动态的自然观 Dynamic View of Nature

Dynamic View of Nature: Xia Jianning Solo Show
Chai Zhongjian

Watching Xia Jianning’s works and looking at his uniquely styled pictures, it is like feeling some subtle and frugal images, calm and steady, simple and easy, just as a handle style that has changed irregularly from classic art --- gentle and kindhearted, courteous and moderate reflection on the noisy of contemporary art, the return to tranquility, the return to the true heart and craftsmanship.

The uniqueness of Xia Jianning lies in the fact that he originally faces "art" and "technology" with his hardwork, and from this he practices his own "skills" in different aspects --- what an ancient and real topic this is!  However, as the title of the exhibition, "Dynamic View of Nature", which strives to illustrate that the art should be firmly established at its origin.

is the emotional tone concealed and condensed in the subjectivity, and the image composition of frugality and expressiveness is triggered by emotion.  As if the emotional events he personally felt and understood, they are frankly reflected in his "Emotion and Thrift Series" oil paintings --- the minimalist and dynamic large-scale composition, which accords with the artist's hidden inner mind of "emotional trend" and "spiritual mood". The prominent black and gradual changing lightness and color reveal the artist's innocence and romance, and the unity of the style of the picture, that is, a single piece of creation, which can also be combined into couplet or triptych images, as if his spiritual world and the scenery of an ideal country.

The artist's work stems from the superiority of the "art" state and the depth of the "technical" ability, which are more concretely reflected by Xia Jianning in the depth of emotion and the toughness of work.  On the floor of his mind, "art" In the "Microcosmic Series" works composed by his carefully conceived and hard-working "convex mould·stitch", from the "technique" and the tenacious endurance one can read his exquisite craftsmanship, realize the microscopic and delicate lingering charm of the art works, and experience the quality perception of "good value for market, superior value in skills".

Xia Jianning's art brings us a strange way of reading: from a distance, a close-up, a detail and a magnifying glass to watch the front and the side, the same work will have different visual sensibility under a variety of spatial perspectives.  These effects are due to the "two-step method" he created: the first step is to protrude on a two-dimensional plane the accumulation of different shapes, contrasting sizes, and well spaced density.  These postures remind me of the metaphor of a thousand plateaus on the vast land, or the turbulent crests and waves on the horizontal surface, the white clouds hanging in the sky... Shaping on a flat surface can conform to the abstraction principle of subtle computing, and can also be used in the analogy of all forms in the primitiveness of nature.  But when gathered in the work, the important thing is to test how could be the richness of the visual experience that the artist’s creativity brings to the viewer?  Xia Jianning works hard on this.  The second step is to weave the net with silk-like stitches, and cover all the protrusions with a gray style.  From a distance, it looks like gray floating objects with color gradual gradients on a white bottom plate, or even faintly visible abstract sketches; from a close view, it looks like the posture of each hill or island, the changing lines are entertaining an indeterminate natural texture interweaving... "Dynamic View of Nature" Xia Jianning's solo exhibition --- gives a dual natural view of creation and reading, showing the approachable experience mode of contemporary art.

--- Chai ZhongJian

Aug.16, 2021