‘Art comes from life’
Fu Wenjun tells us about the Digital Pictorial Photography he’s bringing to World Art Dubai
CHINESE ARTIST FU Wenjun, who creates his works through the media of photography, installation, sculpture and oil painting, and invented the Digital Pictorial Photography genre, is making his UAE debut at World Art Dubai, which kicked off yesterday at Dubai World Trade Centre and runs till Saturday, April 21. We caught up with the artist ahead of his visit.
What inspired you to create the genre of Digital Pictorial Photography?
In China, which is predominated by the government system, for a long time photography has been used as a tool to record reality and to tell stories. This mainstream idea of art has ignored photography’s huge creative potential. The space for Chinese contemporary art photography to grow is limited, and there are just a few professional artists who still insist on going down the road of exploring art photography.
I always fuse my art creations with the media of photography and I feel confused about this situation, but I never chose to follow the mainstream. Digital Pictorial Photography is a new art photography style which I created. Multi-spot perspective, shading created by ink and water, rhythmic vitality filled with human emotion and spirit are just some characteristics of Chinese traditional painting. Usually photography based on optics cannot produce these effects, and I apply them in my photography art creations. As a result the space relation and colour relation are reconstructed, which affords more thought for the ideas conveyed in the images, not just the outstanding pictorial intensity and beauty.
How do you feel about showcasing your work at World Art Dubai? What are your thoughts on the city and its blossoming art scene?
World Art Dubai is the first art fair in the United Arab Emirates that I am participating in. It’s my honour to present some of my recent photography artworks to the public in the region. I think Dubai shares some similarities with Shanghai, with regards to its fast economic development and blossoming art scene. This will absolutely provide the wider public a greater chance to get close to art. Art comes from life and is a part of life. It is a symbol of beauty. Everyone has the right to appreciate beautiful things.
How far has your work been influenced by Chinese culture and traditions?
Influenced by my father, who has been keen on Chinese traditional art and culture, when I was a young teenager I read a lot of Chinese classics and was able to skillfully master Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. Then I was deeply influenced by Western art when I studied at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, where I majored in oil painting. I think, for these reasons, I have been exploring a new photography art style, in which Chinese art and Western oil painting can meet and stay in a harmonious way. So, Digital Pictorial Photography was born. The style not only integrates some aesthetic features of Chinese art, but to me, what’s more important is that it provides a great freedom, helping me to get rid of the objective recording function of photography. I believe photography has a limit to develop as an art. With Digital Pictorial Photography, I can boldly melt pictorial elements into photography, creating in a way something like Chinese traditional freehand brushwork, heartily and carrying through without stopping, to express the artist’s emotions, reflection, concepts and spirit.
How would you describe your artistic philosophy?
A piece of artwork, no matter what the medium - photography, installation, sculpture or other art forms - should show the artist’s concept or reflection of our current world, society, life or their related past or future, so as to provide viewers something to think about. Besides, as a piece of artwork, it should appear beautiful, providing the viewer some pleasure produced by the artwork, as art is one of the greatest creations of human beings.
Art, like music, has been known to transcend barriers of culture and race and bring people together. What are your thoughts on this?
Art not only provides visual pleasure for people, but in itself represents a multiplicity. Every nation, ethnic group, region has their own art. Learn to respect different art, so that you can learn to respect other cultures and values. Just like a Chinese saying goes: Cherish my own culture/values, respect and treasure other’s culture/values; the world will be a harmonious one.
Learn to respect different art, so that you can learn to respect other cultures and values.”
Fu Wenjun