/ 斜杠艺术生系列 /

This field trip with the school is the exhibition of Matisse's Matisse at the UCA Art Museum in Shanghai.

Most of the students and teachers participated in this field trip. In today's exhibition, Matisse‘s manuscripts and line manuscripts are relatively large, and there are not many representative works. I saw that it was interesting. For example, there is a chapter in the exhibition that is Matisse’s book illustrations that I didn't notice before. Most of the portraits in these illustrations only talk a few strokes, but capture the charm of the characters. I saw that some friends who watched the exhibition were imitating these expressions, which was very interesting. Matisse drew a group of "Three Heads, To Friendship", which refers to Matisse and his friend, the French surrealist poet Gium Apollinaire and the French writer Andre Rouville. But I don't know why, when I look at this group of paintings, the friendship story of crosstalk actor Guo Degang "entrusting his wife and children" always comes to my mind. When Matisse was designing the Vance Chapel, he drew a draft of the Standing Virgin and Child, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt. Another gain is that I have the impression that Tasiti belongs to Gaug. This time I saw the exhibition and found that it also belongs to Matisse. In the chapter of Matisse and Fabrics, we learned that the Matisse family has lived in the Lecato-Cambrezi area for more than 300 years and has been engaged in the textile industry for generations. These exquisite fabrics have an important influence on Matisse's later creation, and Matisse also has a rich textile collection. I like this pair of "Woman in a Blue Gondola Robe" and the tapestry "Woman Playing Lute".

This exhibition made me feel the painting-face change of the master very intuitively. I think there is something in common between children and the master. Children's painting is very pure. He doesn't have many so-called painting skills and painting theories. They just use brushes to draw their eyes or inner world. I think the master is looking at thousands of worlds, constantly trying, constantly practicing, constantly thinking, constantly learning, constantly abandoning, and finally returning to innocence.

November 8th, I went to the exhibition called “Matisse by Matisse” with the school.

One thing that I feel that the art gallery has been creative is by putting many of these quotes on the wall. One quote that I really like is : “drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.” I totally agree with this opinion, that makes me to think of my work. I start to question myself, is the art I am creating now having this amount of expression? Do my work marks in audience’s heart? On the other hand, Matisse claims his ideas like jokes in his quotes. “My curves are not crazy”, many abstract artists are trying to prove themselves to the world that they are also artists. By looking at Matisse’s work, I would say that he is an artist with superior consciousness.

Talking about my component three, Matisse could be a perfect artist to reference. He has a unique perspective while painting, this is one of things what I am lacking right now. Just like what I have mentioned in my previous paragraph, he makes me to reflect on the value of my work. I could possibly do artist copies on some of Matisse’s black and white works. Personally, I feel Matisse’s lines build up his style. I love the way how he analyzes both humans and objects in a simplified way.

By knowing the full concept of Matisse, I would say that he is successful. He is the master of using color and expression, but most importantly, being the first man that starts draughtsmanship. Starting a new type of art requires a lot of bravery, this is something that I should intake the most. In my lifetime, I shouldn’t be too concerned on how others think I am, because they don’t know me enough.

I have heard a little about this exhibition when I was in Beijing, and now I have come to Shanghai, and the school has organized us to see it. Because it has not been long since the opening, when I did not go in and queue outside, I watched a few waves of children wearing uniform clothes and followed adults chirping into the exhibition hall, how much was a little panic. Sure enough, there were too many people. The beginning of the div, did not have time to look at it, he hid away. What is interesting is reading at the beginning of the exhibition about Matisse's reasons for learning to paint. The son of a textile family, Matisse went to Paris at the age of 18 to study law and became a magistrate. During an appendicitis illness, the patient next to his bed picked up a small box of watercolor paint and painted, and the first time he painted, he felt "like heaven" and aspired to become an artist. Super curious about what it feels like to be "chosen by the gods", perhaps because I can never imagine, I feel that artists are treasures accidentally given to mortals by the gods.

His classic works, the numerous colors in an unexpected streamline entanglement, permeated with a wonderful sense of rhythm, bringing people a kind of vitality that seems to be forever upward. Before seeing the exhibition, I actually had some expectations, but I did not do any homework. I am very longing for "vitality", so I also have some preference for "Fauvism", for example, just like seeing "flowers with brocade", in the prosperity of the gaze can also stare to think about where everything in front of me. "Matisse's Matisse" offers a very beautiful way to see it.

This exhibition is curated by Patrice DePalp, director and Chief curator of the Muse de la Matis in the Northern Province of France, and the exhibition line design is outstanding among the UCCA exhibitions. The exhibition is divided into 11 divs, mainly organized according to the time line, from Matisse's imitation and exploration period in the academy as the beginning, through the "Fauvism" period, the Tahiti period, the paper cutting period, to the Vence Chapel designed by Matisse in his later years as the end of his artistic career. Great curation.

The exhibition is very distinctive. The exhibition has three floors, each featuring Matisse's drafts, sculptures, paintings, paper-cuts and clothes. There was a sculpture of portrait, and I think the medium he used, red clay is good. It shows the emotion of the portrait, even though it makes me feel little bit scared, I am still fascinated by the detail and expression of the statue. Besides, I got many inspiration from his paper-cuts and clothes. The patterns in his paper-cut are more like typography design, because each pattern corresponds to a meaning. All the paper-cut works contain the patterns designed by him. Although I can't directly see what the paper-cut works express, I can understand the meaning by the patterns and the names of the works. He uses the his patterns to design clothes, and many of the designs are quite like totems or minority clothing. 

This exhibition inspired me with my art study. For the sculpture from Matisse, I got some ideas for what materials I can use to do my component three for Fine art. My topic is “the relationship between humans and animals”, the red clay is suitable to express the relationship in conflict aspect. Beyond that the paper-cut gave me a fantastic idea of combining typography and pattern design together. This reminds me of Oracle bone inscriptions in China, and I think my later works can start from this idea. I learned that the patterns I did can also use on fashion design. 

There's a slogan that inspires me “Don't be afraid to learn from the masters. In the process of learning, you will always find yourself, because everyone has a unique soul, you can find your own unique."