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Markus Lupertz is staging his largest-ever solo show in China. Deng Zhangyu talks to the artist about the importance of images and why he believes abstract painting originated in China.
Beijing has welcomed a slew of notable Western artists in recent weeks. The city's art lovers who came out in force to welcome pop art legend David Hockney are now flocking to the exhibition of German neo-expressionist Markus Lupertz. The show Markus Lupertz in China at the Times Art Museum displays 81 paintings and sculptures created in the past 10 years. It is Lupertz's largest-ever solo show in China. The show, which runs through May 24, will travel to Guangzhou in June. The opening of the exhibition happened to be the artist's 74th birthday. Wearing a fashionable suit, a hat and a bow-tie, and carrying a walking stick, Lupertz says he feels he is more of a Bohemian than an "art fighter", a label given to him by others.
When asked about the role of paintings in the era of new media and technology, Lupertz states his belief that painting will never die. Instead, it will save art in a time when technology has freed people from paint and canvas, which is thought to have brought forward the death of painting.
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German artist Markus Lupertz stands in front one of his works at Times Art Museum in Beijing. He says he made the figures based on himself. Photos Provided to China Daily |
"If one never sees a painting of a sunset, he won't appreciate the real sunset. Painting is a beautiful way for one to be a better man," says Lupertz.
The artist laments that the modern obsession with smart phones has shortened attention spans. The visual revolution dominated by videos and films makes people too impatient to appreciate a painting quietly, to think independently and to communicate with it.
As one of the most influential living German artists who made his name in the 1980s, Lupertz created a style characterized by subjectivity and handling materials roughly to fight against the conceptual art and the pop art developed by American artists.
He advocates painting for the picture itself. His paintings are simple and seem casual. Helmets, bodies, skulls and snails are common motifs in his work.
"I never have a plan on how to draw a picture. Every time I start a painting, it's a totally new journey and full of questions," he says of his drawing process, adding there's no fixed way to understand his paintings.
Tan Ping, director of the school of design of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, says Lupertz's paintings are a real reflection of his inner mind and emotion.
Artist Zhang Fangbai says it is easy for Chinese artists to sympathize with German neo-expressionists who have looked for their own cultural and artistic identity in a world dominated by US pop culture, as Chinese artists are seeking to redefine a way that belongs to Chinese contemporary art.
Lupertz attributes the influence on Chinese artists to another German neo-expressionist Jorg Immendorff, who died in 2007.
As the director of the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf for more than 20 years, Lupertz says Chinese artists go to Germany with a "painting complex". They prefer paintings because China has a long history of ink art.
Lupertz adds that Chinese artists care much about their tradition and culture, which is also stressed by him.
While his paintings are contemporary art, he still talks to the traditions and culture, such as the Greco-Roman, the Renaissance hidden in his pictures, says Shao Yiyang, associate professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Lupertz says he loves the lines of Chinese traditional paintings and Chinese sculptures. He believes that abstract painting originated in China.
Apart from being an artist, Lupertz says, he is interested in writing poems, listening to jazz and eating good food.
The artist is even inspired by his own appearance when modeling his sculptures. "Do you see those figure sculptures on display? I made them based on me," he laughs.
Contact the writer at dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn
