[Explanation] Pang Maokun, vice chairman of the Chinese Artists Association and dean of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, recently said in an exclusive interview with reporters in his studio in Chongqing that China will usher in an era of great cultural and artistic development. Young artists must seize the opportunity to usher in Own time.
Born in Chongqing in 1963, Pang Maokun started studying Western oil painting in middle school. He studied at the Oil Painting Department of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts from 1981 to 1988 and obtained a master's degree in oil painting.
Over the years, Pang Maokun has been exploring the expression and presentation of classical oil painting language in contemporary cultural contexts, and his works have been collected by many art institutions at home and abroad.
Pang Maokun summed up a basic law of art development, which is what kind of era creates what kind of art.
He pointed out that China's art after the reform and opening up is very different from before. With the change of people's mental outlook and the broadening of horizons, as well as the changes in social life scenes, artistic creation has become more and more active and has entered a diversified era.
[Concurrent] Pang Maokun, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Dean of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
From the earliest perspective, like the Renaissance, its art works were indeed produced with the development of science and technology, humanities, and society at that time.
So it's the same in China. After China's reform and opening up, Chinese art is very different from the previous art, that is, it has broadened its horizons and entered an era of diversification.
[Explanation] As the only higher art academy in southwest China, the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts is very sensitive to the development of the social era. From the large-scale sculpture "Rent Collection Court" created in 1965 to the famous oil painting "Father" completed in 1980, It is a reflection of the times.
Today's Chuanmei emphasizes sociality, people's character, and contemporary character in artistic creation.
[Concurrent] Pang Maokun, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Dean of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
Today our art education must highlight its characteristics, that is, each school must have its own characteristics.
In fact, Chuanmei's characteristics are what I just said, emphasizing sociality, emphasizing people's character, and emphasizing contemporaryness, which are the characteristics of the times.
These three characteristics have been an excellent academic tradition of Chuanmei, and they can also work today.
[Explanation] Chuanmei Oil Painting Department has been adhering to the educational mechanism of "using exhibitions to drive students' creative enthusiasm" for more than 30 years. It attaches great importance to the creation classes of the lower grades, and at the same time encourages students to make their own creations in their spare time, and participates in exhibitions in society very early.
Pang Maokun said that Chuanmei uses creativity to drive teaching, and takes participation in exhibitions as actual combat training. It requires students to produce creative results in undergraduate studies and explore their personal style positioning.
[Concurrent] Pang Maokun, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Dean of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
The creation class in the lower grades is very important, and the creation class has always been regarded as a very important thing.
In some other art academies, he said that creation is a future thing. You should lay the foundation first, and then you can create later when you graduate. There is still this saying that creation cannot be taught.
In fact, there are many rules and training methods in creation. Chuanmei attaches great importance to creation teaching.
[Explanation] In recent years, more and more governments, institutions, and enterprises have cooperated with Chuanmei, covering many fields such as rural revitalization, park planning and design, art corridor construction, cultural relics protection, industrial design, animation design, game design, etc.
Pang Maokun said that in the past, professional art academies were relatively marginal in serving local economic and social development, and their participation in affairs was limited. With the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for culture and art has become more and more prosperous, and Chuanmei has become more and more in terms of social services. Centralization plays a role in more fields.
[Concurrent] Pang Maokun, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Dean of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts
In terms of social services, Chuanmei has recently played its role more and more.
In the past, in the entire local area, especially a professional art academy, it was very marginal in the area of local economic services, and many of them could not participate.
Now it is becoming more and more centralized, because the overall quality of life has improved.
[Explanation] Pang Maokun has many exchanges and visits with foreign art schools and artists, and believes that the growth environment for Chinese artists in this era is the best.
He said that in the future, as the degree of internationalization further deepens, it will promote the better development of art, and China will usher in an era of great development of culture and art.
Xiao Jiangchuan and Zhai Jiandong report from Chongqing
Editor in charge: [Tian Boqun]