Having read a number of web articles, reviews and commentaries on Mao Xuhui, I could not help but forming a mental image of him. However, when I first met him in his dimly lit studio, my first impression of him, contrary to his being one of the pioneers of contemporary art in China, is one that is without the bravado of a pioneer; instead, in a reserved manner, he invited me to his armchair (with clothes draping on it), and offered me tea from a glass bottle together with cigarettes. His gentleness and humbleness reminded me of the well respected manner of a Chinese scholar.

"Guishan Scissors" is the latest of Mao Zuehui’s collection. I had a conversation with him over the phone before actually seeing it. I made a mental note of his idea imbedded in his collection -"return". After that I re-read his [catalogue] and mulled over the passages therein. In the chapter on Guishan, there is a footnote written by him in 1986: "the driving force of all living things lies within the earth; our driving force lies within our flesh; where it comes, it goes; the way you arrive, shall be the way you return without such a cycle, life will be a mere illusion." These almost philosophical and theological remarks, seems to be Big Mao‘s basis for his current ideas. Of course, the "return" shall be another regression after distillation.

"Guishan Scissors" showed a pair of scissors set off against the clear blue sky and red earth, where the pair of scissors that symbolizes power remains. Is it true that the "return" in the canvas indicate that, power, even after refinement, would eventually become part of nature? And no one would object to such a "natural" power? Or does he further want to say that power is an idea existing in the nature from the beginning till the end? I cannot help being reminded of the well known quote from Big Mao, as mentioned in Zhang Xiaogang ’s article: "freedom can never be obtained without language!" Art is an enlightenment to mankind‘s thoughts, and of course the language of an artist naturally opens a window of freedom for our thoughts.

Huang Lingling

Gao Minglu

“In 1985 Mao Xuhui was a leading artist in the Southwestern Group.   Beginning with ‘Body’, his earliest work, and continuing through, ‘Bric-a-brac’, Mao has never ceased to address the question of “existence”.  An exemplar of the taciturn existentialist, he remains indifferent to fame and fortune. 

        Gao Minglu, The 100 Most Influential Artists in Chinese Modern Art, 2005

The passage above was written two years ago and represents a summary of my thoughts at that time on the art of Mao Xuhui.  Our acquaintance began in 1985 through an exchange of letters.  It was through this correspondence that I became aware of the avant-garde movement in southwestern China.  In 1986, I invited Mao to take part in China’s first-ever avant-garde convention – “1985 Trends in Thought: The Slide Show & Convention”.  Following that convention, Mao proceeded to organize the most influential avant-garde group in the southwest – the “Southwest Art Group”. This group included several important artists, such as Pan Dehai, Ye Yongqing, and Zhang Xiaogang.  While continuing his work as an artist, Mao also found time to organise painting exhibitions and seminars.  In February 1989, he headed a group of southwest artists who displayed their work at the “Chinese Modern Art Exhibition”, held in the National Art Museum of China.  We continued to write after I went to the U.S. in 1991.  In his letters, Mao set down his thoughts on changes in society and his reflections on art.  He had been thinking, writing, and creating works of art for over 20 years without calling attention to himself.  With every letter or note, I was deeply touched by his passion for life and belief in true art.  In addition, I admired his firm views on art, which have remained unchanged over the years.  This reveals Mao’s unusual nature, and is the source of my admiration, for in those days those peers who paid attention to market needs, and who seldom considered “unrealistic” issues, such as art or humanity important, were enjoying great success.  

Mao is an artist of firm beliefs who insists on independent thinking.  His endless ideas about art and his concern for humanity are inseparable from his own art.  However, it’s not possible to discuss all these aspects within the space of this short article.  In the 1980s I wrote some commentaries on the concept of “The Flow of Life”, when discussing works from the Southwest Art Group, as represented by Mao.  I considered this concept to be one of the philosophical trends of the 1985 Movement.1  At that time, the Southwest Art Group consisted primarily of artists who were born in Yunnan.  To differentiate itself from trends popular among the coastal cities, e.g. the “Rational Paintings” of the Northern Group, the art style of the Southwest Group was closer to that of the Sichuan artists.  Art education in the southwest area depends on the art schools of Sichuan.  Many artists are graduates of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.  During the 1985 Movement, both concepts, the “Flow of Life” and “Rational Painting”, were voicing their views of the “Rural Realism” that was so popular during the end of the 1970s and early 1980s.  However, in comparison with “Rational Painting”, the “Flow of Life” school is more closely related to the tradition of “Rural Realism” style.  One can see that Western Modernism has had a greater impact on “Rational Painting” and is more abstract, due to its emphasis on concepts.  If we do not limit the term, “southwest”, to indicate the “Southwest Art Group” but extend it to the entire Sichuan area, the connection between the “Flow of Life” and the Sichuan art style becomes more apparent.  The “Rural Realism” trend began in the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in the latter part of the 1970s, and quickly became the fashionable art style of that time.  Therefore, one can see that “Rational Painting” was the polar opposite of Rural Realism, which in turn was transcended, and further developed by the “Flow of Life”.  In the “Flow of Life”, one can see it is a continuation of regional modern art in the southwest area, while “Rational Painting” is a modern product from the city.  Although the concept of “southwest art” disappeared after 1990, art in southwest region, led by the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, still retains its strong local influence.  Their themes may have turned from nostalgia to depicting the joys of city life, but their style is still rooted in realism.  The difference is that the new trend is more flamboyant than the old country style.              

The purpose of this synopsis is to emphasise Mao’s unique role in the southwest art phenomenon.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be amiss to even call it the “Mao Xuhui phenomenon”.  It was Mao’s passion for life and metaphysical philosophy that brought the group of southwest artists together.  However, at the beginning of the 1990s they parted ways because Mao refused to abandon his original ideals.  This insistence did not mean that his creative work remained unchanged.  On the contrary, he was constantly seeking new symbols and methods of expression in keeping with the times.  However, it was not in Mao’s nature to go along with what was fashionable, and he responded to society in his own unique way.  This is further proof that even then he was immune to the influenced of public taste.  Mao is not the kind of popular artist who goes about using his art to criticise society, while at the same time slavishly submitting to reality.  He has always combined his criticism of society with criticism of himself, something which is a rarity among modern Chinese artists.  20th century China does not lack those who sharply criticise their own people.  But in general, their version of the “ugly Chinese” does not include themselves.  Hatred and disaster act as cause and effect, and is always connected with the innate quality of our people.  The inveterate bad nature and ugliness are not limited to a certain class or level, but are found among Chinese people in general.  Therefore, anti-tradition and self-criticism in 20th century China were never capable of bringing about a cultural renaissance.  This is because the critic never includes himself as part of the history, but regards his own person as something beyond judgment by rational standards.  Criticism of this nature therefore becomes incomplete, incapable of bringing total enlightenment to our culture.      

Mao understands that he must confront himself in his criticism, because, when confronting social realities, he is at the same time confronting himself.  That is why I say Mao is a silent Existentialist.  However, Mao’s criticism is neither philosophical nor metaphysical.  It is derived from his own experiences in life, which are intimately linked with his own existence.  This ideology influences the choices Mao makes and the changes in his themes and methods of artistic expression.  Existence is neither the individual’s public persona, nor a symbol of the individual’s mood, but is the artist’s thoughts on the two.  Mao refers to this perspective on soul as the “new image”.  This “image” does not mean to re-create reality, nor to demonstrate one’s mood.  It is a quest to find an accurate and symbolic narrative.  Although we often see the passion spark from his paintbrush, but his paintbrush is actually in the service of those “objects” or his major theme.  Therefore, during his more than two decades of artistic production, he makes “portraits” of various everyday objects as an individual response to social change.  When Mao makes a “portrait” of something, he does not paint a still life, but, to borrow a Japanese expression, “tells a story of that object”.  This is not only the story of an everyday object, but is also Mao’s story, or even the story of society.  These objects are found both in society and among personal possessions.  Therefore, we often discover Mao’s shadow among his multitude of “objects”.  To some degree, Mao’s portraits of chairs, scissors, or bicycles are self-portraits, as well. 

These various “objects” have become Mao’s major themes during different periods.  For example, his early themes were “red earth” and “green tree branches”.  Themes such as “chairs” (Parents), “scissors”, “keys”, “bicycles”, “shoes”, and “brocade flags” did not emerge until later.  Mao’s method of “telling a story of the object” dates back to the “Gui Mountain Series of Paintings”; the “Red Physical Volume” and “Personal Space Series” of the 1980s; the “Parents Series” and “Scissors Series” of the 1990s; and the “Glory and What Is Past Series”, from 2000 to the present.  The technique, “portraits of objects”, expresses the artist’s thoughts about society and the essence of existence.  There is a difference between the “portraits of objects” and “portraits of people”.  “Portraits of objects” means that the artist is painting other things while in “portraits of people”, the artist is painting himself or his own kind – human.  “Objects” are not human.  Therefore, it is difficult for Man to understand “objects”.  Man will never accord the same status to “objects” as they do to people.  Precisely because of this gap between the artist and the viewers, the portraits of objects are often abstract and symbolic.  This phenomenon can also be found in portraits depicting real-life objects.  The “portraits of objects” (or the “story of the object”) we are discussing here is not the usual “still life”.  “Still life” depicts “dead objects” but the objects in the “portraits of objects” are “alive”.  When an object retains life, it can tell a story.  So the story of the object also means the narrative of the object.               

Mao’s theme of everyday objects has nothing to do with still life because his painting is not about the physical aspect of the objects.  Moreover, these objects are not meant to symbolise anything.  If one finds meaning in them, it is because we perceive some kind of social understanding in these portraits.  This understanding, or spiritual aspect, does not come from Mao.  What he has done is to find the “loophole”, which is our innate feeling of being separate from objects, thereby merging mere object (the object’s original state) with object utility (the function of the object) and elevating them to become “free objects” (the metaphysical state of the object).  For example, when Mao has positioned a pair of scissors in front of a sofa or chair, extending them symmetrically to cover the entire picture, the relationship between the scissors and chair makes the viewers suddenly associate them with some kind of power structure in the real world.  Whether the scissors symbolise parents, monarch, worrier, or destroyer, will depend on how the artist arranges the house, people, car, and furniture around them.  In addition, the color or position of the scissors also plays an import role in the picture.  It is inevitable that viewers will use some phrases popular in romanticism, such as “unyielding”, “cool”, or “tyrannical”, to describe the character of the scissors.
 
Mao’s way of telling the object’s story does not belong to the school of Expressionism, although the touch of brush on his canvas is expressive and passionate.  Precisely because of the emphasis on the object’s narrative and symbolism, Mao’s work is distinguished from other works found in the Southwest Art Group.  These works include the post-1990 creations of Zhang Xiaogang, Ye Yongqing, and Pan Dehai.  Mao’s uniqueness also sets him apart from the school of modern southwest realism that originated in the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.  As a result, Mao’s theme, “narrative of the object”, became influential among the young artists in the regions of Yunnan and Kunming.  While giving a seminar at Yunnan University in the summer of 2006, I visited the studios of some young artists.  I noticed that a group of very talented young artists had begun paying close attention to the creation of commonplace objects, and how to give them a narrative, thereby showing their ability to think independently.  This is in sharp contrast to students from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, who always seem to be hastening to keep abreast of one trend or another.  This kind of independent, individual, and borderline experiment is precisely what modern Chinese art needs to build its own foundation.

Mao’s theme, the narrative of object, was first developed in the middle of the 1980s when he was contemplating Nature.  At the time, Mao had the impulse to depict some sentient objects found in nature, such as the red earth and green trees on Gui Mountain in Yunnan.  Later, Mao directly responded to the question of self-existence and social problems with themes such as, “people” and “private space”.  In 1988, perhaps because Mao’s personal life had a new beginning, his “narrative of people” theme, was replaced by the symbolic “Parents Series”.  Since the beginning of 1990, Mao has focused completely on his creation of “portraits of object”.   

In Mao’s earliest work, the “Gui Mountain Series of Paintings”, one can still see the trace of Symbolism found in Gauguin.  Many people regard Mao’s painting in this period as depicting scenes from the rural countryside.  However, I do not share this view.  This school of “Rural Realism” originated in Sichuan, the southwest region, and Tibet during the 1970s.  The major themes for this school are farmers, female cowherds, and the atmosphere of minority tribes.  This school always has a cause for narrative; always concentrates on truthfully transforming a rural natural scene onto the painting.  The style of this school focuses on “Naturalism”, using “Photo Realism” as its means, and emphasises details.  One can regard this art trend as the reverse of themes found in the school of Realism, which focuses on political issues.  As a result, ordinary people and natural scenery became the main themes for the school of “Rural Realism”.  What is more, it revealed a return to human nature following the Cultural Revolution.  It became part of the modernisation goal that the Chinese intellectuals strove for after the Cultural Revolution.  However, its themes and perspective are nostalgic; and focus on rural countryside.  It seems to deliberately avoid depicting modern city life.  But this nostalgia is not unusual throughout various periods of modern Chinese history and has always been entangled with modern culture.    

Mao and other artists in the Southwest Group, such as Ye Yongqing, Pan Dehai, and Zhang Xiaogang, visited Gui Mountain and painted there.  Although the objects in their works, such as minority tribesmen, animals, hills, and forests, seem to be no different from those favored by the school of “Rural Realism”, their attention was no longer to show an exotic country atmosphere, but to reveal the hidden life in Nature.  It is the glorification of human nature; a criticism of the country atmosphere.  Mao once quoted a criticism of the modern tendency, made by Max Beckmann, a German philosopher and painter: “One should liberate oneself from the pointless copying of objects; feeble techniques; decorative space; and an erroneous, sad, and exaggerated Mysticism.  We hope to get a transcendental realism in modern days and this realism is found in the love of Man for Nature and his fellow Man.”2  This metaphysical view of life and existence has decided that Mao’s “Gui Mountain” is simply a major theme but not the countryside itself.  Red earth, goats, white clouds, and blue skies are nothing but symbols of Primitivism and a substitute for one’s religious faith in Nature.  For example, in “March in a Mountain Village”, one of the paintings in the “Gui Mountain Series”, there is no narrative between the people; mountains and clouds; or goats and horses.  The artist has no intention of telling a literary story, or did he intend to depict real-life scenery.  What the artist is trying to show is the harmony of natural objects in the spiritual sphere.  This harmony is metaphysical and abstract, which can’t be explained by the logic of reality.  Here one can see the fundamental difference between the “Gui Mountain Series of Paintings” and the “Rural Realism” paintings popular during the early 1980s in southwest Sichuan.  Mao’s style has transcended “Rural Realism” because the latter emphasises the country atmosphere and its social meanings, while Mao’s “Gui Mountain” and “Red Earth” series stress a harmony of the countryside which is free of style and the metaphysical.  In this sense, Mao’s “Gui Mountain” focuses on form rather than content.  Only when form achieves a harmonious state can the meaning of symbolism and abstraction be established.

The “Gui Mountain” series does not emphasise the changes of people or natural scenery in every painting.  On the contrary, hills, trees, goats, and people are repeatedly used, with only minor changes.  In addition, themes such as red hills and green trees are found in every painting.  It is just as Mao says: “depending on how red the red earth is, the grass will be of a matching green color.”  He is treating the red earth as the mother and all myriad beings as her sons.  It shows a natural and harmonious structure.   The true existence of Nature transcends sensibility and no comparisons exist.  The artist who finds its structure, has found its true essence. 

During the time he was creating the “Gui Mountain” series, Mao was trying to criticise and transcend the genre of “country painting”.  However, a paradox emerged because Mao and his partners, Zhang Xiaogang and Ye Yongqing, still used the countryside and natural scenery as their major themes when voicing their criticism.  It disturbed them deeply and they worried that their criticism would not be an all-embracing criticism.  In the middle of the 1980s, Mao began to doubt his major theme in the “Gui Mountain” series.  He had no doubt about the “Gui Mountain” series itself, but was uncertain about the psychological associations evoked by his countryside theme. In a letter Mao wrote to me in 1986 he said: “Maybe we are desperately seeking an escape in the atmosphere created by the songs of the Yunnan herdsmen.  We strolled on the hills with the shepherds, in the company of green leaves, red earth, and sun.  We slept in the generous embrace of Nature, dreaming silver dreams, enjoying Nature’s comfort.  We also devoted ourselves to producing large numbers of beautiful paintings of the land, female cowherds, white horses, and trees.  Until this day, these things still fascinate us deeply.  However, our restless hearts and our existence as members of society make it impossible for us to become a white horse, a female cowherd, or a tree.  Our hearts are split.  The conflict between reality and ideals; id and super-ego, has engulfed us.  The sunlight on the plateau comforts us, but can’t save us.  We have to face life itself; face everything that we are not willing to face.” 3   

Mao and his partners therefore elevated the real-life hills and natural scenery in Gui Mountain into a higher level question of natural consciousness.  At the same time, Mao Xuhui, Ye Yongqing, and Zhang Xiaogang also wrote articles discussing natural consciousness.  An article written by Ye Yongqing, The Natural Consciousness of the Southwest Art Group, brilliantly described how the Southwest Group has transcended “Rural Realism” in a modern sense.  To them, art should not be limited to merely depicting natural scenes, in the manner of the school of “Rural Realism”, popular at the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s.  Nor should art avoid real-life natural objects like the school of “Rational Painting”, popular among the coastal groups during the 1985 Movement.  “Rational Painting” describes nothing but the mystery of the universe, and people like Ye Yongqing regard it as a denial of traditional country living; and their hope for the modern. It lacks an intimate feeling toward nature and direct contact with the experience of existence. 4  The artists in the Southwest Group devoted themselves to establishing a third kind of natural consciousness, which is to regard Nature as a spiritual symbol and give it a supreme awareness.  This is to recognise the consciousness of life.  Therefore, Ye Yongqing feels that the works of Mao Xuhui, Zhang Xiaogang, and himself “repeatedly use symbolic meanings appropriate to the paradoxes found in society, history, life, and human nature”; yet “do not emphasise a static harmony, but pursue a higher goal through contradictory expression.” 5  Therefore, in all their works is found a profusion of those elements that express primitive and wild feelings, such as beasts and distorted human organs.  However, these themes “co-exist in harmony” with stupid and conservative lifestyles, as well as natural scenery.  Such a style reveals to what degree the Southwest Art Groups denies the negative natural consciousness, and expresses their longing for the modern. 

In other words, this modern trait is the feeling, contemplation and criticism of the rational relationship between Man and Nature.  The usual “existence” we talk about is not simply man’s observation of Nature and his acceptance of what he has seen, nor is it the distant universe which has nothing to do with Man.  Existence is some kind of relationship.  It can’t separate itself from the constant presence of an individual (I), which is to say he exists at that very moment.  Existence is abstract, but “I” is concrete.  Using the concrete “I” to express the abstract idea of existence is the art concept Mao and other artists in the Southwest Group employ in their version of symbolism. 

In fact, this kind of symbolism has dominated all of Mao’s creative works since 1982.  In every phase of Mao’s art, he has done his utmost to find the most likely object that can imply the “various paradoxes found in society, history, life, and human nature”.  For example, there is the red earth, green tree branches, chairs (Parents), scissors, keys, brocade flags, and pyramids.  He tries to insert these non-narrative objects into a surrounding where a story can be told.  Because these objects are always found in the center of the painting, they generally project a “lofty” image in the narrative of the picture.  These objects therefore create a “monumental” effect.  However, this technique of exaggerating a commonplace object into a heroic monument often gives a sense of absurdity.  However, this absurdity has a tragic effect instead of mockery.  Every touch of Mao’s paintbrush reveals a sense of seasoned life experience or a heavy heart.  These qualities shroud these objects, or “symbols”, with a “heroic” atmosphere.  Therefore, I feel that these scissors, chairs, bicycles, and brocade flags are very much like Mao’s own portrait.  Although they are interpreted from the standpoint of their social meaning, they suggest Mao’s criticism of the external world.

Since the beginning of 1990, Pan Dehai, Zhang Xiaogang, and Ye Yongqing have given up their exploration of the metaphysical natural consciousness.  They have either turned to the style of narrative; the depiction of real-life groups, such as Pan’s “Corn Series” and Zhang’s “Big Family”; or Installation and Conceptual Art, such as Ye’s “Poster Series”, created in early 1990.  Although after the Modern Art Exhibition of 1989, the artists of Southwest Group continued to insist on their ideal of the “Chinese experience”, this group had in fact disbanded.  No matter whether in questions of artistic exploration or personal life, these artists were faced with new choices.  Today, Zhang Xiaogang has made Beijing his home; Ye Yongqing is traveling between Beijing, Yunnan, and Chongqing; and Pan Dehai, after staying in Beijing for a couple of years, is now back in Kunming.  In early 1990, Mao moved to Beijing, however, he soon left.  In a letter he wrote to me, Mao said: “I stayed in Beijing last winter (1994) and this spring, trying to make Beijing my home.  However, I discovered that the bitter cold weather in the north and the majestic feeling projected by the city as the center of the empire is disagreeable for someone born and raised in the southwest.”  “My roots lie in the strong, swift, sealed, conservative, and imaginative regional characteristics of the Yunnan plateau.  And these roots are very important to me.” 6

Mao’s decision to remain in Kunming was extraordinary.  It is a statement that he is willing to stay at the border and accept being “ordinary”.  Not only did this enable Mao to meditate and contemplate in a remote corner of society, and thereby confront himself with the question of his social existence and self-existence, but the accompanying solitude also tested his will.  The true value of an artist does not lie in being popular, but on being unknown.  An artist’s value can’t be judged solely on the basis of his works.  The way of how he creates his works in his daily life should also be taken into account.  Van Gogh’s art is not a myth because one can perceive the power of morality in his works.  Modern Chinese art is filled with myth and bubbles, and one of the causes is the absence of moral power.  This is not an echo of Modernism.  Under the impact of globalisation and urbanisation, it has become the biggest problem Chinese culture has faced in the past 20 years.  It is precisely as Mao stated in his article, “My Thoughts on Art after 1989 (1)”: “I believe that after 1989, Chinese artists who are serious about their art will again part ways with superficial hedonism and escapist illusions, and firmly ground themselves to reach a spiritual depth in their work.  If they stop again, they no longer develop.  If one has been in darkness, there is a good chance that he will see the light again.” 7

From the letters Mao wrote to me in the 1990s, along with his notes on his works, I discovered that the “Modern Art Exhibition” held in 1989 and the “June 4” political event, awakened Mao in 3 ways: (1). At a time when art is helpless in the face of political issues, a self-sufficient power is needed.  This power enables art to be more perfect when expressing themes such as people and the metaphysical state.  (2). Artists must be able to endure pain, reject decadence, or giving themselves over to materialism and hedonism.  (3). Return to the reality of their self-existence.  Mao refers this act as “individualism” or “personal feelings”.  These ideas are the decisive factors that have changed Mao’s style in his “Parents Series” and “Daily Life Epic Series”.      

Mao began his “Parents Series” in1988.  The chronological development of his major themes can be seen in the self-portraits and family portraits of his “Parents Series”.  After that, he does nothing but abstraction.  Mao tries to recover the basic idea of a “parent”.  “Parent” does not indicate the “chief”, as in a certain social structure, e.g. the family or state, nor the relationship between the two sexes.  By creating a series of paintings with a central theme, pyramid, Mao has “pictured” the traditional relations between the prince and his ministers; between father and son; and between husband and wife, as well as the five cardinal virtues, and the power structure found in modern society.  The structure in his paintings is becoming progressively simpler, and finally leads to geometrical patterns derived from chairs and scissors.  

Mao began to fear that in the “Parents Series” he had allowed himself to become too absorbed in the ultimate question and its abstract form, and that his art might be heading in the direction of emptiness.  He began his “Daily Life Epic Series” and “Scissors Series” in 1994.  “I want to bring my attention back to the more solid and trivial daily life, finding something that bears the real meaning, similar to ‘epic’, and is ‘metaphysical’.  Daily life often is ordinary, without much mystery.  This commonplace can be found in personal relationships, the relationship between individuals and society, as well as my everyday life.  My surroundings will accompany me as I progress and grow old.  For me, it is practical to have these surroundings.  They develop various essential relationships with us in different forms and functions.  They seem to be ordinary, yet still extraordinary.  Maybe everything has two faces – practical and impractical; majestic and meek; big and small.  That is why when I choose my theme, no matter if it be scissors, keys, bicycles, sofas, or community buildings, I do not care if they bear any meaning.  The key is whether or not I have a feeling for them.” 8 

To me, although the theme used in “Parents” and “Daily Life Epic” is different, Mao’s goal of making them to be metaphysical is the same.  When Mao is “shaping” everyday objects such as scissors, he often paints the background or creates a color contrast in such a manner as to form an aura, thereby giving the object a sense of holiness.  However, the significant change in his work is that Mao gave up his favorite personal touch and the effect of color contrast, to create geometric patterns, coloring them with one brushstroke.  It is not a mere question of changing his style, nor the technique of simplifying his style.  It is a statement showing Mao’s change of attitude toward “objects”.  The “objects” truly become “independent” and “self-sufficient”.  Mao’s partiality for the practical function of an “object”(which can be expanded to include social function), and the inseparable relationship between the function of an object and its symbol, has helped the scissors evolve from a mere utilitarian object into a “free object”.  The scissors has transcended itself, overcome the awkwardness of being a functional tool in society, and enters its own uninhibited plane.  On the one hand, the scissors have left their real-life surroundings, such as a room or on the street, and moved on to a self-sufficient sphere where there is no background.  Even if there is a background, it is desolate and serene, projecting a majestic atmosphere.  For example, there are “The Blue Scissors, West Mountain, and Lake Dian” and “Scissors and the Scenery of Gui Mountain”.  In the latter, the red earth of Gui Mountain has become one with the red scissors.  On the other hand, Mao’s method of making scissor portraits has become freer.  Various forms of scissors, i.e. the tilted scissors, open scissors, scissors facing upward or downward, scissor blade, yellow scissors, red scissors, blue scissors, and gray scissors, all constitute different geometric structures.  The metaphysical and uninhibited characteristics of the scissors are therefore exposed in their total reality.  I think this abstract structure can still be explored further.  It reminds one of Picasso and Mondrian, and how their work evolved from real-life forms to geometric patterns.  I believe Mao’s abstract art will be unique and personal, and no existing concept is capable of explaining it.  It is as if the scissors has transcended itself and become self-sufficient.  Mao’s exploration will break through the boundaries of real-life form and advance to a metaphysical state of life.  It is extremely personal and a metaphysical art depends on this extreme.

Mao’s recent works on scissors has excluded his expressive stroke and real-life effect, “the object’s narrative”, that are found in his previous work.  Viewers therefore will easily use expressions such as “peaceful” or “warm” to define these works.  In fact, when art has become “metaphysical”; when an object has lifted itself to the carefree sphere, it has gone beyond the symbols given to it by the world.  Expressionless and lack of performance are, on the contrary, the supreme manifestations of expression and performance.  For those familiar with Mao’s early work, this self-sufficient state and new “narrative of the object” are very difficult to grasp.  However, this extreme-metaphysical art form, derived from extreme-idiosyncratic art style, is sorely needed in modern Chinese art.  20th century Chinese art needs narratives.  Not only can this form fill the gap, it can also establish a new Discours de la méthode.  This is especially true in this era when modern Chinese art is inundated with images, pirating, and mockery.  Mao’s lonely journey of exploration not only serves as our model, it is our hope.

The history of Mao’s artistic creation over two decades reveals a process of constant introspection.  He attempts to use painting to express the image in his mind through “the story of the object”.  This is what he means by “new image”.  Mao’s art cannot be separated from his own persona.  Keeping a low profile, he has a keen sense of responsibility and in his conduct is generous, respectful, frugal, and modest.  I had a chance to witness his admirable personality.  When I organised the “Huang Shan Conference” in Tunxi, in 1988, some artists who participated in this meeting had a quarrel with the local people and blows were exchanged.  Mao was mistakenly identified as the person who started the fight.  When local police began to investigate this matter, Mao, in order to avoid involving the conference in any possible negative publicity, accepted these wrongful charges without protest and was fully cooperative throughout the investigation.  Even though he had suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hands of the other party, his refusal to press charges was in keeping with his nobility of characters.  Being an organiser for this conference, I was impressed by the way Mao conducted himself, and this impression has stayed with me over the years.  In extreme contrast to Mao’s gentle personality is his insistence on his artistic ideals.  He has never been an artist who courts popularity because his art is not intended for others, but represents his confrontation with himself.  He never intends to use it as a subtext for some doctrine or existing “Avant-garde” trend.  He paints candidly and for his own soul.  Although his talent allows him to produce what is popular in the art market, and he has very good reason to do so, he cannot deceive his own soul.


Notes
1.    In my article, 1985 Art Movement, I first divided the new art trend in the 1980s into three categories: “Rationalism”, “Expression of Life”, and “The Concept         of Behavior”.  See 1985 Art Movement by Gao Minglu, Fourth Edition, 1986.
2.    Mao Xuhui: Letters to Gao Minglu, March 19, 1986, unpublished manuscript.
3.    Mao Xuhui: a letter to Gao Minglu, September 9th, 1986.
4.    Ye Yongqing: The Natural Consciousness of the Southwest Art Group, 1985, unpublished manuscript. 
5.    I discussed this topic in detail in the First Section: “Life Itself, Natural Consciousness, and Religious Faith” in Chapter Four: “The Flow of Life”, Chinese         Modern Art History, 1985 – 1986, published by Gao Minglu and other co-authors.  See Chinese Modern Art History, 1985 – 1986, Shanghai People’s             Publishing House, p.229 to p.241, 1991.
6.    Mao Xuhui: Letters to Gao Minglu, December 26, 1995, unpublished manuscript.     
7.    Mao Xuhui: My Thoughts on Art after 1989, April in Kunming, unpublished manuscript.
8.    Mao Xuhui: Letters to Gao Minglu, December 26, 1995, unpublished manuscript.

 

Lu Peng



Chapter I    Life of the Artist


We haven’t worked any wonders up to now. There’s more or less a discrepancy between this situation and my childhood ambition.     
 —Mao Xuhui: Journal at the Palm Camp, 1995



Mao Xuhui was born on June 2, 1956 in Chongqing in Southwest China. Both his parents were teaching at the Geology School in that city then. But in September of the same year, his parents were transferred to Kunming to help build the frontier during a political movement known as the Great Leap Forward. “The school where my parent work in Kunming is located in the northern suburb of the city, against a backdrop of red-earthed and rocky hills. It’s really big, with a reservoir, stretches of reclaimed land on which corns, vegetables, and sunflowers are planted by the staff. You can see green melon tendrils reaching out in every direction. The huge sports ground, surrounded by grass, is where we fly kites. The kindergarten is near the reservoir, surrounded with dense willow groves. And in summer, the willows are covered with caterpillars, whose color resembles that of the tree barks. It’s exiting...” (The Path of My Soul: A Brief Autobiography, 1956-1985, 1989) The state of mind revealed by Mao when he was recalling his living environment in childhood is reflected vividly in his Guishan series. As a matter of fact, his living in nature rather than in a city has left the artist with a deep and indelible love of nature.

Mao followed his parents to live in the city at about eight. Two years later, that is, in 1966, “I, a fourth grader, started to experience the Cultural Revolution with tens of millions of my country fellows, reciting everyday the three essays, namely, “In Memory of Dr. Bethune”, “Serve the People” and “The Foolhardy Old Man Removes the Mountain” by Chairman Mao” (Mao Xuhui). As it is impossible for a ten-year old to understand rationally the unprecedented Cultural Revolution, the printing of red armbands, making and distributing of propaganda sheets are just games. If we look closely at the collages made by this artist 20 years later, we can detect the historical traces left by the Cultural Revolution in his works.

After graduation from high school in 1971, Mao was assigned a job in a department store in Kunming, working as its coolie. Later he was transferred to manage a storehouse. This job gave him more free time. Other youths working in the storehouse were either literature or music lovers. After reading Letters to Beginners by a Soviet writer borrowed from one of his violin-playing colleagues, Mao began to learn painting. Though he often went sketching in the suburbs after work, he knew nothing about the history of art, or artistic issues. As an oil painter, Mao’s starting point cannot be compared to that of any of his Western counterparts. In 1977, the first year he was enrolled in the Department of Fine Arts at Kunming Normal College, Mao went to a county near the city as a member on the work team to urge the local peasants to learn from Dazhai, a model agricultural production brigade. It is on this trip that he made friends with Zhang Xiaogang and Ye Yongqing, educated youths farming with the peasants then, but well-known artists today.

Mao recalls later, “Before I went to college, the strongest influence on me was the natural scenery.” This is probably related to both the sunny climate in Kunming and the artistic creative inclinations among the artists in the city. As the artist writes himself: “All the Kunming artists are fond of painting landscapes, displaying a common interest in impressionism. This phenomenon is probably due to the warm spring-like climate in Kunming throughout the year.” (The Path of My Soul: A Brief Autobiography, 1956-1985)

As the artist recalls, he was mainly engaged in painting plaster figures in the first two years at college. The printed materials that he had access to are mostly Soviet paintings. He worshipped such famous Russian masters as Levitan (1860-11900), Repin (1844-1930), Surilkov (1848-1916). But during this period, Wu Guanzhong’s promotion of formal beauty, Yuan Yunsheng’s mural at the Capital Airport in Beijing and the introductions of early Western arts carried in art magazines began to shatter Mao’s beliefs that he had accepted blindly. One day, a teacher at his college told him that artists like Repin cannot even get into the history of art. This statement dealt Mao a heavy blow and made him “turn his enthusiasm in the Russian artists firmly to impressionism and European arts, especially the paintings by Van Gogh (1853-1890), Cezanne (1839-1906) and Gauguin (1848-1903)”.

Anyway, at the beginning, at least, the poor knowledge gained at college was everything the young man knew about art. Gypsum and human figures became the musts in his artistic search for answers. However, in his junior year, Mao borrowed from the school library Man, Time and Life, an autobiography of Ilia Ehrenburg (1891-1967), a Soviet writer. The introductions of modern Western artists in the 20th century abruptly “tore my false impression to pieces.” It was at that time that Mao came to realize that art is not necessarily a striving for fidelity or lifelikeness. Ehrenburg’s introductions to Modigliani (1884-1920), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Leger (1881-1955), Soutine (1894-1943), Rivera (1886-1957), Malevich (1878-1935) and others “greatly opened my eyes”. Probably due to realistic and social similarities, Mao was also greatly fascinated in the other aspect of the book: “Another interesting part of the book is its account and analysis of the situation of art and literature after the success of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Besides establishing just a worker-dominated government, the Revolution failed to resolve any ideological issues. Art became a means of propaganda; talented artists were pushed aside or even persecuted. How similar is that situation to our reality!”(The Path of My Soul: A Brief Autobiography, 1956-1985) This concern of reality and human existence not only reflects Mao’s personal view, but is also an unavoidable problem faced by the people of his generation. Because of this, though Mao expressed his dislike for literary paintings, he acknowledged the value of “Snow on a Certain Date in 1968” by Cheng Conglin, a so-called “Scar” artist, and was greatly moved by it. The exploration of human nature and pursuit of truth constitute the basic features of the artists of Mao’s generation. While the artist pondered over these essential issues, he came to realize that the distinctive line depiction method employed by Yuan Yunsheng and Jiang Tiefeng, two Yunnan artists known for their rich-colored line decorative paintings on Korean paper, and the formal beauty stressed by Wu Guanzhong are both shallow and irrelevant. To this young artist, their works are “decorative” but “very superficial”.

Due to the increased contact with studies on modern Western art and replicas (the early 80s saw China opening its door to Western art and philosophy), by the time of graduation, Mao’s belief in the Soviet education system was completely shattered. Paul Cezanne, a French, became his most interested artist. This Chinese young man was so fascinated by the “Father of Modern Art” that he made “Paul Cezanne” the title of his graduation thesis. To the four years of college education based on the Soviet pattern, this is doubtless a satirical action. It is also interesting to note that though this young graduating student instinctively sensed that Cezanne had created “something eternal”, he had no idea of what this “something eternal” really was! The quality of replicas was inferior and the young man was beginning to see the meaning of life and society. That thesis, full of admiration and respect for Cezanne, clearly failed to clarify everything.

As Mao and his friends came to know more about the life of the Parisian artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in France, they began to dream of their own “Monmartel Café” and wished to lead a romantic, unconventional and unrestrained Bohemian life of Parisian artists, painting, talking about arts, etc. Believing that society might provide them with a better artistic creative environment, they were anxious to break away from the tedious college life. But the moment Mao returned to a department store under his former unit, he became disillusioned. The tasteless shop window displays and advertisings make him realize that realities are far from the poetic dreams he cherished earlier. There is no culture, no art in reality. “The society does not treat art seriously.” There exist no artistic and cultural ambiences in society, which is far from what the young man imagined. Apart from that fact, in the eyes of Mao and his friends, the Association of Artists seemed both too “remote” and hard to understand. Official exhibitions are not worth their participation. To them, realities, totally unexpected, hold no particular meanings. Before graduation, Mao was full of hope, exhilarated by the lectures by Li Zehou, Gao Ertai, Zhu Hong, etc. on esthetics, modern fiction, and drama of absurdity at Kunming Institute of Nationalities. His dream of becoming a painter, however, “is soon shattered by the strict eight-hour working day system and jobs unrelated to painting. The conflict between reality and idealism has become increasingly sharp.”

Shortly after graduation, Mao married his college sweetheart, or a classmate. From a portrait of his wife painted after their wedding and another painting entitled “Love” (1983), we can see that at the start of this short-lived marriage the couple shared some happy moments of life. On his wedding leave, Mao went to Guishan, a place he frequented in subsequent years. This is a place with blue sky, red earth, white sheep, and unsophisticated Sani villagers. Guishan not only awakened Mao’s memory of childhood, but also enabled the artist to experience more deeply the relief and expressiveness of nature. Though Mao had been to Guishan while he was still at college, it was only with more reflections and experiences that the young man began to treat “the look in the eyes of the shepherd girl and her sheep seriously”. This deep love of nature is widespread among the Southwestern artists. Just like the Sichuan artists He Duoling and Zhou Chunya who obtained their artistic inspiration from their trips to the grasslands in Aba and other Tibetan areas, Mao Xuhui, Zhang Xiaogang and Ye Yongqing found their Muse at Guishan in Yunnan province, despite their later different understandings of it.

From 1982 to 1983, Mao browsed a lot of modern Western literary and philosophical works, including writers such as Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), Saul Bellow (1915-), John August Strindberg (1849-1912), Franz Kafka (1883-1924), Albert Camus (1913-1960), T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). In the same period, Mao also started to listen to modern music. Works by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) left him with a deep impression. The artist later recalls: “Music plays the role of classification unconsciously in my mind.” For instance, he knew and admitted that Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is a good artist, but in his heart of hearts, he prefers works by expressionist artists like Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938). Music like “The Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky excites him particularly because it reminds him of the primeval forests where he has visited and listened to their roars. The terrible side of nature aroused a deep sense of horror in the heart of the artist. Though Mao has many opportunities to go to Guishan for psychological consolation, this sense of horror seems to have formed the theme of his artistic development. This is apparently linked to his experiences of the current society.

In 1984, Mao created his first group of paintings such as “Red Cube” (1984), “The Cube in Motion” (1984), “The Cube Still in Expansion” (1984) and “Red Human Figure” (1984), etc. within one week. Even without the explanation by the artist himself, we can experience a dangerous state of psychological collapse in the works. Instinct almost destroys Man. But at that time, what was on the mind of the artist was a kind of “release”. He was trying to grasp a state of reality during this process of “release”. “Everyone must hold some views of this world. We must allow them to release their views without applying any standards in the first place.” (1984) If we think about the sensitive work such as “Red Cube”, and if we believe that the thought of Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (1909-) reveals some pattern of the history of art, it is easy for us to find, at least, the spiritual “prototypes” that in fact exist for Mao’s works.

Most young Chinese artists in the 1980s retain a good memory of the exhibitions featuring Dr. Hammer’s art collection and German impressionist works held respectively in Beijing in 1982. To the majority of Chinese artists, the oils shown at these two exhibitions are the first genuine oil paintings they’ve ever seen in their life. By viewing the exhibits, they achieved a tangibly direct and true understanding of both classic spirit and modern conception. This understanding has eventually brought “the long deceptive history of replicas to an end”. From the exhibition of Dr. Hammer’s art collection, Mao seemed to have found the soul of Guishan in the paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875). Of course, there is only some consolation of nature on man, but “you cannot control yourself in front of those expressionist paintings, which contain some kind of shocking power.” The artist realized that “I am of this type.” The choice of his inner need has decided the general impressionist inclination that runs throughout his paintings. “Red Cube” and others are the first of his paintings with this general tendency.

Though Mao took an artistic career that differs from the one expected by the authorities, he still cherished some hope to take part in official exhibitions. In 1985, to select art works for the Sixth National Art Exhibition, Yunnan Association of Artists organized an art exhibition that solicited works from the whole province. Both Mao Xuhui and Zhang Xiaogang submitted their paintings to the exhibition. The Guishan series by Mao, featuring tender landscapes, seemed to have increased the odds of his works being selected. However, the Association decided to display only one of his paintings, that is, the oil entitled “Guishan: Its Remoteness” (1985) which was included in a collection of paintings that failed to enter the Sixth National Art Exhibition. The artist, disappointed at his works being shown at the provincial exhibition in a fragmented manner, almost withdrew his painting before the exhibition started. Since then, Mao has never had any trust in official exhibitions.

After painting the “Red Cube”, Mao produced the Guishan series. Since his works could not get the official recognition, nor understanding from other people, since he could not find any chance to show his works, Mao and his friends went on to lead a kind of self-harming life, “smoking too much, drinking too much”, until one day in 1985 when Zhang Long, a friend studying at the Department of Fine Arts in East China Normal University in Shanghai, came back to Kunming for vacation. When he saw the paintings by Mao Xuhui, Zhang Xiaogang and Pan Dehai, he grew excited, saying that “the paintings by Shanghai artists are too weak, too sweet, too lifeless.” Mao records this episode in his interesting essay entitled “On ‘New Concrete Images’ Art Exhibition, Artists Involved and the Art Research Group in the Southwest” (1987): “He (Zhang Long) proposed that we put up our show in Shanghai. He could help us arrange the exhibition venue, but we had to share the expenses. So our most urgent task was to make money. For that purpose, they got themselves involved with refurbishing companies and engaged in remodeling houses and drawing of plans. They tried hard for a while without making much money. Then came the cable from Shanghai. As the exhibition venue had been arranged, we had to take quick action. We had to borrow money. Pan (Dehai) had 600 yuan, Mao (Xuhui) borrowed 300, and Zhang (Xiaogang) borrowed 200. The three of us packed our paintings into eight boxes and made two trips on tricycle to the railroad station for their shipment. Due to the pressing situation, we used express service, which cost us 400 yuan. Both Pan and Mao asked their bosses for leave of absence before they went to Shanghai for the exhibition. Zhang was stranded in Kunming on business. We had to do everything related to the show in person, such as the painting of advertisement, printing of invitations, advertising in newspapers, moving and hanging of our paintings, and decoration, etc. At night we slept in the student dorm or classroom at the Department of Fine Arts in the East China Normal University, and we had to evade the questioning of campus guards on a daily basis. The happy time in the evenings was spent in the university beverage lounge with Jazz coffee. Apart from Zhang Long, Hou Wenyi from Shanghai also took part in the show. After graduation from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1982, she was assigned to work in a small town in Hunan province. She stayed there for a few years before she found a job in Shanghai Institute of Culture and History. She was penniless too... She proposed that our show be named “New Concrete Images” and we approved it on instinct... Before the opening of the show, Hou Wenyi got another artist, Xu Kan, a sculptor who graduated from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, to join the show. He didn’t contribute much monetarily to the show. We only asked him to buy some paints. Then in that June 1985, the exhibition opened at the Jing’an District Cultural Center in Shanghai. A girl presented us with a basket of fresh flowers. The rent for the venue was 30 yuan a day, and we were not to share any admissions. On the first day, there were many visitors, old and young, including personages in the Shanghai art circle, such as the late Mr. Guan Liang and Mr. Ada. The exhibition hall, with 120 pieces of artwork on show, was hot with such a big crowd. Some of the metal sculptures had to be displayed in the passageway. We were all shaking hands with visitors and explaining our works to them. Everyone felt that the exhibition was exciting.”

The “New Concrete Images” exhibition plays an important role in the development of Mao’s artistic career because it is the first exhibition put up through the artist’s own efforts and also the first show that displayed his works completely. The things that the artist had been trying to tell people in the past few years had touched off a good response. In the following exhibition held in Nanjing, Mao sensed the significance of his artworks through the hospitality lavished on him by a dozen Nanjing University students. As a matter of fact, however, Mao did not realize the significance produced by the “New Concrete Images” exhibition at that time. The period between 1985 and 1986 is very important in the history of contemporary Chinese art. After the downing of the “Gang of Four” in 1976, the thought emancipation movement led to a strong ‘85 artistic trend after 1985. It is quite common to see young artists set up their own art groups and put up exhibitions during this period. In other words, the social and cultural realities at that time made it possible for artists with new artistic outlook to enjoy total freedom in both action and conception.

With the financial help from Zhang Zhen, a female poet in Shanghai, and Ma Gang (Liu Tiejun), a friend of the artist, the exhibition took place in a health education center in Nanjing. During the exhibition, Mao also got some help from Ding Fang, another important artist in the ‘85 period. Shortly afterwards, Ding Fang and other artists in Nanjing put up an “Art Week Featuring Contemporary Artworks by Young Jiangsu Artists”. This is the period when one could hope for “release” and could actually “release”.

The “New Concrete Images” exhibition caught the attention of Gao Minglu, a critic who played a very important role in the ‘85 period. He began to communicate with Mao and presented Mao and his works in his essays on the ‘85 trend. In August 1986, Mao participated in the Slide Show on the ‘85 Artistic Trend & Works by Young Artists masterminded by Gao Minglu, Wang Guangyi and Shu Qun in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. This was a grand meeting of new-trend artists, displaying the total modernistic feature of China at that time and claiming an important position of modern new-trend art in the history of Chinese art.

Encouraged and influenced by the Zhuhai meeting probably, upon returning to Kunming, Mao set up in October of the same year two Southwestern art groups after consultation with Zhang Xiaogang, Ye Yongqing, Pan Dehai, and Zhang Long. Members include Mao Jie, Zhang Hua, Deng Qiyiao, Sun Guojuan (female), Zhang Xiaping (female), Su Jianghua and his wife Yang Huangli whose style resembles that of Jiang Tiefeng. In order to promote the artists in the Southwest, they put up at the same time the third “New Concrete Images” exhibition in Kunming. (The second one was organized by Zhang Long in the Shanghai Art Gallery) The exhibition, called “The Third New Concrete Images Exhibition of Artworks and Academic Papers”, took the form of slide shows. And the number of participants far exceeded that of the first show. Besides the members of the Southwestern art groups, Dong Chao of Shandong Province, Ding Defu (a classmate of Pan Dehai) of Henan Province showed their works too. The author of a review article carried in the first issue of Youth & Society, a magazine published in Yunnan, in 1988 records the impact of the “New Concrete Images” show: “The signal sent by the ‘New Concrete Images’ immediately evoked a response. From 1986 to 1987, young artists began to get out of their studios and show their presence to the society. “Art Exhibition featuring Southern Barbarians”, “Empty House Club”, “Murky Artwork Show”, “Seven Star Art Exhibition”, “Art Show Featuring Works by Three Students from Yunnan Art School”, “Art Exhibition on Eight Kunming Youths”, “Luo Hui’s Individual Art Show”... to name a few.”

The influence and impact produced by the “New Concrete Images” aroused the attention of Art Trend, an avant-garde magazine then. Its editor-in-chief asked Mao to contribute articles on the artistic thought of the “New Concrete Images”. Soon, Mao’s essay entitled “New Concrete Images: the Appearance and Transcendence of Live Image Patterns” was published in the first issue of Art Trend in 1987. It is probably not until today before the “New Concrete Images” artists come to realize that the name of the exhibition they chose randomly in 1985 has really become an indelible historical symbol and an invaluable piece of imagery evidence of cultural trend. Mao later recalls: “’New Concrete Images’ is a term uttered casually by Hou Wenyi. We accepted it without giving it too much thought. None of us knew actually what it meant.” As a matter of fact, it is those shocking works on display that give “New Concrete Images” its most important cultural connotations. This is probably a result of an atmosphere created by the ‘85 trend. Many of the theoretic terms and vocabulary used by Mao in his essays originate in the works by philosophers and novelists of different schools. The only difference is that in Mao’s writing, they have been naturally given new meanings. The long time spent on the road by the artist and piles of artworks that could not sell, plunged Mao’s family life into great difficulty. His wife wished to lead a stable and secure family life. “She saw through this society too early. She was closer to the reality and tried had to adapt herself to it, but I wished to lead a creative life.” (Mao Xuhui) Despite of this difference, the artist felt very guilty at the bottom of his heart: “I couldn’t even Support my family.” Whatever the reason, the couple spit in the early 1987. Mao later records this period like this: “My major paintings after 1986 turned to express my family crisis and my distress at having to face this situation. These paintings reflect my marriage on the verge of a breakdown. ...I think the main reason that led to my family crisis is that I focused all my efforts on paintings without paying enough attention to my family. I couldn’t integrate my family life with my painting and in the end I chose painting. This choice is actually beyond my control. But I felt bad in my heart because I couldn’t strike a balance. This state of mind is depicted in oil paintings like “Human Bodies in a Cement Room: Noon” (1986), “Human Bodies in a Cement Room: Several Conditions” (1986), “Private Space” series (1986-1987) and “Portraits of Woman and Man” series (1987).” (in “Art and Life”, 1991) In 1988, Mao entered his oil paintings entitled “Private Space: Self-Imprisonment” (1987) and “Paternalism” (1988) in the 1988 Southwestern Art Exhibition. This show predestines the creation of more “Paternalism” series in the coming years. The “Paternalism” at the show laid down the basics of the future “Paternalism” series in a vague yet discernible manner. And it is the “Paternalism” series, made up of about a dozen oils completed after June 1989 that reveal more substantially the nature of a life image. Of course, it can also be said that these paintings have made a creative statement of soul.

It is believed that every artist has his own long-held artistic principles, which are stemmed in the initial understanding of art by the artist. These principles will later become a private garden of thought for the artist. As far as Mao is concerned, he has always been one of the artists who are strongly interested in impressionism. He seems to be naturally sensitive to such important issues as human nature and society, despite the fact that he has never defined himself as an “observer of soul.”
Great social changes took place in modern China in the 1990s. The idealized enthusiasm and reflection on the politicized art exuberant in the 80s met with new challenges in society, that is, the market economy and its ensuing impact. This fundamental impact either leads to the total elimination of substantialism in the spiritual realm or silences the artist as a man. “Since commercialism is rampant everywhere, since artists no longer care about art, is there still any art left?” (2002)

“Since I gave up drinking in 1993, I’ve become very taciturn. The reason is that I believe that people like me are out since that time. I don’t know what I should say about the realities that had put me into a weary and confused state of aphasia! I don’t like the new way of talk, or I’m not able to adapt to it at all.” (2000)

Mao, a man born in the 1950s, has experienced all major changes in China. These changes have a profound impact on him, of course. But from his “Paternalism” series created in the 1980s, we can still see his strong will upheld in those social changes. It seems that all those changes only make him believe more strongly in himself rather than become a mere yes-man. The advent of commercial society makes him feel that to a particular individual past experiences possess more contemporary spiritual value. In other words, past experiences, whether personal feelings or rudimentary respect for human nature, are the proper expression of quality. When the artist began to sort out his train of thought, he expressed his deep concern in this manner: “When the advertising industry began to develop and when everyone tried to enter into business, they still generously provide us with free shade and touching colors as they always have. They are the plane trees that grow with us. And we’ve to mention their pals like the tall and dark eucalyptuses and poplars too. These city trees have accompanied us from the 1950s to the 1990s, thriving in dust, soot and waste gas laden atmosphere of different years without uttering any complaints.” (Journal at the Palm Camp, 1995) Artists with this temperament are doomed to suffer from pains: the sensitivity of the artist not only makes him experience all kinds of anxiety brought about by social changes but also makes him predict the coming of future problems. That is why Mao has no good opinion of the “carefree” artistic attitude. And there is no way for him to tolerate any senseless, non-interfering artistic positions.

But the power of an individual is always weak. While trying to replace the missing collective idealism with his own idealism, Mao felt very lonely and this sense of loneliness is well reflected in his life and artistic creation. At that moment, the thought of universal “power” when he painted “Paternalism” eventually turned to the desperate defense of individual “Right”. The theme of his paintings thus turned to the clarification of individual life: “We can only be sympathetic with ourselves. In front of the supreme and perfect world, our shortcomings are self-apparent. At least we can’t control the course of our own life. We can’t be sure that it reaches its destination on time.” (Journal at the Palm Camp, 1995) The spiritual struggle of the artist reminds us of Schopenhauer’s tragic philosophy: man feels painful when he can’t fulfill his desires, and he feels bored when his desires are fulfilled. Mao’s problem then was probably not “what his pain was”, but that he knew everything about the root of his pain.

In 1993, he rested at home because he was suffering from poor health. This provided him with more time and independent space to face the issue: Though resting peacefully in his material world, he could not find any peace in his spiritual life, which was in total disorder, just like the on-going construction projects in the outside world. He returned to that essential question, but the pursuit of the meaning of life immediately turned into a dilemma between metaphysics and science: “What is the meaning of life?” pray tell me concisely. It is just like that pair of blue plastic slippers in front of the door, practical, simple in shape, and properly placed.” (Journal at the Palm Camp, 1995) Daily life constituted the spiritual resources much needed by the artist in that period. The creation of “Daily Epic” (1994) can be regarded both as Mao’s long process of macro-subject exploration and his holdout against the irresistible tidal waves of commercial society. Since most of the land has lost its initial beauty, I can only keep that beauty in my own world. Finally the artist chose “Daily Epic: Scissors” (1994) as a means to express his anger and anxiety. The historical sense of “power” in “Paternalism” is eventually cut by the sharp “Scissors”, which reveals a realistic situation that is more or less helpless. This seems to be a natural result: “Scissors” cut apart the sense relation between the artistic flashback of big themes in “daily life” and the will of “power”

In the mid 1990s, the artist poured even more enthusiasm into the extreme insecurity revealed by the stable expression structure of the “Scissors”. But as a matter of fact, when the artist tried to sort out a more complex system of meanings by means of some concrete daily article, he found that his expression method became more direct and much simpler, hiding functions behind the form and putting the form in front of the artistic spirit. From that time on, the “Scissors” are reduced to its simplest form, becoming “a bigger memory container” and “storehouse”. In his creation, Mao omitted most of the background, peaceful silence indicates the artist’s roundabout resistance strategy: “Under the principle of guidance in the 1990s focusing on economic construction, art was particularly silent.... As an artist of this generation, you could only reach your antennae more extensively to a larger social space, or you should remain silent on contemporary art. The contemporary artists today try to explore those widespread problems from their personal perspectives in spite of the embarrassing situation (including economics and politics) we encounter. Empty talk of social reform is just a romantic gesture. All in all, it is hard to achieve anything in art without personal perspectives. Our basic attitude is that we should look in the eye at our own reality, and the history and present condition of our country. And our starting point is to show our concern for the fate of China, that is, the fate of our generation, through the antennae of every individual. As a matter of fact, the fate of our country determines, to a large degree, the fate of our generation. I’m not a determinist, but personal will is not the wings of romanticism either. Personal will plays a fringe role. Though heterogeneous in nature, it gives us real Support. It is absurd action on the part of the artist aimed at contributing to the society because the artist is paying all the expenses. (“My Vitae: Where Should We Start on Contemporary Art?” 1993)

The 20th century approaches its end after it has seen the completion of the most important artistic journey and the indisputable artistic achievement made by the artist. From New Concrete Images to upholding of expressionism, Mao’s personal history is painted with the rich colors of both idealism and expressionism.

In a certain night in October 2002, Mao talked on the phone with Xin Haizhou, his bosom friend and one of the most important contemporary artists as well. During the telephone conversation, Mao felt that “he (Xin) was drunk”, but Xin Haizhou sincerely expressed his view on Mao’s artistic value:

Time is really a good judge. Now everything is clear. Place your paintings from the 1980s to the present side by side. They seem to be unrelated, fragmentary pieces, such as the “Red Cube” that “spews blood incessantly”, the exposing “Man as a Product of Power”, and the ambiguous “Scissors”. But these works have really indicated the relationship between your art, your life and the changing era. From the beginning of life, to its growth, to its maturity... time has put those seemingly contradictory and disorderly styles into a logical order formed by life itself. In a manner that is beyond our comprehension, time has dissolved various queer circles like numerous stages of life and historical encounters. I’ve noticed the special significance you gave to your view of “era”. In your 1999 journal, you write: “Era is a label, a shell, a general shape, just like your hat and jacket that can be changed at any time... Art has become some sociological concepts, some economic concepts, and fad concepts.” (Xin Haizhou: “A Unilateral Record of Telephone Conversation with Mao Xuhui”, Oct. 31, 2002)

The exchange between the two artists is kept at the “academic” level. However, in the eyes of Mao Xuhui as an ordinary person, the world has lost its glamour. On the rational level, he knew that the change of man follows its own logic, but on the perceptive level, he became totally pessimistic. In a word, in the eyes and heart of the artist, the world in which man lives is no longer a warm and harmonious world. And for a long time he remained very anxious about those seemingly endless but insignificant problems in his daily life. This sensitivity makes it impossible for Mao to get rid of both his earlier Utopian complex and his pessimistic worries though he was well aware that such a state of mind was really helpless. In June 2000, after comparing the ending of the History of Modern Chinese Art: 1979-1989 (1992) with that of the History of Contemporary Chinese Art: 1990-1999 (2000), Mao wrote the following remarks:

From the conclusion of the first book, we can see that modern Chinese art is full of hope, but after reading the conclusion of the second book, I think we can only pray for art now. This prediction, though puzzling, is true. Sometimes I feel that the country and the city in which I live have changed beyond recognition. They are not friendly anymore. We were the cultural catalyst for that change, but we didn’t expect the situation to turn into something like this. People haven’t developed a deeper understanding and appreciation of art, nor have artists actually made any spiritual progress. Artistic circles have lost their romantic and fascinating ambiences. Profit has strangled everything, replacing invaluable friendship, sacrificial spirit and metaphysical discussion. Apart from profit, nobody has faith in anything. In the past few years, I often think of Nietzsche, and of his “God is dead”. This is our reality. It is first of all a spiritual death. I also think of a line in T. S. Eliot’s “Wilderness”: “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.” How miserable! How cruel! The world ends not with something heroic, but with only a whimper. The 20th century ended under our very eyes. It ended without any heroes, without any spiritual leaders, leaving the contemporary art in great chaos and confusion. Of course, it has also left behind a lot of materials for reflection, some clues, craziness and chaos that will lead to death. (2000)
 

The motive force of all living things lies in the earth, and the motive force of human beings lies in our bodies. It returns to where it comes from. Whatever feature you bring when you come, you return with that same feature. Without such a circle, life will sink into the deep hole of nihilism.
—Mao Xuhui (1986)



To Mao Xuhui, there is another way to reexamine “reality”, that is, return to nature. Though this phrase reminds us of Jean Jacques Rousseau (1912-1778) and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875), a French lyrical landscape painter (Mao himself says that Corot reminds him of Guishan). But as far as the spiritual inclination is concerned, Mao is closer to Jean-Francois Millet, (1815-1875). Yes, works with Guishan as subject matter appeared in several different periods. The different feelings aroused by Guishan and the city from the bosom of the artist seem to be parallel and simultaneous. Though in the eyes of the artist, Guishan, or nature has some religious sacredness, the goats, sheep, trees, rocks, houses, and shepherd girls there constitute a sanatorium for city dwellers who have long been tortured by red brick walls, asbestos tiles, billboards, and noisy machines. Nature itself is a bed that provides comfort and rest, reduces human sufferings. “If you don’t see, do not try to see, for the more you see, the more sufferings you’ll have. Let your soul sleep, immersed in the illusory peaceful imagination. Sing for illusions and love those common things. Reach out for the sky, earth, and devote yourself to them. In this way you take more than you give.” (Art Diary, 1986) This state of mind belongs doubtless to a lyrical escapist, who is trying to expose the ugliness, evils, falsehoods, cruelties and harms rampant in an urban society.

Yes, this is a lyrical bed that makes the artist intoxicated: “The red earth nurtures the verdant vegetations. Seated on the gray rock protruding from the red earth like “King and Queen”, a bronze sculpture by Henri Moore (1898-1986) on that Yorkshire hill, void of any secular thought, we watched the floating clouds and the valleys between two conical hills and listened to the wind penetrating into the depth of forests. The roaring wind made the sensitive shepherd dogs nervous, but flocks and flocks of black goats and grayish white sheep were still grazing as if nothing had happened. We could hear the shepherds utter a cry now and then and see the peasant till his land, holding his plough and driving his ox along the undulating slope down in the valley... All these things constitute an ancient picture of human survival, as lyrical as that in the Garden of Eden, though Adam and Eve do not have to plow their land. They lead an easier life, eating the fruits on trees instead. But the scene in front of my eyes is closer to my imagination of the Garden of Eden, where you have to labor for survival. But this labor is substantially different from the intense operation of machines and electronic equipment in modern eras. It comes from some kind of naturalism and simple hope.” (“The Grace of Red Earth”, 1988)

Many writers and artists in the years after the emergence of industrial civilization share Mao’s state of mind. But this state of mind, unable to transcend his complex about classicism, is sharply critical in the ‘85 period. It should be pointed out that this criticism is targeted both at the cheap and coarse artistic products and the hostility inflicted by the traditional culture and social structure upon human beings. This hostility between humans has brought untold sufferings, frustrations and injuries. If we understand this point, then it becomes easier for us to see why the artist drew an analogy between the look in the eyes of a shepherd woman with that in the eyes of goats. People living in nature are always simple and naive, almost like animals. What can be truer than this simple truth? As the beginning of the 20th century, Franz Marc (1880-1916), a German painter, raised this question: “How does a horse or an eagle, or a deer or a dog see the world?” But Mao’s bewilderment with the look of goats is not the result of exchange of cultural information, but an inevitable response by the artist to his disgust with the urban reality.

“Guishan: Dusk at a Mountain Village” (1984) is created after the completion of “Red Cube”. Its tone apparently resembles that of Miller. There is a sense of solemnity and sacredness in its figures, goats, trees, and even grass, created with the artist’s deep love for nature. But the nature and figures in Mao’s painting differ greatly from those in Corot’s lyrical expressionist works, because the artist has injected his anguish and religious mysticism inherent in nature into his nature. Everything in his painting gives us a sense of sturdiness and stillness, which is different from that of Cezanne. Despite its possible impact, the clumsy Sani shepherd woman in movement expresses a meditative force with her statute-like form. The tree behind her grows with great vitality. Its thick trunk, branches, and lush foliage form a sharp contrast with the skeleton-like city people. The artist worships nature because he sees the life, health and vigor he has hoped for in it. But why is nature so full of life in the mind of the artist has always been a mystery. Other ordinary people seem to have never given this issue any thought. Whatever happens, Guishan and dusk are themselves problems to the thoughtful artist. And it is in the process of pondering and resolving of such issues that the artist provides us with the simplicity and life that we can seldom see in cities.

“Guishan: Woman and Horse” (1985) is the result of dream-like simplification applied to nature. A Guishan girl approaches us with a branch, a symbol of life, in her hand. There is a white horse not far behind her. The backdrop is just blue sky and red earth. But they seem to have almost formed an abstract relationship. In the painting, nature is presented to us in its simplest form. This is a lyrical picture laden with symbolic meanings. Its composition gives us a dream-like quality, and the artist uses the earth and branch, animal and woman to express his view of life in the most popular manner. Different from the hero in Peter Camenzind (Mao loves this novel) by Hermann Hesse who loves clouds in the sky, Mao loves the red earth under his feet. “The red earth retains all the dreams. It is a dream itself, a dream of land, full of compassion.” (“The Grace of Red Earth”) It is the red earth that gives a sense of security to the soul of the artist: “I have this feeling, we, whether our bodies or souls, cannot leave our land at will.” (“The Grace of Red Earth”) It is not strange that there is not any white cloud in his blue sky. Floating clouds are superfluous since that pure horse forms a sharp contrast with the blue firmament. It is better to express a lyrical dream by portraying the sky just as purely as the red earth.

“Guishan Series, Encounter on the Red Earth path” (1985), collected by Zhang Zhen, a female poet from Shanghai who emigrated to Sweden, is an idolized portrayal of unsophisticated Guishan shepherd women by the artist, who let the two standing women occupy most of the central part of the painting. Apart from that, the artist also gives the women a sculpture-like feature, which coincides with the artist’s original intention, that is, to express a sense of eternity of nature and humans in natural environment. Though we cannot draw any analogy, so far as the choice of people of ethnic minorities to portray truth and eternity is concerned, we have seen Chen Danqing’s Tibetan series, in which the Tibetan herdsmen remind us of the smell of buttered tea and sheepskins. But in the eyes of Mao, Chen Danqing has failed to capture something essential in his oils, that is, the character of eternity behind nature and man. Therefore Chen is at most “an unqualified descendant of Miller.” This opinion shows that Mao tends to express his “truth” and “eternity” not through realistic details, but through simple form.

“Guishan: Remoteness” and “Guishan: Women and Horse” are lyrical paintings too. What is interesting is that we can treat the two figures in the paintings as the reappearance of the two women in “Guishan: Two Women on Red Earth”. It is easy for us to see that when painting the figures, the artist only keeps the basic attires of Guishan women while totally ignoring the rest of their details. As a matter of fact, this painting is one of the most poetical of the Guishan series. This of course results, on the one hand, from the artist’s keeping relatively completely the basic symbols of nature, such as mountains, trees, goats and sheep and clouds. On the other hand, the colors Mao applied are relatively bRight. When the painting was completed, probably due to the fact that the artist was still engrossed in his imagination of the illusory lyrical world, its obscure effect brought about by the mystic nature did not seem to have left any significant impression on people. This painting failed to win the Review Committee’s approval for the Sixth National Art Exhibition probably because of its obscure poetic flavor (theme) and awkward and na?ve expression.

“The Call of Mother of Red Earth: op. 2” (1986) is almost a painting of animism or a painting that personifies nature. The artist has connected the property of earth with the body of man. The idea that nature is God is vividly reflected in this picture. Everything comes From Nature and returns to nature. Since nature gives man life, it is only natural for man to return to that same nature that nurtures everything. What does the naturalistic expression of life mean? And are the expression of restlessness and anxiety reflected in the painting only the picturization of the endless cycles of life? As a matter of fact, the real psychological state revealed by this painting is an almost uncontrollable internal fear. Life and mother who gives us life are doubtless worth praising, but the “call” of “Mother of Earth” is so hoarse that it makes us withdraw in fear. In 1985, the artist also painted “Son of Red Earth”, which depicts the son of nature running in a state of great fear and insanity as if being pursued. We can but treat him as an evil man who is dying from a deadly disease. Therefore, in paintings like “The Call of Mother of Red Earth: op. 2”, we can actually detect a kind of diseased life, which is more fully depicted in the artist’s later works.

“The Grace of Red Earth: the Sound of Summer, op. 1 “ (1987) is nearly stylized. Among Mao’s works, there are few that portray images so distinctively as this one does. But though this painting entered Chinese Oil Painting Exhibition, it failed to arouse any response. In 1987, or the year in which the artist completed this painting, the momentum of the ‘85 trend came to an end. The reality made the artist look for new subject. The increase in the number of behavior art and gadget works turned the enthusiasm in the ‘85 trend into the pleasure of nihilism. Though the crude “behavior” and “gadget” works are far away from the original intention of the earlier “scar” artists, they are the inevitable results of “scar” art, if not the ‘85 trend. Since many of the artistic phenomena that appeared after 1987 are aimed at multi-aspects of life, such as political, economical and artistic, they are not very effective. But in any case, artists like Wu Shanzhuan, Huang Yongbing, and Zhang Peili have already started to question the so-called “meaning”. At this moment, lyrical paintings have lost their objective though they filled the historical gap in the ‘85 period. As sentiment has become stylized, it would meet its end soon.

Guishan series are not works completed by the artist in the same period of time. They can be regarded more as the artist’s frequent expression of omnipresent realities. They show us a side of the artist’s internal conflict. It must be pointed out that if personal emotion is to play an effective part in the history of art, it must be that part needed by history, otherwise it is difficult for pure and simple personal emotion to be culturally significant. The paintings with urban people as subject matters created by the artist in 1985 developed that part of different “significance” in his personal emotion.

Guishan series express the comfort given by nature to man. In concrete portrayal, the artist has deleted some realistic details and kept only some significant symbols and forms, especially in his works created in 1980 and 1985. His eulogy of nature and man in nature provides us with the spiritual medication that we needed to treat our psychological conditions in the first half of the 1980s.






Chapter III  Private Space



This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

                                                 —Thomas Stearns Eliot



Just as we have seen in the “Red Cube” and “Guishan” series, Mao’s works reflect the complexity of his spiritual world, in which instinct and nobleness, mania and lyrics, wilderness and beautiful landscape coexist. This situation, very similar to Hesse’s analysis of his Steppenwolf, stresses that there is not a uniform yet simple self for man. Man is “a very pluralistic world, a small celestial body teemed with shining stars, and a disorderly mixture composed of various stages, various conditions, various inherited natures and probabilities” (Steppenwolf). This is why we cannot see any absolute lyrics in the “Guishan” series. But in portraying the theme of “returning to nature”, Mao clearly touched on instinctive horror and anxiety in his “Red Eucalyptuses” (1987) and “Mother of Red Earth, op. 2: Birth” (1986).

Indeed, as Hermann Hesse says in his Steppenwolf that the artist loves to read so much: “There is no turning back. You can’t go back to the wolf, nor can you to your childhood.” Therefore, the current experience of life is the foundation of spiritual life. To the artist, the current experience of life is the suffering, unhappiness, and discomfort all together rather than the choice of happiness, peace, pleasure, relaxation, and freedom... “We need imprisonment, prisons, and cruel corporal punishments. We need tortures, coercion and intimidation to rack our nerves and make our conscience breathless. We need depression, constant distortion, desperation, and whipping. Only in this way can we get a chance to acquire human value. All the above things are motive forces that arouse one’s inspiration” (Quoted from the artist’s diary “Art Issues as Human Issues”, 1986-1988). It is not entirely improper for us to call this state of mind and experience as “self-abusive”. But pure psychological analysis proves nothing, it does not help us see the issues depicted in the paintings either. As a matter of fact, this self-abusive psychological condition is a social phenomenon, which is definitely connected to the fact that the artist and people of his generation have to re-understand human value after they have distanced themselves from their “ideals” and lost the idols. Now that the “ideals” and “values” on which life was based have been removed ruthlessly by history and reality from the hearts of the artist and his contemporaries, where does the meaning of life lie? How is life to continue? The questions come naturally. In the process of seeking an answer to these questions, Mao easily accepted the Western philosophical thoughts initiated by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Sartre. If we are familiar with the living environment (including the artistic ambience) of the artist, then we find it easier to see that besides “easy acceptance”, he has not choice if he wishes to continue living. The theme of “Private Space” is doubtless part of the whole spiritual world formed by “Red Cube” and “Guishan”. But the artist has added the connotation of social analysis to the expression of the theme. This empowers the important “Private Space” with cultural criticism.

At first, the artist’s reflection on the “Private Space” started from the external environment of it (Of course, this environment can be seen as part of the “Private Space”). In the watercolors completed in 1985 such as “Red Brick Buildings, op. 1” (1985) and “Red Brick Buildings: Lanes” (1985), the artist depicted some commonplace things such as red bricks, asbestos tiles, water pipes, electric wires, and a boring world composed of other commonplace daily articles and even waste materials. Compared with the impulsive “Red Cube”, these paintings reveal a state of calmness on the part of the artist, who portrayed the objects with distinctive shapes. The disorderly objects in the paintings are probably related to the artist’s “internal disorder”. Apparently, we can treat the composition of objects in the paintings as one full of formal significance. But the red bricks, asbestos tiles, and other objects exert an internal force that makes us feel breathless. Though related to civilization, this space depicts the evil side of civilization. The realities are the basic facts that life must face and bear. What is interesting is that compared to the animal (cat) in the painting, man has lost more freedom. Man is either locked in a boring cement room (“Red Brick Buildings, op.1”), or is tortured by some light that is far from comfortable (“Red Brick Buildings: Lanes”). To man, the torture inside and outside is entirely the same. And the cruelty of this torture lies in the fact that life is doomed. When the artist faces the reality sober-mindedly, his ideals reflected in his “Guishan” series are totally gone. Though the cat in the painting can be treated as a probability or hope of “returning to nature”, we cannot help but draw a tragic conclusion when we associate that animal with its environment.

The oil painting “Human Figure in Cement Room, op. 2” finished in 1986 portrays the “cruel corporate punishment” mentioned by the artist the best. A wizened and naked body lies on his back on the cement floor that is substantially very close to him. Though the life in the painting looks hard due to lack of water, its contact with the cement floor seems to remind us of the “bang”, “bang” sound. Life is being tortured, frozen, baked, and dried up by some mystic force.

Compared to “Human Figure in Cement Room, op. 2”, “Human Figure in Cement Room: Noon” (1986) more or less shows a life, at least on the level of composition, on the edge of death, or a struggling life. But this petrified human figure does not show any more possibility of survival than the figure lying on his back on the cement floor. ‘Noon” provides a window for this life, but the window is closed. In addition, that window does not reveal any possibility outside the room to that life. The artist knows clearly that there is no difference between the worlds inside and outside. Therefore the window has lost its meaning and is nothing but a useless decoration to life.

“Human Figures in Cement Room: Different Conditions” (1986) depicts life struggling in the indifferent space. There is absolutely no need for us to view the figures in the painting as having different conditions because they are different people. Actually, they are the same life in different states. They embody the helplessness of the same life at different times. The artist has portrayed a space in which life is constantly tortured although there are no instruments of torture in sight. Life in this space is certainly as close as life in hell because it is constantly under the torture by some invisible instruments. In a recollective article, Mao writes: “’Human Figures in Cement Room: Different Conditions’ and ‘Human Figure in Cement Room: Noon’ depict a state of living entities being locked up. What stifles life are those endless cold cement walls and ceilings. I’ve lived in such a cement room for a long time. It is narrow, dry, and shadowy from morning till evening... When I think that my whole life might be spent in such a space, I can’t help shuddering with horror. But in reality, I can’t get away from such a room” (“Main Ideas in My Main Creative Periods”, 1989). From these paintings we can clearly see that the theme of “Private Space” is actually death. The artist wishes that his paintings should provide “an answer to such issues as life and death”. What is worth our attention is the perspective the artist adopted in solving such issues. He used his personal experiences, or even his personal realities depleted of materialistic characters as expressionistic symbols to depict a widely regarded universal fact. His act makes us ask: Is it possible that the artist is imposing his lie upon his audience?

Absolute individualistic art is non-existent. In a society under historical transition, what artistic works can do is to make public what is commonly on people’s mind, or what people dare not speak out, or cannot speak out, or find it difficult to speak out. Though we can cover our anemic bodies with beautiful clothes, or use our developed muscles to gloss over our ignorant brains, our psychological condition is always in a state of conflict. It will never disappear. And restraint can only sharpen the conflict. The artist does not intend to solve any concrete problem of an individual, he is attempting to break that running sore of society that will sooner or later be broken. However, even without the work of the artist, people will come to realize the existence of such a sore. Therefore, what the artist provides is just a critical prediction.

The perspective of the artist might be very partial. Its partialness lies in the fact that he points out the problem in a symbolic and suicidal manner. Ordinary folks might think that he has exaggerated the problem. Life, on the whole, is comfortable if not happy. But the artist reminds us of the graveness of the problem confronted by life as if he were looking at death in the face. As a result of his effort, so far as man is concerned, life is saved. But those “contented people” become dead undoubtedly at the moment man is saved. So those twitching and coiling figures are actually appealing for the possibility of health in a very unhealthy way. What the artist is indicating is some kind of idealized nobility and dignity.

When the audience look at the paintings like “Private Space: Weekend” (March, 1987), “Private Space: Self-Imprisonment”, “Husband and Wife in Cement Room” (1987), and “Private Space: Temptation” (Jan., 1988), they might insist that what the paintings express are extreme individualism that seems to be related only to the artist’s personal life experiences.

“Weekend” depicts a pair of naked man and woman sitting on the cement floor that we are now familiar with. Their indifference fails to cover up their internal anxiety and bewilderment, however. The way the door is opened and the grayish white arrow in the painting make us feel the insecurity in this “Private Space”. Intrusion is possible (and as a matter of fact, it has already been intruded). On the other hand, the “Private Space” exists in solitude because the two lives that can fuse into one are menacing each other. They have turned into objects in the room, which is void of life. Life has become a pantomime. “Weekend” reminds us of parties, but at this “weekend”, “separation” has become the problem. Of course, the artist has used cold colors and disfigured human bodies to enhance the depressed ambience and stressed “bearing” and “restraint” on the whole in the picture. The result is a horrible, potential psychological evil torrent that can break out at any time. The power of this painting can be compared to that of the “Red Cube” except that the indifferent expression has intensified the force of this psychological evil torrent: When and where is life really possible?

When talking about the “Husband and Wife in Cement Room”, the artist says this painting “is a true portrayal of my painful family life. The Adam and Eve at that time, no longer partners in the Garden of Eden, confronted and hated each other. But each of us suffered a lot in our hearts” (“Main Ideas in My Main Creative Periods”, 1989). As the motive force to create this painting really originates in the personal life experience of the artist, it can be regarded, in some sense, as a mirror of truth, which reflects the unhappiness of the artist’s personal life. In painting that picture, the artist is confronted with a new issue, the diary-like record of personal experiences. Is it possible to solve this problem in an abstract manner? In about one year, emerged a discernable symbol of expression that is fully used in his “Paternalism” series. It can be seen that the so-called “abstract manner” is one with which to delete special personal experiences.

Anyway, “Private Space” is not a personal space in its absolute sense. The artist used to mention that art “is getting closer to the concept of individualism”. This is actually an antagonistic attitude against “the era of collective heroism”. The fact is that the artist tries to illustrate the poor state of life with the simplest and most direct examples and concrete images in order to arouse our attention to the important issues of life. The theme of death in the “Private Space” series is much more vivid than that in the “Guishan” series. The reason is that the artist has used a kind of diseased and injured form to express his longing for life (“Guishan” is just a poetic metaphor of death). According to the logic provided by the artist, death and desperation are truer and more realistic than life or hope because life is constantly in an endless state of helplessness: “Desperation provides us with the luck of survival as the comprehension of life starts from it” (“Artistic Diaries”, 1986). This is of course the view of the artist.
 

Truth is an explosive, a commodity that needs to be “handled with care”.

—Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953)



The unstable state of mind of the artist has resulted in his attempting to create with different forms and materials at the same period. Since 1983, the artist has tried on and off to create collages and works with comprehensive materials. Apart from some creations that reveal the depression and painful psychological sufferings similar to the theme of “Private Space” series, most of his collages and creations with comprehensive materials are aimed at removing Dadaism in its most general sense.

“When I had nothing to say, I went to extremes and escaped from all kinds of conceptual imprisonment. You see, there are many meanings for many things. But most often they are misunderstood. So there is no need to stand aloof. As a friend of mine says, ‘garbage is just as lovely as a nightingale’. And I think it is true most of the time” (“Artistic Diaries”, 1986). In 1984, Mao Xuhui did some “paper-box” compositions, using commonplace materials or all types of discarded paper boxes that you see in daily life, to be exact. After digging holes in them, cutting them apart or into pieces, he pasted them together, thus forming newly composed objects. Apparently, these creations leave an impression of formalism on people. But their role is not what they seem to be. Actually, his “paper-box” collages have no particular meaning, even no “esthetic” meaning. The psychological motivation for creating these collages is nihility. They came into being because the artist’s understanding of the meaning of life began to get blurry and as a result, he adopted an attitude of escapism. After the “scar art” trend, came the anti-art attitude. By the time of 1987, Dadaistic works created by Gu Wenda and Wu Shanzhuan had appeared. This anti-art inclination came to a tentative halt in February 1989 when a Chinese modern art show was held. This halt, however, is not a logical solution to an artistic issue, but a criticism levied on the realities that are closely related to art. “Anti-art” thought actually aims at eradicating all kinds of meanings acknowledged by people. These meanings include the knowledge and “isms” familiar to us all. Artists with this attitude hold that the complexity of life and existence has reached such a degree that one cannot escape the trap of this complexity unless all objective purposes of life and existence are removed. Burdens such as art, esthetics, emotion and thought need to be put aside. Only on this basis, perhaps, new meanings could be reconstructed. Of course, it seems Mao has not pondered on the relationship between the logic eradication and reconstruction at the linguistic level. As a matter of fact, “paper-box” compositions themselves are meaningless. They are symbols reflecting a state of mind, or visual vestiges of boredom, or mental derangement resulted from coercion, or purposeless behavior records of an idiot. It can also be seen that during this period Mao also completed many meaningful creations, which depict the burning of soul and cry of life. But it also seems that the artist has realized instinctively that the emphasis on meaning itself does not solve any problems and that meaning itself has become empty. “We need idiots. Idiots are meaningful” (“Artistic Diaries”, 1984). After 1986, the artist, perplexed by realities, took an escapist attitude and reduced human behavior and existence to the meaningless level of garbage.

Different from other artists engaged in anti-art activities in the ‘85 period, Mao seemed to have difficulty in finding his own artistic starting point from the perspective of cultural history. Artists, generally speaking, almost invariably pay direct attention to the state of existence of life and treat their omnipresent “internal need” as their artistic starting point. In view of the widely held “conceptualized” artistic trend in the ‘85 period, Mao firmly believed that “Art, the form of life assumed by every individual, can be regarded as the statement of concrete images of one’s soul and life” (“Artistic Diaries”, 1984-1987). What state is life in then? His collages and works composed of comprehensive materials such as “Boring Days” (1985) and “Premonition” (1985) depict a state of “degeneration” and “ulceration”. In “Boring Days”, the artist used out-dated newspaper as the basis of his picture, scrawled on it some human figures, and pasted and combined them together in a humorous manner. That creation can indeed arouse, in the depth of our hearts, some sympathy for those leading a boring life. The materials used by the artist and the way he treated them, however, can never lead us to associate them with the meanings of “beauty”, “harmony”, “superiority” and “health”.

“Premonition” is distinctively different from “Red Cube” in both form and expression. But the two are similar in the subconscious evil current embodied in their composition.

Those sharks, cuttlefish and monsters

That stir up evil in the ocean of heart

Those instants, storms, horrors and premonitions

Whose purposes of visit are unclear;

Those complexes and steady love

That lie in ambush in your heart

Those helpless conditions, meaningless existence

And boring days;

Those weird bad dreams, and fantasies

Found in dreams;

Those moments when you feel self-abased,

Perplexed, unhappy, and lost;

Those uncontrollable impulses, crazy acts

And intoxications;

Those reflections on life and death,

Puzzlements over the unknown and adventures;

Those internal expansions, aggrandizements,
Vehement emotions, collisions, and destructions;

Constitute our enquiry for life,

Constitute the earth for art today

This is a fearful mother

Who teaches us to acquire enough courage. Amen! (“Artistic Diaries”, 1986)


The above illustration is the closest to the content of “Premonition” and similar works. The symbols in the creations are indeed the artist’s subconscious visual records. What these creations reveal is the sick state of human beings since the gate of unconsciousness has been unlocked. But compared to the “Red Cube” series, these collages emphasize people in urban societies. The symbols in the creations are clearly related to the realities that we are familiar with. However, the image of beauty (the image of that woman for instance) is under the threat of that monster-like body. As a matter of fact, she has been torn to pieces by that external force. In addition, the red paint makes one feel uneasy, and this uneasiness is enhanced by such seemingly casual but meticulously designed film advertising words as “death” and “trap”.

Among his collages, “David and Venus” (Jan., 1986) is probably the one that corresponds best to the psychological condition of the artist then. But it follows the same line of “Boring Days” and “Premonition”: “’David and Venus’ is a pastime piece created in those boring days. Since everything about man can be disposed of, we can make a joke of everything too.” Here we would like to point out particularly that the idea of the artist reflected in “David and Venus” originates in his idea of art history rather than just a direct search for answer to the internal need of life. Though boredom is surely the cause for the creation of that piece, what the artist seeks are cultural symbols. This naturally reminds us of the pop trend stimulated by Robert Rauschenberg’s show in China in 1985. The humor and wit aroused by the collage in our hearts eventually brought back the sense of beauty that might have been erased by “boredom”. “David and Venus” is not a satire upon ancient art. By choosing David and Venus, two images very familiar to the Chinese, the artist aims at ridiculing the audience’s habitual values of esthetics and life: There are no criteria of value that cannot be easily overthrown.

In 1987, the artist completed such collages as “Merry Roof” (Jan., 1987), “Red Brick Building: Evening Paper Reader” (Jan., 1987), “Face” (Jan., 1987) and “Husband and Wife in a Room, op. 3” (1987).

“Merry Roof” tells us that happiness in the “hell of civilization” is “very cheap and insignificant” while “Red Brick Building: Evening Paper Reader” depicts the poetics of evil in life, or the idea that some abrupt information can put people at a loss as to what to do. “Face” may have revealed this truth: false appearance is the true reflection of truth. Negligence of any false appearance might result in tragic end. “Husband and Wife in a Room, op. 3” presents us with a common phenomenon in life: the splitting of personality and emptying of soul take place almost at the same time. What is more, there is indeed nothing particular behind the external appearance of truth just as there will be no richness and moisture behind monotonousness and dryness. Everything in the creations is aimed at illustrating one point, that is, life is meaningless.

Most of Mao’s collages use images found in film advertisements and pictures. This is related to his work experience in a film company since 1984. Those pretty faces and flashy advertisements that the artist sees everyday form a sharp contrast with the narrow staircases, rusty banisters, broken asbestos tiles, old drainage pipes, eroded brick walls and noises in his daily life. It is this contrast that makes the artist feel painful in his heart. When he comes to see that the environment cannot be changed in any way, it is only natural for him to have those nihilistic moods. But when the artist tries to put his nihilistic emotions into images, they lose their individuality and become a widespread state of mind representing the artist and people of his generation.










Chapter V   Paternalism



My freedom is limited to a narrow range defined by each of my task...

—Igor Stravinsky



Mao’s numerous works with “Paternalism” as theme completed after August 1989 indicate that the artist has entered a new stage of creation. Around the ‘88 Southwestern Modern Art Exhibition, the basics of “Paternalism” emerged very clearly in such creations as “The Portrait of a Young Paternalism” series (1988) and “Paternalism” (1988). Just as we have seen that before the creation of these works, the artist has followed more than one creative paths: the lyrical “Guishan”, “Private Space” and collaged “Pop”, etc. are almost created at the same time. However, in the second half of 1988, “Paternalism” issue started to gain prominence. “The Portrait of a Young Paternalism” is actually a self-portrait reflecting the psychological state of the artist. Among these creations, the diamond-shaped face has become a symbol and the significance of the portrait is nearly gone. These paintings reflect the horror felt by the artist of some force coming from unknown directions. The artist sensed that this force could swallow and diminish both man’ flesh and spirit. But to our surprise, that “Paternalism” image is also an image that intimidates man itself. The “Paternalism” displayed at the Southwestern Art Exhibition stresses more obviously the weight of that “diminishing” power. The two heads on the left and Right give us a sense of retreat while the head in the middle is being pushed forward by the dark square behind. This painting, generally speaking, gives us a rather vague impression.

The diamond shape definitely appears in “Paternalism: Dec. ‘88” (1988). In this painting, the diamond-faced “parent” has a positive image and a negative image that are Supported respectively by a dark rectangle and a dotted rectangle. This indicates that the artist is much clearer about how he should start his painting. Almost all later “Paternalism” works follow this pattern.

In some of the “Private Space” paintings created before 1987 we can detect that the artist’s restless inner world harbors some inclination to portray things in the same way as he does “Paternalism”. Besides the “Husband and Wife in Cement Room” we analyzed in the previous chapters, figures in “Group Photo” (1987) are also somewhat diamond-shaped. This potential feature, however, is dwarfed by the demonized image when the artist tried to reveal his internal pains. But in his “Paternalism: March ‘88” created in the early 1988, the artist enriched the connotation of “Paternalism” by using symbols that remind us of past history. This humorous form emphasizes internal need of “sharp shape”. In subsequent “Paternalism” series, “sharpness” is increasingly enhanced. In addition, the relatively complete dark shadow in his “Paternalism” series also appears in his collages with pop stars. Humor and garbage are thus added to his “Paternalism” series. The appearance of parent format in his other works does not mean that it has some other relations with the symbols in other works. On the contrary, the format and connotations of his “Paternalism” is an assemblage of these symbols. And eventually, “Paternalism” constitutes an independent issue.

Before China/ Avant-Garde show staged in February 1989, Mao had not established any relatively stable line. At that exhibition, the artist displayed some of his works created in different periods, including his “Paternalism: Dec. ‘88”. After this show that had aroused strong official and social responses, grave and drastic changes took place in reality. June 4, 1989 became a dividing line that marks the end of an era and beginning of a new one. As far as the artistic realm is concerned, modern Chinese art show itself has fulfilled its historical mission. Just as the artist came to realize: “It seems to me that after the ‘grand modern show’, especially after the great turmoil in June, modern Chinese art will take on a brand new look. And the turmoil will serve as a dividing line.”

“As far as the soul of the artist, both sensitive and tenacious, fragile and simple, is concerned, it has to embrace this world. Whatever has happened to that world, it has to face and accept. But acceptance means endurance. Escape is impossible as well as self-deceptive. ... You can do nothing but to embrace it. Only you can create your own world. This relationship might be too philosophical for me to explore. But our soul has to undergo this process. This means that an artist must have considerable ability to endure everything. Artists have to endure everything, such as life and death, good and evil, Right and wrong, common emotions and abstract emotions. They also have to endure horror, violence, pornography, absurdity, abnormality, hypocrisy, frustration, turmoil, riot, revolution and anti-revolution. You must bear all these unbearable things. They are just like sea, sunshine, air, fresh flowers, girls, love and eucalyptus leaves, that can conceive and create spirit, and stimulate people to get closer to their inner spiritual world. Without these stimuli, without bearable things, there would be no creation” (“Reflections on Art after 1989”, 1991). The reflection of the artist on the new realistic background differs from his past understanding of the existence of life in that in the past, we see more of his “discharge of vengeance”, “nihilism” and “restlessness” whereas at present, the artist has placed the way of reflection of life on reality on “endurance”. The significance of this change lies in the fact that “responsibility” has found a way back to the artist’s creative attitude. During the ‘85 and subsequent periods, however, “responsibility” is only a target to be attacked. The artist has deeply felt that only a constructive and strong-willed attitude can propel the progress of art. His interest in other matters is suppressed by his main “inner need”, in other words, the artists is more aware of how to tackle his problem. What remains for him to do is to approach his problem step by step. Therefore, “Paternalism” has become a key issue over which the artist shows great concern since the second half of 1989.

In his “Paternalism” series, apart from the typical “parent” image, we can also see human figures, such as “White Figure in a Chair: Front” (Sept. 1989), “Red Background: Man Sitting in a Chair” (Aug. 1989), “White Figure on the Run” (Aug. 1989), “White Figure with Black and White Rectangles” (Aug. 1989), “The Death of Mara in Imitation of David, op. 1” (Sept. 1989), “Black Figure: White Corridor” (1990) and “Black Figure: Socks” (1990). Though there is still some consistency between his understanding of human figures in the past and at present, the figures we see now totally belong to the “Paternalism” motif.

The artist proposed a definition for his concept of “parent”, which has the following meanings:

First of all, “parent” is the personification of reality. He is the father of life. He has strictly defined the existence of life. He leaves life with an impression of solemnity, sacredness, terror and tyranny. He makes life take everything he has thus defined and leaves life with no other choices;

“Paternalism” is also a shadow of history that reminds us of the untranscendentability of life. It links life with rotten things of the past or more remote world;

“Paternalism” is an unshakable threat coming from any direction, an instrument of torture that tortures life and makes life submit to death;

“Paternalism” is an ethical and moral facemask. It makes life depend on it and violates life: “’Paternalism’ is a deadening sound coming from a mysterious depth. It entices life to come near it and makes life lose its normal sense of hearing;

“Paternalism” is the doorkeeper of hell that makes a horrible identification of life when it enters hell;

“Paternalism” is also the mother of life. It possesses the features of a mother. But these maternal features only remind us of Medea. Linked to killing and blood, it reminds us of the vampire painted by Edvard Munch (1863-1944) too;

Apparently “Paternalism” is also life itself.

“Paternalism” always appears in various disturbing places as an incarcerated image. It embodies threat since life is always under threat. It informs us in a visible way of the power of threat. “Paternalism” looks very lonely, and this loneliness belongs to every life. “Paternalism” also looks deformed, and this deformity is the deformity of life. Therefore, “parent” is both an executor of torture and a victim of torture. “Paternalism” controls life and is also the controlled life. “Paternalism” possesses the power of threat and is being threatened by some force too. “Paternalism” is omnipresent but has no freedom of movement. “Paternalism” devastates as well as Supports life. “Paternalism” cross-examines life and is also the cross-examined life. Finally, “parent” is the existentialistic choice made by the artist to represent a relation between life and reality. The artist recognizes and endures the fact that “parent” is full of spiritual content. As a matter of fact, “parent” is an understanding of the artist of “control” and “power”. Reality, in the final analysis, is irresistible. Therefore, reality is understood as a complicated relationship between the internal and external worlds.

In August 1989, Mao completed three paintings featuring human figures with the “parent” motif: “White Figure in a Chair: Front”, “Red Background: Man Sitting in a Chair” and “White Figure on the Run”, that was later collected by the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California. Almost at the same time, or about one month later, to be exact, the artist finished his creation of  “White Figure with Black and White Rectangles”, “The Death of Mara in Imitation of David, op. 1”, and “Corridor and Staircases at Night” (1989).

“White Figure in a Chair: Front” and “Red Background: Man Sitting in a Chair” remind us of a suffocating sense of tension, the naked figure in the “White Figure”, probably a female, is seated in a simple chair with seemingly potential striking power. It looks as if she is under interrogation. However, the pyramid shape of the figure with her legs apart gives us some sense of stability. In the “White Figure”, the abrupt dark shadow plays a symbolic role, reminding us of an electrocuting effect and thus enhancing the tension in the picture. The obscure treatment of head and its surroundings makes the figure look like a ghost. In order to make the head in the “Red Background” look like a ghost, the artist treated it rather coarsely. Actually the head in the “Red Background” is in a coarse diamond shape. Though this painting is consistent with other ones in the “Paternalism” series in style, its colors keep the special nature of a diary. The artist not only applies negative white color on the red background, but also paints the human body in the same red color as its background. Apparently, the expressionist language plays a symbolic role. “White Figure” and “Red Background” are actually representing the image of a “failing parent”. In these two paintings, “parent” is a symbol of “self”, a record of life being incarcerated and tortured.

“White Figure on the Run” depicts an even more pitiful condition of the failed life. Its helplessness has reached the level of wretchedness. The difference between this painting and the previous “Private Space” series lies in that the space in which man lives has been abstracted. “Private Space” no longer exists. The artist’s exploration of the issue of man has once more returned to its most fundamental starting point: “existence and destruction”. In the eye of the artist at that time, to show concern for man being destroyed by evil forces is closer to the point than caring for the conduct of man in “Private Space”. We have noticed that the white color of the running figure and the white environment, for instance, the white color applied above the head and under the feet of the running figure, are somewhat interconnected. The contrast between the thick layer of white around the human figure and thin layer of white for the background makes us feel worried about the future of the human figure because he might enter a white world if he continues to run in that direction. At least, the space the white figure will get into is one with less freedom, or a more suffocating space. “White Figure with Black and White Rectangles” may perhaps remind us of other paintings in the “Private Space” series. But this is not important. We might just as well treat this figure as a pitiable life before its mutilation. The most important symbols in the painting are the two black and white rectangles that we have seen in the “Paternalism” series created in 1988. Their appearance here can be seen as a reemphasis of some issue depicted in the “Paternalism” series. As far as composition is concerned, the black and white rectangles echo with the two incomplete rectangles on the upper corner while the dark red by the foot in front of the human figure and the red symbol behind the white rectangle remind us naturally of the familiar reality.

“The Death of Mara in Imitation of David, op. 1” is a variation. During the period in which the artist was creating the “Paternalism” series, Mao browsed many paintings by western artists such as Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610), El Greco (c. 1541-1614), Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), Matthias Grunewald (c. 1470-1528) and Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). Their depictions of death opened the eyes of the Chinese artist. Mao used to dislike classical and realistic works. What kept him moved for a long time are the German impressionist paintings. But realistic experiences made the artist later realize that what he really hated are the classic forms. The artist, for instance, disliked Caravaggio, an Italian painter. But later he was convinced that “I hated Caravaggio in the past for the form he adopted. But now it seems to me his expressions are very appropriate.” What did he express appropriately? It is the theme of life and death. In many of the paintings, Mao detected something eternal about life. The artist holds today that “there is no distinction among avant-garde, classic and modern arts.” “The Death of Mara” (1793) made the artist re-understand the meaning of death. In David’s painting, the death of Mara cherishes some monumental meaning whereas in Mao’s work, it seems that Mara is not dead. Rather, he is radiated and stimulated by some force coming from the depth of hell. The dark rectangle in the foreground forms a contradictory relationship with that penetrating “radiation”. Rectangle, a kind of negation, is used to stop collapse and death. But the problem is that rectangle itself possesses some mystic nature that causes us to lose our sense of judgment. Of course, when creating this painting, the artist seemed to cherish the same mood as he had done when he was painting other works. The moaning “Mara” is actually an embodiment of “Paternalism”, or in other words, the “parent” borrowed Mara’s body. What the artist attempted to resolve is a problem related to the motif of “Paternalism”. From this painting we see that the artist’s return to classicism is not aimed at looking for some convenience (the situation in which artists picked up classic artistic language instead of exploring the essence of classic art really existed after 1988) but exploring the most fundamental artistic issue.

During the September and October in 1989, Mao painted “Paternalism in Armchair” (Sept. 1989), “Sitting Paternalism at Night: Male, op. 1” (Sept. 1989), “Sitting Paternalism at Night: Female” (Sept. 1989), “White Figure in Chair: Back” (Sept. 1989), and “White Figure in Chair: Purple Background” (Sept. 1989).

“Paternalism in Armchair” is different from the other “Paternalism” paintings analyzed previously. It permeates with an indifferent mood. Though the color relationship formed by the purplish red setting and black human figure cannot arouse any comfort and console from our hearts, the distinct composition and relaxed touches provide us with a three dimensional “parent”. The status of this “parent” seems to be different from those of other parents in previous paintings. This “parent” possesses some potential power of deterrence. In addition, we have to admit that the purplish red setting, black figures and the white chair constitute a pleasing color relationship.

“Sitting Paternalism at Night: Male, op. 1” may form a contrast with “Sitting Paternalism at Night: Female”. But compared to the female, the male does not have much deterrence to speak of. His existence is almost entirely buttressed by the rectangular back of the chair. The situation of the female, however, is different. She has replaced the chair and become the buttress herself. Apart from the two huge breasts, her body has become part of the chair. She is a “mother” who inspires fear.

“White Figure in Chair: Back” and “White Figure in Chair: Purple Background” are also interrelated. They remind us of that “Paternalism” with positive and negative images completed by the artist in 1988. In these two paintings, however, the face of the “parent” seems to be more complete. “White Figure in Chair: Back” is one of the images of “parent”, whose corpse-like pale body forms a drastic contrast with the huge chair. Seated in such a menacing chair, the future of that emaciated figure is really a concern for us. “Purple Background” changes the relation between the “parent” and chair. The two stretched feet of the “parent” facing us remind us of the chair in the previous painting. But that diamond-shaped head has lost all physical details. Its incomprehensible feature seems to reflect a status different from that of the “White Figure”. There is possibly some transformation of multiple states of existence or various facets of life.

Among the last batch of “Paternalism” series completed after October 1989, space has become the focal attention of the artist.

In “Paternalism in Dilapidated Space” (Oct. 1989), “parent” has retreated to a more distant place. The pyramid relation formed between the “parent” and chair continues to maintain the authority of “parent”, but such “authority” has become less reliable. The dilapidated space has offset the power of “authority”. “Paternalism” has turned into a component part of that dilapidated space.

“Paternalism: Red Spotted Door” (Nov. 1989) presents a rectangular shaped door, which echoes with the “parent” with his legs apart or chair legs inside the door. The painting shows two spaces, one inside and the other outside. The inside space makes one feel nervous, as if there were some magnetic field affecting the whole space there. It can be seen that both the positive and negative poles of that magnetic field are located at the place where the parent is. The image of the “parent” has been reduced to its minimum. Only against the white back of the chair can we see the thin figure of “parent”. Outside the door, everything is in peace. The artist has provided us with an opportunity to be onlookers. At least, before we enter that door, we are safe. Of course, we are not sure how the “red spots” entered the picture. Maybe they are related to the indoor world; maybe they could get freely into the tense space behind the door. It is hard for us to tell whether this is an intrusion of “red spots” or it is the result of effects produced by the magnetic field of “parent”. Anyway, “red spots” come as a surprise.

“Paternalism: Red Door” (Nov. 1989) changes the nature of red color. It is not a symbol of activity but an evidence of existence. The variegated effects of red color remind us of the force of time. What makes us feel uneasy is the brightness of red color, which leaves us with the impression that these variegated effects are the results of artificial efforts. This vivid portrayal echoes with “Paternalism” in the middle of the distance. Red door is both the environment of “parent” and the illustration of its meaning. In this painting, the rectangular red door portrays a sense of compulsory negation and control. The tense atmosphere is kept inside the red door despite the fact that this atmosphere is the focal point.

“Paternalism: White Door” completed in January 1990 shows the reduction of tension. The rectangle mark with intermittent white blocks seems to have formed an underground passage. The meaning of the “door” is symbolic. We may just as well treat this composition as our approach to “Paternalism”.
“Yellow Tone: Paternalism” (Nov. 1989) is almost the glowing inside of a “palace” free from malice. Though its depth is similar to those of other works, its contrast of yellow and black blocks makes the picture look peaceful and solemn. The composition even reveals a harmonious and sacred musical effect.

By getting rid of depth, “Grand White Paternalism” (Feb. 1990) looks like a piece of graphic design in which black and white squares form a cool relationship with the “parent” and chair. At this stage, the mood of the artist is calmer. The relation between the positioning of the “parent” and the chair makes the picture look funny. What makes people doubtful is the black block on the upper left corner, which forms a contrast with other linear images.

The calm mood of the artist lingers on. And in such paintings as “Black figure: White Corridor” and “Black Figure: Socks” completed in April and May in 1990, we can even detect some fun-making elements. “Black Figure: Socks” brings us back to the nihilistic mood prominent in “Private Space”.

In “Paternalism in Chair” (May 1990) we can see the artist has paid more attention to the effect of picture itself. It seems he emphasized the treatment rather than the pursuit of a tense effect. The artist found great pleasure in such details as the dryness, wetness, thickness, thinness, and coarseness on the painting. For this work, he seldom used the paintbrush and knife more than the regular oil brush. The artist’s feeling and orderly thought can be better seen in “Paternalism: Hole” completed in August 1990.

Over-emphasis on cheeks gives us the typical diamond-shaped “parent” image and we can get this point especially in “Portrait of Paternalism” finished in April 1990. “Paternalism” positions his legs apart. After frontal and symmetrical treatment, “Paternalism” and his chair become integrated. This technique probably reveals the artist’s intension. In paintings like “Paternalism in Red Chair” we find that the chair is probably more parental than “Paternalism” because the diamond-shaped head of “parent” has shrunk to such a degree that it is hard to see its existence.

“Paternalism” series reflect the existence of controlled conscience and power. Though the impulse of life still exists, control is indispensable. Since uncontrolled impulse has gravely frustrated life, it is only natural to set a limit to freedom. In art, realistic feelings lie in controlling the order of picture. At this moment, the artist’s understanding of freedom is changed: “Nowadays, the scope of artistic language has greatly expanded. Faced with so many freedoms, the artist is at a loss as to which to choose. In a sense, he has lost his freedom. On this point, I agree with Stravinsky. Art must be restricted if it intends to enjoy more freedoms” (“Reflections on Artistic Issues Since 1989”, 1991). On the one hand, art continues to trust the instinct and answer the call of one’s heart; on the other, it stresses rational control and choice. Unique images and styles are born in such a situation.

Mao Xuhui has provided us with numerous indelible “Paternalism” images that reflect different facets of our spiritual life. At the same time, these images have abstracted and generalized “existence”. In these images and their settings, we can feel a stability produced by control. This stability has not only established a total relation for the compositions, but also effectively restrained the activities of internal explosive power of life to a bigger framework. And in this respect, rectangles and doors play an important part. While the impulse of life or resistance to stability constitutes the center of composition on the one hand, its power is not decreased as a result of its activities being confined to a certain framework. Rather, its power is greatly increased. The relaxed and even vengeful portrayal in the past, now greatly suppressed and restrained, has enhanced the force of expression in the end. In other words, Mao has never painted such stable pictures. These stable pictures are compulsory, or an outcome brought about by some intangible force. At the same time, Mao has never expanded the power of expressive language to such a great degree. It is actually the logical development of life in its resistance against death. Looking reality in the face, the artist actively accepts what he believes he has to accept for he knows that only by accepting this way can he find his strength. “Art in essence is not an illusion, but a product of endurance” (Artistic Diary”, 1991).
 

An artist always has to face those spiritual things that haunt his soul. It is hard to describe them in words. But actually they secretly urge art to take some particular shape if the artist searches unremittingly for them.

                        —Mao Xuhui in “Artistic Diary” (1999)



In 1993, Mao experienced some “health crisis”. He paid a heavy price in the 1990s for the spirit he had consumed in the 1980s. Physiological disorders not only led to mental depression, but also caused him to “be culturally disoriented”. He even started to doubt what he was going to paint. Before 1993, Mao was immersed in his victory over his sociologically artistic and spiritual “Right and portrayal of Right”. The joys of victory and the dual physical and spiritual tortures put him back at the starting point of his life.

He began to paint still life at home. But then China began to experience the first round of collective revelries for its economic growth.

During his illness, he was faced with many still lives “such as TCM brewing pots, liquid medications, ashtrays, pills and tablets, and scissors, all lying on the table.” Because of his sensitivity to lines and shapes, and because of his natural response in his conscience, the scissors caught his attention. The issue of Right after the “Paternalism” series has now found its internal continuity in a daily article though at that time the “Vocabulary of Power” (1993-94) was still the center of his creative efforts. But we can clearly feel that in the “Vocabulary of Power” series, expressionism is apparent on his canvas. Of course, we can also detect traces of new concrete images and pop style in his creative process. This seems to indicate that his long time devotion to the reflection of society, philosophy and survival itself has entered a new stage: grand themes and narration must in the end turn to a micro-statement of one’s internal feelings. Deep thinking must in the end be described in poetic colors and geometric shapes. His perception of daily experience shows the perspective and minuteness of the artist’s thinking. In the “Vocabulary of Power” completed in 1993, we find a familiar as well as a strange world. Furniture, doors, keys and portraits are putting up a visual show: the calmness on the surface in the end turns into a sharp conflict of colors and composition. This probably tells us something about the artist’s realistic condition then. He must learn to confront his own body and soul calmly. At the same time, he did not give himself too much freedom in daily or even secular life.

His peaceful struggle finally found the best symbol in a pair of scissors because as an object, scissors are insignificant delicate attack in daily life. So in the end, scissors have become a true opening to the artist’s real emotions. It can be seen that at the very beginning of the appearance of scissors, the artist is very angry at life itself and feels perplexed with his own conditions. Scissors mean cutting things apart and reorganizing. Therefore, the theme of daily life has eventually turned in his perception into something that is just as important as epic poems: the true Right finally returns to the most peaceful corner in life. If it can be said that Right in “Paternalism” series has illustrated its unnegligibility in the sociological sense and the influence of the existence of Right itself on man (this influence is sometimes imposed by history), then scissors can further explain that our life is a kind of network made up of Right. In “Daily Epic: Scissors” (1994) we see a complicated world of everyday life composed of the table, chair, cups and plates with a pair of sharp scissors in front of them. The balance of routine is thus shattered and normality negated. We sense some great anxiety in stability. Yes, scissors are part of our daily life. But through the discovery of the artist, they have become our daily enemy. They have become the visible or invisible core of composition. In his painting completed in November 1994, the red scissors dominate everything. A metaphoric destructive force is spreading in every direction like the radiating rays from one’s body and bosom of heart, occupying the most central position. As this force is immensely aggressive, it has transcended the “daily judgment” of beauty and ugliness in their general sense. The artist has staked his experience, even his weakness on the interconnected clashes of his life. The expression process, starting from inside and gradually going outside, is the artist’s self-discovery or self-fulfillment. In 1995, Mao described his creative process as follows:

My creation relies on my inner power. My internal world is always interconnected with the external one. The external world is the walls and passageways constructed of other souls, other ways of packages and displays. Society is a huge product composed by numerous souls. It is a menace, a menace to an individual. But this pressure is indispensable as least for artists. It is under that collective pressure that some outstanding individuals grow and develop.

Inner world is composed of secret chambers. This is the “reality” I care for. It is the fountain of my creative efforts. Through these secret chambers, you can reach a remote and unfamiliar world where I am no longer the normal I. Those secret chambers are the world of software technology that is just as complicated as a computer. The archives kept in the secret chambers have recorded many outstanding names and other unforgettable images. It is this information that gives Support to my creative efforts though it comes from the remote past and foreign countries.

My painting sets off from my secret chambers before it reaches a distinctive place where it makes public something that I believe worth being announced. It is no longer the exploration as it was in the past. I believe every creator has his own secret chambers. To create artistically means to try one’s best to make public some of the things stored in those secret chambers.

It is generally seen that visual art is a march from outside to inside. But the reverse is true. Visual art is an expansion process from inside out. (“Palm Camp Studio Diary”, 1995)

From the artist’s basic intention to “try his best to make public some of the things stored in those secret chambers”, we can see that there is a good reason for the complicated composition in his earliest “Daily Epic: Scissors”. The rich composition has illustrated the artist’s feeling about the world around him. If he wishes, he could discharge all his emotions through this pair of concrete but in the end abstracted “scissors”.

In “Scissors and Red Chair” (1995), the artist treats stable structures in daily life as if they were raw materials for criticism. The passive redness, protruding from behind the scissors, looks like a shouting metaphor. The red chair itself, positioned in front of the sharp scissors, tries to indicate its persistent existence on the one hand, on the other hand the “scissors” attempts to negate such existence.

As observers, if we intend to re-experience the original vision on Mao’s retinas or in his imagination, the best place to start is his “Scissors and Red Room” (1995) because in this painting, we can sense a comparative harmony or internal integration. The lust, perception, and the contemporary absurdity of the perception itself displayed in the painting are simply an artistic expulsion of everyone’s sexual desire and experience because of that pair of scissors. Everything in the red room is arranged in a glaring and vulgar manner and the presence of scissors not only illustrates the artist’s reflection on sex but also indicates his rejection of pop art.

Comparatively speaking, in the “Scissors and Sofa” series (1995), it can be seen how the trivialities in daily life experienced by Mao have been put into the fetters of scissors while all perceptive reserves and expanding cultural fantasies constitute his unique observations. We can make a sure guess now: Did Mao Xuhui at that time also feel that his reflection and the scissors sustaining his reflection came from his life itself? Another supposition is that should we expect him to provide us with a thorough analysis of the traditional definition of family? The artist has restored every form of perception, lineal or drawn, to the fields of cognition and decoration. Every new visual factor is integrated into a new esthetic ideal that becomes eventually linked with his philosophical questioning of life. The red sofa and room remind one of the stability and slow progress of life itself.

The artist now aims his “scissors” at the world outside his window. “Scissors and Buildings in the Community: Setting Sun” (1995), “Scissors and Buildings in the Community” (1995), “Scissors and Buildings in the Community: Winter” (1995) and “Scissors and Staircases” (1995) tell us that order itself is the strongest enemy of life while innate problems of this order may be forming a world of power that must be accepted by the majority of people. The physical walls absolutely constitute the details of our daily life. What the scissors have to confront is not only a materialistic city but also the common life prescribed by the materialistic city. It seems that the artist has thus entered the rank of historians and found a new topic for his esthetic initiative: “though the process of understanding from individual fate to recognition of society is profound, self-analysis and self-criticism are the most fundamental humanistic attitude” (“Artistic Diary”, 2003). This opens up new possibilities for that “scissors”. At the same time, the extension of the artist’s internal emotion outward proves that he has found his new spiritual resources and motifs.

We can regard Mao’s shift of expressive vision to the world outside his window as a temporary rest of his soul because the root of pain lies in the moment when the artist confronts himself. If our understanding is correct, then Mao’s rest is really very short. It seems nothing has happened during his rest.

In the spring of 1996, Mao again chose the spiritual world of man as his target. In “Scissors with Your Worries” (1996), “Scissors with Your Loneliness” (1996), and “Scissors with Your Marriage” (1996), death approaches silently. Death, depression, horror, struggle, and loneliness have become tiresome motifs. But they are real and become unconsciously intermingled with the subject. The emaciated body, just like the defenseless soul, is merely a joke in front of the “scissors”. The presence of man in this instance is no more than the fulfillment of a simple process depleted of any other meanings because they are no longer in existence and therefore cannot be found. All human behaviors point to their final destination, that is, death. But tenderness reflected in marriage is just like the recitation of common stage lines. Marriage composed of curtains and bed makes it impossible for us to see any possibility of happiness. Tender feelings and human flesh have both entered a cold and lonely world. All these are incompatible with the coming of spring. Blood-red horror takes the place of green life. It is in this extreme manner that the artist is trying to express his reflection on such an issue as man:

The entanglement of human nature in one’s inner world is a potential force that drives art forward. An artist will reveal this force consciously or unconsciously. This force is the humanistic creative feature and intension. An artist must first be an ordinary person before he can get into the role of an artist. Human nature will find its way into the creation in ways that cannot be imagined. If people treat art seriously, they will judge the value of art by whether they have found any message related to their lives instead of simply by whether this paining looks nice or not (“Artistic Dairy”, 2002).
Things began to take on some obvious change when the artist painted “Scissors and Paternalism” in 1996. Those everyday settings began to fade out from his painting, replaced by sober colors and incomprehensible features. It seems that Mao’s new esthetic choice lies in post-modernism. This choice seems to be a summery of his artistic experience. It may be related to his memory of his unsophisticated and vivid growth in Yunnan. Eventually this memory may have reflected his inner world: “To me, painting is a way to retain those unforgettable things, which are kept in images via painting. When I don’t know what to paint, I have to search my inner world silently for some time. I have to eventually return to those images, emotions, and feelings in the depth of my heart. When I find these things, my painting will continue” (Palm Camp Studio Diary”, 1993-1995).

In this period, Mao devoted himself totally to the formal pursuit of “scissors” in the realm of esthetics. “Scissors”, an image impregnated with meanings on different occasions, have become now an inevitable outcome. It can be seen that the process of these changes seems to be internally inevitable. Though in the previous chapters we traced the reason of this inevitability to the artist’s life experience, we are more ready to acknowledge it now as a rational psychological process: the artist has been liberated from his complicated struggles and anxieties, and attained his goal of formality naturally. His concrete and philosophical explanation has turned into a purely visual, schematic and perceptive evolution. Pragmatic factors have faded behind the functions of pictures themselves. Mao explained this phenomenon as follows:

For some time, I also used scissors as a bizarre symbol and pasted them on different scenes of real life as an expression of my anger and anxiety. After a period like this, I don’t think about the problem of power when I paint scissors now. What I care about at present is the functions people will think of naturally when they see my composition of scissors. I pay more attention to the modeling factors of scissors because they can remind people of the functions of scissors. As a matter of fact, now I believe what is important is the shape, or the meaning of shape, or the effect of shape of scissors rather than the discussion of what they are going to cut. To be exact, what I have painted is not scissors, but their shapes (“Reflections on the “Scissors” Series” (1998).

Mao’s scissors have thus become “moderate and quiet”. In “Scissors, Western Hills and Lake Dianchi” (1995), we can sense the respect paid by the artist to the minute shades of color. There are even traces of romanticism in it despite the description that “the painting is a remembrance of the artist: scissors symbolize the artist himself. A historical, purposeless sharpness is kept in solitude in that familiar place in his childhood” (History of Contemporary Chinese Art: 1990-1999).

“Scissors” has turned from a mere symbol in the past to the core of a symbolic system now. It has become a changing image and changeable system of meanings. Any of the pre-determined explanations can become a correct target.
From the title of “Blue Scissors” (1997) we can see that in the creation of “scissors” the painter has totally returned to his simple beliefs in color and formality. The blue “scissors” exists peacefully in the imagination of everyone looking at this picture, including Mao Xuhui, its creator. It no longer contains exaggerated and complex symbolic meanings but calmness.

In “Scissors and Pond” (1997), as the lyrical feature of the pond is overlooked, we can see only its contour and the movement of waterweeds. Time seems frozen for the moment and “scissors” enter the central zone of traditional esthetic experience. There is no more any lyrical poetics or lofty sentiment left.

“Scissors” in “Mirror” (1998) makes us challenge the sharpness of the scissors: in a round mirror-frame that can serve as a reference of the world, all sharpness or power (though the artist did not show as much concern over this issue as he had done in the past) is instantly diminished in this substantial and unsubstantial space. Confrontation, an endless self-flow, only takes place inside the mirror-frame, which denies any real way out. Sharpness and roundness are engaged in a fight for freedom and rules. In 1999, Mao created an ink and wash painting entitled “Mirror: Opened Scissors”. It must be mentioned first that Mao has rarely used this technique in his artistic career. To portray the sharp “scissors” in ink and wash, a mild technique, is itself very interesting: Conflicting objects eventually find their rational coexistence in the marginal space in the artist’s mind. The light colors remind one of history and elapse of time. In the sensitive depth of one’s nerve, one will probably recall the moment when mother used scissors in her needlework. The effect of “Mirror: Opened Scissors” is entirely different from those of “Red Mirror” (1999) and “Mirror: Spring” (1999). The latter two paintings seem to try to prove a confrontation between the past and present, which should not be forgotten by us. The beautiful face that might appear in the mirror is replaced by the “scissors” and the red frame seems to tell us that whether in the past or at present, a concrete boundary exists willy-nilly despite the fact that we know that there is no so-called eternity. Everything is changing and everything is disappearing.



Conclusion



We (and the artist is surely one of us) are in a period of cultural defense in which science is rapidly losing its effectiveness. During this period experience and convention prevent the development of culture. On the one hand, the period of cultural defense constitutes a knowledge structure, which turns culture into words, images and objects of formalism. The core of culture, its doubts and criticisms, is totally lost as a result. On the other hand, cultural defense is an ethical and moral standard, which confines human conduct to a “civilized” sphere that is only true in appearance. In such a sphere, life is intangibly deprived of its free creative power. What is worth mentioning is that cultural defense is also a means of politics, which exerts a political force on “culture” and makes it dress a breaking sore in rags. In a word, cultural defense refuses to provide any effective solution to the problems experienced by life. But we have never seen life confronted with so many pressing problems, which employ various means to squeeze vitality out of life with the purpose of invalidating it. At a critical historical moment like this, how to invigorate life has become an important cultural topic. The social ideology prevalent in the market economy in the 1990s when the cultural defense was still existent gravely complicates the situation, driving people into a dilemma.

Mao Xuhui is one of the few intellectuals who have taken up this topic. He is clearly benefited from other cultural thoughts for his method and perspective adopted to tackle the problem. His achievements tell us that only by breaking the sore can we resolve the fundamental problem. This is as much as saying that only by facing death can one conquer it. Philosophical thoughts advocated by some of the Westerners like Hesse, Nietzsche and Sartre are totally in disagreement with the cultural reality that the artist faces. According to the views of traditional cultural defenders, the problem of self can be resolved by its own logic and a specific culture has a complete system to repair itself. They claim in our memory, such “completeness” and “repair” are well recorded. Therefore, cultural thoughts from alien countries are not actually helpful in resolving indigenous cultural problems.

Even though we put social structure and political structure aside, we can still see that cultural defenders try from the very beginning to evade rather than solve problems. “Completeness” and “repair” only wrap problems up in fragile and weak packages, which break up when the situation deteriorates. Mao, however, does not rely on individual facts and general experiences. His persistent critical attitude forces him to use all types of strange but effective weapons to fight against cultural defense. Significantly enough, from the beginning, the artist targets his criticism directly against “self”. He cuts “self” open and displays its diseased condition to the public. He tells us that the impact of instinct is evil but on the other hand full of life and hope; he tells us that the “ideal” upheld by cultural defenders is no truer than the nihilism they criticize; he tells us that though the “Private Space” of individualism is very narrow indeed, the development of society is pushed forward by numerous such spaces; last but not least, the artist tells us that the solution of cultural problems is in essence the solution of human problems. To an artist, effective solution of human problems is reflected in one’s personal style. And this is true. In his earliest lyrical expressionist works created in the 1990s, the artist displays a special soul very vividly. In these paintings we can see and feel directly the violent shocks of reality on the artist. At the same time, the artist also pays great attention to the well-being of that soul. As a result, his paintings have retained more of the pure abstractness than his previous ones.

Any criticism of cultural activity is comparatively relative. But this does not mean that that relativity can become a property of any social force. As we treat cultural mutation (there are only two possibilities for culture, that is, mutation or death) as creative efforts made by man to change the way of his existence, we can surely say that the work and art of Mao have thus acquired absolute cultural significance.

History in the past two decades has not made much change to its basic requirements on artists. Various vigorous artistic forms and phenomena are pointed to a central issue: the revelation of and solution to various realistic problems related to man’s freedom and ideological emancipation, the maximal possibility for these forms and phenomena to look for the most adequate condition for human existence rather than the establishment of new models, authorities that allow no verbal attacks and structures that refuse change. Mao’s work and art are just part of this whole cultural mutation. Though his efforts may look insignificant in this whole cultural mutation, it is the insignificant efforts made by Mao Xuhui and other artists and intellectuals that are changing people’s concepts and world outlook. Artists cannot indeed take the place of other people in seeking changes of themselves and their living environments, but they can provide them with medications that are good for their psychological well-being. Here we would like to quote the concluding passage from The Principles of Art (1938) by Robin George Collingwood (1889-1943) as our unreserved approval of the artist’s work and role in art:

...An artist must predict, but this does not mean that he has predicted the things that are going to happen. It means that he has run the risk of infuriating the audience by telling them their secrets. As an artist, it is his mission to speak out, to tell everything frankly. But what the artist must say is his own personal secret, which does not require us to believe as does the individualist art theories. The secret that the artist, as a spokesman of society, must reveal belongs to that society. The reason why a society needs artists is that not a single society totally knows its inner world. And since societies do not know themselves, they are worried because lack of knowledge in this respect means death. For the misfortune rooted in ignorance, the poet predictors do not prescribe any medication, because they have already done so. The medication is the poetry itself. Art, a good medicine for social diseases, is especially effective for the most dangerous psychological problem: corrupted conscience.


Saturday, May 28, 2005