Flowing of Still Life, Thinking of Retreat: Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme—12 Years from China
Duration: 7 November 2018 – 11 November 2018
Address: Hall D, West Bund Art Center, 2555 Longteng Avenue, Shanghai
Opening: 11 am, 7 November 2018
Participating Artists: DING Jie, JIN Feng, QI Xing, MAO Yan, ZHANG Qing, YUAN Yuan, ZHANG Yunyao, HU Zi, SU Chang, HU Weiyi, ZHANG Ruyi, GAO Yu
“Still life” is an intangible item that originally comes from painting. It means those static objects being looked at for a detailed description—both a genre and a motif in painting. Regarded as an inanimate entity though, it would indeed unlock the secrets of nature. Started in 2007 and keeping running for 12 years, the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme invites Chinese artists to stay in Dufftown along Speyside in Scotland for three months every year. The Conval Hills covering an area of 1,200 acres, the River Fiddich and the Dullan Water submerging into one, and the vast barley villages all form the ecology of the place. The 12 artists—DING Jie, JIN Feng, QI Xing, MAO Yan, ZHANG Qing, YUAN Yuan, ZHANG Yunyao, HU Zi, SU Chang, HU Weiyi, ZHANG Ruyi, GAO Yu—have perceived the unique aesthetic feeling and poetic quality besides the tranquility of life when having an eye on these “still life.” Taking a temporary “retreat” from the city and spending some time in a “retreat” in the countryside, they discover a different reality concealed by the hustle and bustle. No matter what they create—either painting or sculpture, photography or video, the 12 Chinese artists use local materials, landscaped elements and the humanistic environment to develop their practice and make a revisit to the corporeal reality and psychic reality that they are faced with.
The Chinese artist participating in the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme this year is GAO Yu, who emerged as the most vocal one among the “Cartoon Generation” in the country. In his long-term practice of painting, GAO creates a sophisticated composition of cartoon characters and realistic figures and incorporates them into a compound display, rendered with clever humour and wit. The body of work provides the most detailed genetic portrait of today’s social pattern and breaks the fixed routine of our growing-up and the paradox of stereotyped identities embedded in the collective memory. The perceived “counter-cultural” experience of being away from his homestead, GAO looks to the natural atmosphere of Glenfiddich Distillery for new inspiration. He chooses to vegetables, fruits, flowers, and other mundane objects. Completed with delicate and exquisite senses, the forms of still life given by the artist resort to textual production, thus enlarging the scope of the literary discourse for the flat images. Nevertheless, like many other participating artists, GAO grasps the essence of the semantic meaning of Glenfiddich—Valley of the Deer and applies his stylised icon to portray the stags that appear from time to time, which embodies the innovative route of Glenfiddich and its pioneering spirit of perseverance and progression. He also delineates animals including squirrels, ducks, etc., empowering the narrative with a well-defined vein in the series.
Looking back at the path of the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme from China throughout the 12 years, we can find that the opposite unity between the keen insight and artistic approach into practice appropriately demonstrates the perfect combination of the smooth taste and the sharp texture of Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky. The exhibition entitled “Flowing of Still Life, Thinking of Retreat” is not only an interpretation of such value but also illustrates the very basis of how the programme has developed into powerful action. Every artist who came to the Glenfiddich Distillery has to work with local artisans owning excellent craftsmanship and rich experience, learning from coopers who make oak barrels, copper sculptors who build unique copper stills, and malt masters for their persistence of “do one thing, and do it well,” which is precisely the artisan spirit of pure brewing. The quite and still time translates into the life of creation. 12 Chinese artists have gained their maturity during their stay with the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme, now contributing their thoughts from the opportunity.
Andy Fairgrieve, Curator of the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme
