Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    FRESH Vision, an annual exhibition of artworks created by Chinese fine arts graduates, is being held at O’Plaza Shopping Center in Nanshan District.

    Organized by the OCT Contemporary Art Terminal (OCAT), the 2014 Fresh Vision Art Project invited artists He Jing and Luan Zhichao to jointly curate the exhibition. Between June and July, they visited the top 10 Chinese art academies in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Tianjin and other cities to attend graduate exhibitions and select outstanding artworks for the exhibition.

    Participating academies for the exhibition are China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Tsinghua University Academy of Art and Design, China Academy of Art, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Hubei Institute of Fine Arts and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

    “This exhibition doesn’t simply showcase beautiful student graduate works. We select works that are creative and different from mainstream, homework-like pieces,” said He, a researcher at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France. She graduated from Tsinghua University Academy of Art and Design in Beijing and Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris.

    He believes that no fine arts institutions in the world can train an art student to become an artist in just four to seven years, but during the process of selecting exhibits, she found that China’s art institutions, including some top academies, have drawbacks in how the courses are designed and that they don’t develop students’ creativity.

    According to He, the institutions divide their departments into four main areas: traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, printmaking and sculpture. The broad range of other creations are designated as “new media” or “experimental art” departments.

    “This old system of course defining isolates different mediums of art and focuses on skill training rather than creativity for students. The outcome of this system is that most students train primarily to learn to paint or sculpt well. They are rarely told that making a beautiful piece of art is merely one of the many thresholds they must cross to become artists. They don’t know how to develop their own creativity,” said He.

    Curator Luan is a critic for Art World Magazine in Beijing. She studied Western literary theory and cultural studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University. She said that after extensive research on students’ artworks and talking with them, the curators selected exhibits created by those who possessed the ability to think independently. They chose students who treated their works as creations, not a merely class exercises.

    “We also paid attention to students who could mix different mediums into their artworks and possessed a clear understanding of how to present their works in an exhibition hall,” said Luan.

    She noted that a parallel problem reflected in various graduation exhibitions in China is that the students don’t know how to present their artworks. “They just hang their paintings or place their sculptures in exhibition halls, not knowing that contemporary art requires unique presentations.”

    She cited the artwork “Despicable Me,” created by China Academy of Art graduate Chen Yihan, as a good example. Chen placed his four oil paintings together with graffiti and small installations in the exhibition hall. “The paintings are playful, and every time he exhibited the piece, the presentation was different. Chen blurred boundaries between mediums and established his own conception on space and art forms,” said Luan.

    Dates: Until Nov. 20

    Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

    Venue: O’Plaza, Baishi Road, Nanshan District (南山区白石路欢乐海岸购物中心)

    Metro: Luobao Line, Qiaocheng East Station (侨城东站), Exit B