcomed by everyone, no matter which country they are from, regardless of faith, race, gender and age. This is the art of the world and all humanity. Humor, joy and love are universal, so is sculpture. It does not need to be translated because everyone understands it. My works are basically down to earth, reflecting contemporary China in the new era, so confident, so happy, so humorous, so blessed, so full of sunshine. Through such works, I reflect the current state of life, which I think is tantamount to telling a good Chinese story.
Art News of China: Over the years, you have been creating "fat ladies", taking art as a bridge and works as a link to strengthen the cultural exchange and cooperation of Chinese sculpture with the outside world and expand the influence of Chinese contemporary sculpture in the international arena. Would you please share with us how artists should tell the Chinese story and spread the Chinese voice, taking into account your own experience?
Xu Hongfei: In the gloom of the global pandemic, I insisted on holding cultural exchange activities and held exhibitions in Salamanca, Spain for four consecutive years during the Spring Festival, so that the joyful and festive elements of Chinese culture could spread overseas. The series of works I created, such as pandemic control, rural revitalization, sports, etc., use the language of sculpture to tell Chinese stories and spread positive Chinese energy, realizing the transition from "going out" and "going in" to "inviting out" and "inviting back". Looking at the current social development from the point of times, literary and artistic workers should draw wisdom and strength from the century-long endeavour of the Party, focus on the exemplary characters and typical examples emerging from social hotspots such as rural revitalization, pandemic control, aerospace, and the Winter Olympic Games to create art pieces, record stories of the times, and eulogize the spirit of the times, so that art creation can become a powerful carrier to convey the new image of China. At the same time, they should adhere to their own unique forms of artistic expression, constantly enhance the expressive, appealing and attractive power of works, effectively assume the mission and responsibility of civilizational exchange and mutual appreciation in the context of the new era, and make foreign exchanges more natural and Chinese stories more wonderful.
Since 2013, I have been touring with my "fat lady" sculpture series to iconic spaces around the world, and have held 46 exhibitions so far. The works are welcomed by people of different countries, skin colors and beliefs. People appreciate, touch, take pictures of and imitate the works, making "fat lady" a unique symbolic art IP. The local media took the initiative to conduct interviews and spread the news, and the local governments warmly invited me for re-exhibition, forming positive interactions. Many works have been collected by art museums and galleries in many countries. I deeply believe that if we want foreign audiences to deepen their knowledge and understanding of China through the works of Chinese artists, we must make persistent and long-lasting efforts. The experience and feeling of communication between "presence" and "absence" is very different. For this reason, we need more artists to participate and create works with uniqueness, creativity and commonality, in order to enhance the power of the discourse to tell the Chinese story and to show the image of a healthy, happy, and confident China on the world stage.
Art News of China: You have always paid attention to the times and focused on the expression of people's life at present, creating a number of thematic works focusing on the revitalization of the countryside, the fight against pandemics and the spirit of the Olympic Games, etc. that closely follow the pulse of the times. In your daily work, how do you reconcile thematic creation and personal expression?
Xu Hongfei: I think artists should not focus on too specific areas. We just express life through our own artistic language. Art cannot be separated from life, and artists also seek creative materials through the development and changes of life and social times. In fact, thematic works are just to seize a certain link, a certain period of time, and certain aspects worthy expression. The "fat lady" series are close to life and incorporate the joy of life into the expression of works, which are equally vivid and thematic.
Due to the pandemic, it is not convenient for me to go abroad for exhibition, so I have started the Art for Rural Revitalization - Xu Hongfei Sculpture Exhibition in 100 Villages , and now I have researched more than 50 villages and held the exhibition in 19 villages in different provinces.
The countryside is the starting point of my artistic career. Art comes from life, from the grassroots, from this land and the lovely people. As rural revitalization is my CPPCC proposal in these years, with the promotion of the this strategy, the countryside everywhere has changed a lot and the environment in all aspects has become better. If there is art engagement, it may be more enriching and can give a boost to the beauty of the countryside.
It is unrealistic for villagers to go to museums and art galleries to see a large sculpture exhibition, but I transported these sculptures that have been exhibited in five continents to the villages and even to the farmlands, and the villagers liked them very much. My works are down-to-earth and closely related to real life. They blend in well with country life, so the villagers feel very close to them. The aesthetic education of the countryside will also be inspired, and children will learn and aspire to art, then children from the countryside will also have opportunities to become artists. Using sculpture to record the changes of this era can leave an eternal memory. My works have been exhibited at the Louvre in France, the National Museum of Modern Art in Rome, Italy, and the National Art Museum of China, and are now well integrated with the countryside. Villagers happily watch and then appreciate them. The works can be elegant or colloquial, solemn or humorous. I think this is real art. If the exhibition is high up and does not go beyond the exhibition hall, it is lifeless. In the future, I will not forget my original intention and persistently promote rural revitalization with artistic practice, bringing joy and happiness to more people, which is actually one of the main functions of art.
Art News of China: Your works and exhibitions are always "new". Have you counted how many works you have done and how many exhibitions you have held so far? What is the process of creating your works and how do you think artists should better achieve innovation?
Xu Hongfei: I never count. In fact, I have no purpose or plan to do exhibitions and works, nor do I have statistics or summaries, I just do what I like. For me, the more exhibitions I have, the more new works I create, because I don't want to repeat, so I definitely have to make more works in order to supplement the works for the next exhibition.
I have been doing exhibitions and creating at the same time, and sometimes I even have exhibitions in three different countries opening at the same time in a month, just because the works are different. For example, my exhibition in the UK is not over yet, but the exhibition in Turkey is about to start soon, so we can't wait for that batch of works. If we wait, it will take at least two to three months. So there must be other new works. I sometimes even have three or four batches of works overseas at the same time. Just like in these two months I have four to five exhibitions in Beijing, Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Yangxi, etc. The situation is different for each exhibition, having both indoor and outdoor exhibitions, small-scale academic shows and large-scale ones, which drives me to create new works constantly.
My exhibition is not a circuit, but a roadshow. It doesn’t go back and forth. Because for sculpture exhibitions, the venue is different, the space is different, the size of the works used is different, the number of works used is different, and the combination with the surrounding environment is different, so each exhibition is different, and I have to look at the venue first for each exhibition, and then determine the works to be exhibited according to the specific environment. I can't let the audience feel that they have seen it in other places and have no expectation for the new exhibition. As far as the artist is concerned, only by constantly creating new works can they bring surprises and expectations to the audience, and in fact the artist themselves is also looking forward to their next new work.
The more exhibitions I have, the more abundant my works become, because I want to create something new at every exhibition in every place I go. I created ten pieces of works during my exhibition in the UK, including "Three Women";I created six pieces of works during my exhibition in Berlin, because the city has concerts every day and people can't live without music, so I thought I should do some works related to music; I came up with five pieces of works during my exhibition in Hamburg ... I've always held exhibitions, done researches and sought materials to supplement the next exhibition at the same time, so my creation and exhibition are linked together. I can't just say that creation is for exhibition, instead, my exhibition is also for creation. This means that art comes from life and life enriches art. Integrating art, creation, exhibition and life into one is probably what makes me different from others as an artist.
Art News of China: Your works are rich in subject matter, focusing on all aspects of life, and you have also gone through a lot of experiments in the use of materials. Do you have any special consideration for the use of materials?
Xu Hongfei: In fact, I don’t think too much. I use whatever materials suitable for the works. Sometimes I also want to try more materials. I do wood sculptures and jade sculptures… Sculptors rarely use jade to do sculpture, because jade was used more for crafts. But I think the material should serve my work, so I also do a series of jade sculptures and feel quite interesting. In addition, my works also include white marble, copper, stainless steel, glass steel and other materials. I want to show the audience that contemporary sculpture is not monotonous but has various colors and materials. Inadvertently, I found that the audience is becoming more and more fond of and appreciative of sculpture, and there should be more sculptures in life.
Art News of China: Please tell us about your next creation plan.
Someone once asked me about my exhibition plans for next year, and I couldn't figure it out myself. There are too many uncertainties. If I am asked to do an exhibition somewhere and I think it is worth doing, I will do it immediately. Many people made plans for several years but did nothing. So it is not necessary to make plans nor purposes. Just do it first. Maybe no purpose is the purpose, no plan is the plan, that's it.