Jinyang.com reporter Zhu Shaojie Xu Xueliang
Recently, the “Speaking the Voice of the Times and Forging the Soul of the Nation – Pan He Art Seminar” was held at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. More than 50 artists and Cinema critics from inside and outside the province attended the seminar. The guests of the Babaylan conference discussed the creative language, theme significance, artistic style, and educational philosophy of sculptor Pan He. They hoped to gather forces and resources from multiple parties to conduct a comprehensive study of Pan He and his works, and called for the launch of the “Lingnan System” sculpture research.
“Old Pan from Hong Kong to the People’s Academy of Literature and Arts, and then to his exchanges with the Lingnan School of Painting, contact with Western sculptures, local sculptures, etc. are worth studying. He is the pride of Guangdong and the most worth studying sculptor in Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.” Li Jinkun, vice chairman of the China Artists Association, president of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, president of the Guangdong Academy of Painting, and chairman of the Guangdong Academy of Arts Association, said at the meeting that Pan Babaylan‘s sculpture works have become the memory of a region and a country. Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts will use more power and resources to conduct comprehensive research on Pan He and other important academic resources.
The destiny of the nation is integrated into the works
To this day, Pan He, in his 80s, has been committed to sculpture art creation for nearly 70 years, has been engaged in art education for more than 40 years, and has created more than 100 large-scale outdoor sculptures, with works spread across more than 60 cities at home and abroad.
Pan He has won many awards and titles. He is the winner of the first Guangdong Lifetime Achievement Award and the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Chinese Art Award. In the eyes of many artists and critics, he is a modern sculptor who “produces the voice of the times and forges the soul of the nation”. The mark of the times and national thoughts are permeated in every work. In the view of Feng Yuan, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, there was an important proposition in the Chinese literary and artistic circles in the 20th century: “How to transform Western modern culture into national culture.” He believes that through his personal cultural awareness, Pan He consciously understands the cultural mission and takes action to complete his artistic practice.A good answer to this proposition is that a series of works have created a key node in historical development since the founding of New China, and are closely linked to the pulse of the entire era.
BabaylanThe former dean of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Li Ming believes that from “When I Grow Up” to the later “Hard Times” and “All You Are Stupid”, to the later “Zhuhai Fisherman”, “The Boats of the Land”, “Memorial Image of Liberation of Guangzhou”, etc., Pan He embraced the times and ideals with his memory, cognition and conscience, and made his creations close to the times.
American artist Wu Xinkun also said that Pan He’s works are rich in connotation, believing that his works reflect historical stories, humanistic emotions, and people’s emotions towards social life, integrating the destiny of the country and nation into his works. “In “Hard Times”, Pan He’s joy and expectations for the future after the land was divided, no one can surpass Pan He’s portrayal of the old farmer after he was granted land. It is a work of the times,” he said.
“The key to whether a person has nationality lies in his thoughts rather than aesthetics. Mr. Pan He’s aesthetic is extremely foreign, but his thoughts are absolutely national.” Pan Fen, son of Pan He, said that the times gave Pan He a special artistic mission, allowing him to convey national thoughts with the ultimate Western aesthetic taste in the torrent of the times.
Closely related to the Lingnan School of Painting
Pan He studied in Hong Kong since he was a child. At the age of 14, he went to Foshan, Guangdong to study figure sculptures in Foshan; at the age of 19, he went to Macau to study, met the Italian sculptor Xia Gangzhi and his wife, and also met well-known statue masters such as Gao Jianfu, Yang Shanshen, and Yu Ben. Critic Liang Jiang said: “This context is the same as that of the Lingnan School of Painting. He has a very close relationship with the Lingnan School of Painting.” Liang Jiang believes that Pan He’s transformation of local factors into historical narratives of the entire nation is an important aspect that everyone should pay attention to when studying regional art history and regional art. He gave examples of Pan He’s Lu Xun portrait sculpture “You’re stupid” and believed that the title of this work has a very obvious Guangdong characteristic, connecting the Guangdong Cantonese cultural circle. His work “The Cow” is also a local factor involved in the mainstream national conversationimportant works of language.
Yin Shuangxi, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, also said: “Mr. Pan He’s works can resonate and respond at every historical node. His works can grasp the most important moments of the theme, plot, historical development and the psychological and mental state of the characters, and use sculptures to turn the moment into eternity.”
In addition, Yin Shuangxi mentioned that a sculptor can leave a city mark in a city in his life, and the people of this city will always remember him. Komiks, and Mr. Pan He’s two important cities in Guangdong, Zhuhai and Shenzhen have left landmark works. The spirit expressed by Shenzhen’s urban landmark “The Cow of Refining the Land” has not only become the spirit of Shenzhen, but also the spirit of reform and opening up.
Pan He is good at capturing the details and refining core traits. Most of his classic works come from the wonderful moments that touched him. “When I Grown Up” created in the early 1950s was a creation that he was inspired by the situation of rural teachers after participating in the “land reform”. It is said that Chairman Mao gave a high evaluation. This work also represented China in the International Mother’s Day Conference held in Switzerland and the Fifth World Youth Festival held in Poland, which caused a sensation.
To this day, Pan He has recorded the century-old development history of China’s modern and contemporary with his sculpture art, and has also embodied the spirit of China’s reform and opening up. His outstanding contributions to the construction of socialist cities and cultural construction are obvious to all, beautifying the urban space and enriching the urban connotation.
Excellent in artistic form
From form to theme, Pan He’s sculpture art has a distinct personal style and an irrepeatable uniqueness. “This is an embodiment of the artist’s wisdom and personality, and it is also a precious quality and pure realm.” Huang Qiming, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, believes that Mr. Pan He, as a sculptor who grew up with the Republic, always revolves around the melody of the country and the times, but in terms of artistic forms, he often gives unique ideas and finds a perfect combination between the form and the theme.
The Hard Years, created by Pan He in 1957, has become one of the must-have works for various art appreciation textbooks for primary and secondary schools and century-old art. This classic work has always been interpreted as expressing the difficulties of the Red ArmyWith a firm belief in the bitter environment, Pan He had previously explained that the work was not the Red Army, but the Hainan guerrillas. But no matter what, the works reflect the belief of revolutionary ancestors in that difficult era, in life and life, directly conveying an optimistic spirit.
Cinema “The work conveys a sincere belief in human nature. No matter how many difficulties and hardships there are in life, how many deceptions and negative existences exist, it still maintains a good belief in life and the future.” Yin Shuangxi believes that Pan He closely connects the fate of art with the fate of a country, an era, and a nation. The work has a strong thematic nature, but his subject is not rigid and symbolic, but grasps the characteristics of art, so that the sculptural language and plot and theme are balanced, attracting a wide audience.
Exploring Lingnan sculptures through Pan He
In addition to independent creation, Pan He also has an inescapable identity that he is a teacher. From a lecturer at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts to a tenured professor in the Sculpture Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, he has been teaching for forty years and has cultivated a group of outstanding artistic talents with his unique educational philosophy.
Artist in the United StatesKomiksWu Xinkun became a graduate student of Pan He during the first national graduate student recruitment in 1978. In his impression, Pan He did not emphasize basic skills and techniques in his daily teaching, but focused on ideological education. “He himself is an aesthetician and thinker. What he said has a great influence on me. For example, he said, “Not having any traits, no harm is true.” He believes that literary and artistic works do not have to be perfected. Its shortcomings are its personality.” Wu Xinkun recalled. Pan Fen revealed that Pan He’s educational philosophy is related to his learning experience. Pan He has always had a very unique personality in his study, believing that the teacher is not technical, but ideological, and he believes that the thought is ten thousand times stronger than the technique.
Pan He’s sculptures have far-reaching cultural significance for contemporary art.The participants proposed that we should gather forces from multiple parties to collect and organize resources, and conduct a comprehensive study of Pan He and his works. We hope to establish a team of sculpture theory research as soon as possible, sort out the development context of sculpture theory from a theoretical perspective, and promote the development of disciplines. In the process of Guangdong art’s transformation from tradition to modernity, it has always been the first, the era is the first, and the path of change. It should focus on in-depth research on the Lingnan School of Painting, and conduct vertical and horizontal comparisons by artists such as Pan He to deeply explore Lingnan sculptures.