Far from the Madding Crowd

Zhu Di

Agui (Li Guijun)is an academic painter, strictly speaking. His eight-year professional training from the middle school and then the Central Arts Institute has built up a strong foundation for his art development.

Agui entered the Institute at the time when Western art schools were rampant in the China's art circle. With the banner of "self-expression", trends of reforms were popular. And just at this time, a school, which was regarded as the neo-classical style in the institute, came onto the stage. The First Studio at the Oil-painting Department initiated by Jin Shangyi, who became president of the institute later, became the centre of the followers of the style. Agui gained his direction there soon.

The art circle's impact upon Agui embodied on his several works, including "140 Studio". The paintings selected some fragments of daily life, seemingly random and without clear significance. Relations between figures are not visible at all, and the relation between people and environment remains cold and indifferent. Critics believed that the artist had found wider value of ordinary people and a new attitude to life and creation, by which he frees arts from themes. Because of this, he was regarded as one of the young artists with an avant-garde taste. Actually, it was just a transition. However, the traces of the fondness for the cool and indifferent atmosphere of super-realism in the previous stage is still evident.

The tri-fold portrait-"Twin Girls" in 1993, Morning and Twilight,1996, exemplified Agui's efforts to break away from the traditional portrait technique. He applies an unusual but life-size format. The "plots" are contrived. The concepts conveyed in the works remain ambiguous. Artist integrates the styles of realism and abstract. Regarding the themes, he tries to hide his feelings and keeps a seemingly distance from the objects. He creates a clear, solemn and cool mood with strokes. In the portrayal of characters, he catches the indifferent external life with an objective and accurate eyesight and gives the viewer a sense of coldness. This shows his desire to get rid of the limits of portraits and to find a deeper significance. The consistent efforts and desire in his recent works are obvious. He keeps practicing his oil painting techniques, at the same time, searchring a deeper meaning of the mentality and spiritual world of the characters.

In the materialized era, to find a personal world is not easy, but to nurture a spiritual oasis requires patience and courage. His devotion to classicism will be helpful for us to find a shelter for our souls.

▲