Youwei: Duan Zhengqu’s New Works

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Magician Space is pleased to present “Youwei: Duan Zhengqu’s New Works”, a solo exhibition at Building A07, 798. The exhibition is curated by art historian Carol Yinghua Lu, and it runs through March 14th to May 6th, 2023.

In 2018, Magician Space held a retrospective exhibition featuring Duan Zhengqu’s works from the 1980s to 2018, including manuscripts, paper paintings, and oil paintings. The exhibition revisits Duan’s frequent painting trips to Shanbei since 1987, his internalization of these experiences as sources of creativity after 1995, and his exploration of new possibilities in material and form around 2010.

Youwei, located in the hilly area of the Loess Plateau in the Youyu County of Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province, has been a frequent destination for Duan Zhengqu to take his students sketching for over a decade. The terrain of Youwei slopes higher towards the west and lower towards the east, with a relatively flat central area surrounded by mountains. Duan explained that what he finds most intriguing about Youwei is not just its natural scenery, but the solemn and harsh frontier atmosphere. The city walls and ancient pottery shards strewn about the area, along with the names of nearby villages such as “Shahu Pass,” “Pohu Fort,” “Weiyuan Fort,” and “Maying River,” all evoke images of a bloody and brutal ancient era. Duan Zhengqu also mentioned that Youwei’s proximity to Beijing, coupled with its sparsely populated areas, provides a peaceful environment for painting. In recent years, especially since the epidemic, Youwei has become an important base for Duan’s artistic endeavors outside of Beijing.

Since 2015, Duan Zhengqu has embarked on numerous experiments and explorations for nearly 8 years. His unwavering determination to evolve has driven him to continuously engage in dialogue with and surpass various personal boundaries and limitations, including his reliance on certain themes and certain habits of visual language. Duan’s recent works, including “Secret Garden I, II, III,” feature frozen flowers, dense forests, and city graffiti, all increasingly detailed on a micro level, challenging him to reorganize his painting experiences. He also intentionally incorporates everyday experiences from the 1990s, such as portraits of friends, students, and public figures, as well as scenes from Northwest festivals and daily life. His paintings balance meticulous depictions with a sense of freedom, aiming for peaceful yet impactful results. While representing fragmented experiences of the past, he also transforms them with a present perspective. This stage of his artistic career demonstrates some issues that he has faced since the 1990s, including the tension between his distinct style rooted in local culture and contemporary art trends.

Duan Zhengqu’s ongoing struggles have compelled him to travel and revisit “Youwei”, his “Walden Lake.” His exploration during this period is often accompanied by imagery of darkness, ruins, and debris, driven by an inherent need to express heavy experiences, melancholic emotions, and profound humanistic consciousness accurately and powerfully. Duan Zhengqu understands that adventure and stimulation can originate from within, and painting can transform even the most ordinary days into an exciting journey.

About the artistDuan Zhengqu (b.1958, Yanshi, Henan Province) graduated in the oil department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1983. He is currently a professor and PhD supervisor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Capital Normal University; researcher of the Oil Painting Institute of China National Painting Academy; a member of the Oil Painting Art Committee of China Artists Association; and director of China Oil Painting Society.Duan Zhengqu has participated in many large-scale exhibitions organised at the National Art Museum of China. He has also exhibited previously at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum; Hong Kong University Museum; Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts; The National Museum of Art, Osaka; Beijing International Art Gallery; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; Seoul City of Museum of Art; Vasa Art Museum of Finland; National Museum of Lima; Museum of Modern Art of Chile; Art Museum of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts; Art Museum of Xinjiang Urumqi; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; Russian National Museum; Peking University Exhibition Hall; Zhejiang Art Museum; Shanghai Art Museum; Guangdong Art Museum; Fujian Art Museum, OCAT Shenzhen and He Xiangning Art Museum, etc. He has also held solo exhibitions at the Beijing Art Academy and the China Oil Painting Institute Art Museum. Other notable exhibitions include the Shanghai Biennale in 2000; Beijing International Art Biennale (2003, 2005 and 2015); as well as the second edition of Yinchuan Biennale in 2018.Many of his works have also been selected for publications, including Selected Works of Duan Zhengqu; Selected Works of Contemporary Oil Painters and Works of Duan Zhengqu, Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, 1996; China Modern Art Review Series: Duan Zhenqu, Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, 1998; Shaanbei Listening Song, Liaoning Fine Arts Publishing House, 1999; Duan Zhengqu, Shanghai Literary and Art Publishing House, 2005; On Paper – Duan Zhengqu Paper Works, Henan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2007; Second Section: Duan Zhengqu, Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House, 2007; Duan Zhengqu: Village Landscape, Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House, 2009; Academy Art 30 Years: Duan Zhengqu, Shandong Fine Arts Publishing House, 2010; Stories and Legends: Duan Zhengqu, Art After 30 Years, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2012; Modern Painting and the Painting Department of Capital Normal University, Duan Zhengqu, 2013; 1981-2015 Anthology of Works, Hebei Art Press, 2015; and Garden Village Art: Duan Zhengqu, Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2016.

About the curatorCarol Yinghua Lu is an art historian and a curator. She received her Phd degree in art history from the University of Melbourne in 2020. She is the director of Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum. She was the artistic director and senior curator of OCAT, Shenzhen (2012-2015), guest curator at Museion, Bolzano (2013) and the China researcher for Asia Art Archive (2005-2007). She was a recipient of the ARIAH (Association of Research Institute in Art History) East Asia Fellowship (2017), Yishu Awards for Critical Writing and Curating on Contemporary Chinese Art (2016) and visiting fellow in the Asia-Pacific Fellowship Program at the Tate Research Centre (2013). She was the co-artistic director of Gwangju Biennale and the Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale (2012).

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MAGICIAN SPACE 魔金石空间

Youwei: Duan Zhengqu’s New Works

Carol Yinghua Lu | Youwei: Duan Zhengqu's New Works

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