ART-PRESENTATION: Qiu Zhijie-Journeys Without Arrivals

Qiu Zhijie is a very important artist in the world of Chinese contemporary art. Integrating theory, text and creativity into distinct practice, he attempts to express his unique point of view towards art. Combining a wide range of media as: photography, video, calligraphy, painting, installation and performance, his works undeniably possess an experimental spirit.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Van Abbemuseum Archive

Qiu Zhijie’s solo exhibition “Journeys without Arrivals” at Van Abbemuseum is the first comprehensive overview of one of the most important Chinese artists of his generation. The wide spectrum of his works unveils an intimate portrait of the artist as a polymath, whose artistic work is an integral part of a larger, holistic approach to life. Embracing the concept of “Total Art”, Qiu demonstrates the role of art as a powerful engine for coming to terms with change, tradition and globalisation in China and across the world. Qiu Zhijie received traditional calligraphy training, as well as intense literature, history and philosophy reading at a relatively young age. During his study, he was deeply influenced by Joseph Beuys and the Fluxus Movement. His graduation work, “The Orchid Pavilion One Thousand Times”, has become a classic in Chinese contemporary art history. After graduation, he audited classes at the Institute of Foreign Philosophy, Peking University, studying Analytical Philosophy and Phenomenological Philosophy. At the same time, he created a series of installations and photographic works concerning the control of media power and the rationality of identity concepts. In the mid ‘90’s, Qiu participated in the discussion about the tendency towards vulgar sociology in Chinese art and his writing on the subject was acclaimed. Interest in calligraphy and traditional Chinese philosophy, as well as interest in the field study method of Sociology are both visible in his extreme and large-scale art creations. Qiu Zhijie experienced the rapid changes in Chinese society over the last decades as it has opened itself up to economic and cultural globalisation. As the largest state in the world, developments in the People’s Republic will always affect the whole planet, but its recent history is one of learning from elsewhere as much as innovating from within. Such intercultural encounters are the basis for much of Qiu’s work. He draws on certain pictorial traditions, from calligraphy to handicraft techniques, and pushes them into the present. There, they are seen not as victims of a new age, but as systems of thinking that can account for what is happening today at least as much as the traditions of western modernist aesthetics. It is in this context that he represents an ideal example of an artist as a go-between, whose broad ideas and engagements, as an artist, merchant, teacher and political activist, become strong, resolute and profound gestures/images of the contemporary world. The exhibition proposes that Qiu’s work might be seen as a series of unending journeys. Whether it is his reinterpretation of scroll painting; his travels in Tibet, or his response to the great modernist icon of the Nanjing River Bridge, the works are always looking to preserve, update and revolutionise elements of different traditions at the same time.

Info: Curators: Charles Esche, Annie Fletcher & Davide Quadrio, Van Abbemuseum, Bilderdijklaan 10, Eindhoven, Duration: 1/4-24/9/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Fri-Sun 11:00-17:00, Thu 11:00-21:00, https://vanabbemuseum.nl