The Rhythm of Ink Dance and Painting - Sun Lijun Academic Invitational Exhibition
Academic host : Xue Feng
Curator : Ye Youtian
Exhibition Coordinator : Qu Jun, Ding Yali
Exhibition time : May 8, 2024 - May 14, 2024
Exhibition location : Nanjing University of the Arts Museum Experimental Space
Opening time : 9 a.m. on May 8, 2024
Opening location : Nanyi Theater (inside the attached middle school)
Screening time : May 8-May 14, 2024
Screening location : Exhibition Hall 1, Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum
Guiding units : Asia Pacific Animation Association, China Industry-Academic-Research Cooperation Promotion Association｜China Educational Resources Collaborative Innovation Platform
Sponsors : School of Communication, Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum
Academic support : International Animation Art Institute, Editorial Department of Journal of Nanjing University of the Arts, Film Review Magazine, Nanjing Chinese Contemporary Animation Art Archives
Co-organizers : School of Art and Media of China University of Geosciences, School of Fine Arts of South Central University for Nationalities, School of Foreign Trade and Economics of Wuhan Textile University
Preface
More than a hundred years ago, film technology gave artists the power to capture time: the series of frame-by-frame images allowed the “movement” in traditional art to break out of the cocoon of human brain imagination.
However, movies are not just a mirror of reality, but also a blade that cuts through the surface to explore the truth. Because although the image is realistic, the real problem lies in the rationality. Therefore, since the birth of film, it has inspired artists to challenge reality and break down barriers. Absurdity, wonders, and miracles continue to emerge in films, and artists’ intervention and transformation of film materials have enabled the general public to explore the unknown. Enlightenment.
It was against this background that the three Wan brothers in Nanjing created “Princess with the Iron Fan”, which inspired the people’s anti-war spirit amidst national humiliation and war; while Suzhou Academy of Fine Arts pioneered the teaching of animation classes in China, demonstrating the China’s art education has a high degree of cultural consciousness; until the 1950s, China’s animation “artistic film” system derived from traditional culture became an important global cultural contribution of New China; during this period, Suzhou Art College moved to Nanjing and cooperated with Shanghai Art College The art departments of Shandong University and Shandong University were merged into East China Art College, which later became Nanjing Art College; during the same period, the animation department of Suzhou Art College moved to Beijing and became the predecessor of the animation major of today’s Beijing Film Academy.
As a result, Chinese animation art has gone through a hundred years at the intersection of north and south. It has not only established the Chinese animation school, but also emerged a group of animation scholars active at the turn of the century, among whom Mr. Fan Beilu - Professor Sun Lijun is one of them. outstanding representative. As a promoter of the development and construction of the animation discipline of Beijing Film Academy, Mr. Sun has been focusing on the exploration and theoretical construction of Chinese animated film education and creation since 1988. Since the reform and opening up, he has cultivated a large number of outstanding Chinese animation talents, many of whom are today Outstanding. This exhibition brings together many masterpieces of animated films and art short films created by Professor Sun Lijun, and also specially curates a special unit of Professor Sun’s ink paintings and manuscript works. It can be said that every movement and silence complement each other.
On the university platform, Mr. Sun is a professor and scholar who focuses on the research and practice of Chinese animation education. He has achieved many achievements and has many talents. In the field of Chinese animated films, Mr. Sun is a director who is committed to exploring new classics of national animation. From traditional to major themes, from literati to fantasy and popular, the types of his works are rich, widely disseminated, and have influenced only a handful of people; but in front of the painting table, all we see is “Fan Beilu”, a An anonymous person who is obsessed with the joy of pen and ink - just like the literati of the Southern and Northern Dynasties were obsessed with going their own way in painting, the characters in Mr. Sun’s paintings are not rigid in conventions, casual and innocent; they are not so called ink works, but they are more straightforward. Private words and unintentional handwriting point to the human heart.
A benevolent person is one who enjoys mountains and rivers, and is good at taking things straight; a wise person is a person who enjoys water and is good at seeking things from the melodies; lying in mountains and rivers, and being open and wise is the realm that contemporary people should pursue.
Freedom can be Fan Beilu.
This time, Professor Sun Lijun is specially invited to Nanjing to hold an academic invitational exhibition. Firstly, Professor Sun’s creative achievements over the years will be systematically displayed so that a wider range of researchers and members of society can appreciate the artistic style of China’s leading animation figures; secondly, To respond and pay tribute to the history of animation department starting from Suzhou Fine Arts College more than half a century ago and then branching out into the “Chinese School”.
Dean of the School of Media, Nanjing University of the Arts
Xue Feng
Curator’s words
Leonardo da Vinci once pointed out: “Painting is the mirror of the soul.” This view undoubtedly limits us to using brushstrokes and light and shade to express images. However, Professor Sun’s artistic practice breaks through this traditional restriction. The improvised symbolic shapes, movement lines, freehand performances and dramatic light and shadow in his creations are no longer just media for depicting images, but express inner emotions and medium of thought. This transformation breaks the shackles of traditional vision and makes the work more spiritual and expressive. This transformation gives the work a deeper connotation, allowing viewers to more deeply feel the emotions and thoughts conveyed by the work. In the Chinese visual art world, the innovative interpretation of movement shapes and theatrical light and shadow is still an area that has not yet been fully cultivated. Professor Sun’s visual art creation is a bold attempt and exploration in this field.
In recent years, Professor Sun Lijun’s artistic achievements have attracted much attention in domestic and foreign cartoon and animation exhibitions. His works convey more than just visual objects, but also serve as a carrier for his profound expression of emotions and philosophical thinking. The interesting moving lines, dramatic narrative, and freehand modeling in comics, as well as the dramatic performances and metaphorical light and shadow in animation, jointly create a hazy sense of the story in time and space, thus realizing the fullness of the multi-layered narrative structure of comics and animation. and profound. In the author’s opinion, this kind of depiction of life complex actually reflects more subjective imagination and re-creation. Therefore, Professor Sun Lijun’s works are not only an enjoyment of visual art, but more importantly, they can lead us to think about the nature of life and the boundaries of art. Such artistic exploration undoubtedly injects new vitality and possibility into the development of contemporary animation art.
In “Ink Dance and Painting Rhythm: Sun Lijun Academic Invitational Exhibition”, the audience will witness how the artist uses elements such as dynamic lines, freehand shapes, dramatic light and shadow to imagine and reshape subjectivity. The work relies on the elegant flow of lines and the projection and reflection of light to create dreamlike visual changes. Through these changes, a multidimensional presentation of stories and emotions emerges. In comics and animation works, lines and light seem to have a slowly spreading dynamic, making time freeze here, and stories and dreams wandering in the vast space.
Excerpted from “The Self-Awakening of Subjectivity in Comics and Animation Art Morphemes”
Professor of film and television animation at Hubei Institute of Fine Arts
Ye Youtian
Some pictures of works
New Sanchakou-4 Ink Painting 2020
New Sanchakou-3 Ink Painting 2020
New Sanchakou-1 Ink Painting 2020
People’s hearts in Jianghu-1 Sketch ink 2019
Screening preview
Title of work: “The Last Stage”
Director: Sun Lijun (penname Fanbeilu)
Type of work: Opera digital animation
Technique: Digital hand-painting + digital modeling, animation, rendering
Duration: 6” 22’
Year of creation: 2022
Title of work: “New Sanchakou”
Director: Sun Lijun (penname Fanbeilu)
Type of work: Opera digital animation
Technique: Digital hand-painting + digital modeling, animation, rendering
Duration: 8” 56’
Year of creation: 2021
Title of work: “Autumn Fruits”
Director: Sun Lijun
Type of work: Ink animation
Technique: Three-dimensional production
Duration: 5”
Year of creation: 2019
Title of work: “The Door God”
Director: Sun Lijun
Type of work: New Year picture animation
Technique: Digital hand-painting + real photography
Duration: 9” 25’
Creation date: 2023
Title of work: “The Beginning of Autumn”
Director: Sun Lijun
Type of work: Ink animation
Technique: Three-dimensional production
Duration: 9” 22’
Artist profile
Sun Lijun: Pen name is Fan Beilu, a famous director, cartoonist, oil painter, and contemporary artist. Professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Film Academy.
He is a member of the “Four Batches” of the National Propaganda and Culture System of the Central Propaganda Department, a leading talent of the National “Ten Thousand Thousand People Plan” of the Central Propaganda Department, director of the Animation Art Committee of the Chinese Artists Association, and a director of the Beijing Artists Association. Enjoy government subsidies from the State Council.
Mr. Fanbeilu studied calligraphy and painting since he was a child, and later studied under the famous Chinese cartoonists Fang Cheng, Xu Jingda (Ada), Han Yu, and the famous Japanese animation director Mochi Naga. His paintings are often combined with open-ended creative stories, which not only integrate traditional Chinese brushwork and ink to highlight the excellent traditional Chinese culture, but also feature the creative thinking of Western feature films. He gradually formed his own simple, humorous and humorous personal art style, and opened up a new era. The unique style of new comics, modern ink paintings and contemporary oil paintings, innovative cross-border expressions of traditional art forms and changes in artistic concepts are also important features of Fan Beilu’s works. Mr. Fanbeilu’s works have been exhibited in “The 18th International Cartoon Convention - Kitakyushu Convention Exhibition”, “National Style - International Touring Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art”, “Exhibition of Mats International Art Gallery”, “Thousands of Miles of Life Chinese and Korean Comics” Art Exhibition”, “Colorful Collision International Visual Art Exhibition”, “Beijing Poly 12th Anniversary Autumn Auction - Chinese Contemporary Ink Painting Exhibition” and many other world art exhibitions, and held the “Fanbeilu Colorful Ink Painting Exhibition” in New York Solo exhibition. His art works have won many awards and are collected by international and domestic art museums, individuals and institutions at home and abroad.
At the same time, Mr. Fanbeilu has been committed to the creation and research of China’s original animation and game works and the cultivation of industry talents. Many of his animated films have won the Huabiao Award, the Golden Rooster Award, the Five One Project Award, the 12th He has won many important awards at home and abroad, including the National Art Exhibition.
