Wu Keyang's philosophical expression of "Oriental Spiritual Painting" that amazed the international painting community

I am delighted to hear that the first international touring exhibition of "Oriental Spiritual Painting" by Wu Keyang has opened in the Grand Noble Hall of the Palazzo Pisani in Venice, Italy. It is the first time in the history of the Palazzo Bisani to exhibit works by Chinese artists. As a close friend of the painter Wu Keyang, I am deeply pleased!

With the theme of "Oriental Spiritual Painting, Bad, Living, Spiritual and Road", this exhibition displays 27 of Wu Keyang's most representative oil paintings and 89 charcoal sketches. Roberta Reali, a famous Italian art historian and critic, spoke highly of the exhibited paintings: "Wu Keyang discernably reveals his personal interpretation of the universe through paintings. With his rare sensitivity to the macroscopic view of the universe, he re-examines and integrates traditional Chinese elements , reflecting emotions and inner reality by depicting naturalistic elements."

"Teacher Wu did it." Curator Dr. Chen Shudan said that Teacher Wu's works do not use Western discourse and Western logic to tell Chinese stories, but tell Chinese philosophy and thinking in a way that Westerners can understand and understand.

Wu Keyang, a young oriental oil painter, with his unique brushwork, elements and philosophical ideas, integrates Chinese and Western styles, connects ancient and modern times, and forms a self-contained entity. More than ten years ago, he successfully founded the "Sculpture Painting School" which is well-known at home and abroad. This "Oriental Spiritual Painting" exhibition of works at the Palazzo Bisani, based on its sculpture and casting techniques, further presents the profound expression of Eastern philosophical art. In this regard, Dr. Zhuo Xinping, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, praised: "His unique use of color and exquisite grasp of the painting make it both as kind as a sculpture and as dreamy and ethereal." No wonder the well-known French painter Aoli commented after seeing Wu Keyang's paintings eight years ago that Wu Keyang's works allow people to understand the concept of an art philosophy, and praised Wu Keyang for having found the threshold of an art philosophy.

When appreciating Wu Keyang’s philosophical art, its core features are mainly reflected in the following three aspects:

The first is the subjectivity of Eastern philosophy.

The so-called subjectivity of Eastern philosophy is based on the unique spiritual endowment and cultural standpoint of Eastern people, based on the ancient Eastern sages’ cognition and speculation of the universe, nature, human beings, all things, life, and the past, present, and future time and space. Basically, gain insight into the world, analyze the world, and present this insight and analysis in the form of aesthetics and art. The works express Eastern philosophical thoughts, or Eastern art philosophy. This point shines like a ray of sunshine through dark clouds in reversing the eastward trend of Western learning in the fields of philosophy and art that has been formed in recent centuries amid the great changes unseen in a century. It demonstrates China's "cultural self-confidence" .

The second is the inheritance of Eastern culture.

The works exhibited by Wu Keyang at the Palazzo Pisani this time are the "Oriental Spiritual Painting" series. This Oriental Spiritual Painting is Wu Keyang's artistic inheritance of China's excellent traditional culture. The Taoism of Lao Zhuang and Confucius, the unity of nature and man, and the benevolent love others are deeply imprinted in Wu Keyang's paintings. His works explain the harmony, mutual benefit and symbiosis of all things, and explain that the universe is essentially a community of destiny. At the same time, Wu Keyang integrates ancient oriental aesthetic ideas into his current works, showing the aesthetic concepts of movement and stillness and vivid painting techniques. And its inheritance of traditional culture is not a simple transplant, but a secondary creation and improvement based on ancient oriental culture. For example, his creations with the theme of Dunhuang culture are a representation of Eastern culture in the Northern Wei, Han and Tang dynasties. It not only follows the tones and characteristics of Dunhuang rock paintings, but also integrates contemporary color beauty and artistic concepts, showing a strong sense of beauty of the times. A contemporary innovation in the dissemination of excellent Chinese stories.

Wu Keyang is obsessed with the inheritance and promotion of traditional Chinese culture. Eastern culture has penetrated into his soul, his blood, and his paintings. He has become a symbol, a symbol of the inheritance of Chinese culture, and a symbol of the dream of reviving China. A symbol of the cultural frontier.

The third is the fusion of Eastern and Western techniques.

Wu Keyang graduated from Xiamen University majoring in oil painting and is well versed in the expression of Western aesthetics and art. At the same time, his research and study of China's excellent traditional culture and Chinese painting have never stopped. The combination of East and West and the comprehensive integration are the brilliance of his writings. Because of this, when Easterners see his paintings, they are very familiar with them, as if they are seeing heirlooms left by their ancestors. Westerners, when they look at his works, are not unfamiliar with them, because many of the techniques used in the paintings are very familiar to them, and their contents are also very familiar to them. The exotic brilliance of the book has allowed Westerners to see the mystery, depth, longevity and breadth of Eastern culture, thereby promoting the West's understanding and recognition of Eastern culture.

Wu Keyang's "Oriental Spiritual Painting" expresses Eastern and Western painting techniques with oriental charm and ancient oriental characters as philosophical content, allowing viewers to feel the interpretation and thinking of "Tao", "Love", "Goodness", "Benevolence" and "Truth" in the painting. , and inspire the world to have a new knowledge and understanding of the universe and life, and finally reach the state of "neutralization". This is Wu Keyang’s long-cherished artistic pursuit, and he is a cutting-edge explorer in the inheritance and innovation of contemporary culture and art.

October 10, 2023

【Personal profile】

Long Jun, Chinese literary critic.