Du Jie | Until We Meet Again ( de | cn )
Galerie Urs Meile Beijing - Lucerne, 2008-01-26 - 2008-03-29
In a circuitous labyrinth, the line networks of Du Jie (born in Xiangfang, Hubei province, in 1968, now living in Beijing) trace themselves across the canvas. Looking more closely, we make out the brush mark, follow the paint lines starting out in saturation, getting thinner, until a new stroke begins, etc. Without any visible effort, the color flows back to the origin of the painting process. And the undulation goes on endlessly.
Like diary sequences, Du Jie's titles testify to the time of their creation. Sometimes it takes the artist three weeks, sometimes four, to produce convolution by convolution of her 25 x 25 cm formats, which she has done since 2003. Whether black on white, or in a lighter and a darker blue, earthy hues or tones of springtime exhilaration, there is always an extreme precision of the brush stroke that has the new sweep flowing along the previous line in wafer-thin distance. The artist's decision to change, after her first few paintings (2002), from oil to water-soluble acrylics was a consequential one: from the point of view of her working technique, the reason was primarily the more liquid consistency which allows the paintbrush to glide with greater ease. It was even more important to Du Jie, however, that this change combined the material with the subject of her work, for the gently curving line is indeed a direct visualization of the ripples and waves of water. And it is not least the metaphorical density of the watery element in Chinese tradition that the artist alludes to in her paintings: water is soft and yielding but also powerful and indispensable to life, and when given an undulating motion, it reaches an almost musical dimension.
In the beginning of Chinese art, there was painting-the flowing Indian ink and the brush moving in masterly arcs. Both the fine art of calligraphy in its function as mediator of meaning and landscape painting with its contemplative intent left the artist with plenty of leeway for individual expression, in serene grandeur or with expressive gesture. Du Jie obviously strays from these beaten tracks, turning to abstract painting. Day by day, the process of painting for many hours provides her with a freedom that is just as productively draining as it is rewarding. In contrast to calligraphy, where the dynamic and abrupt brush stroke is a primary constituent, Du Jie opted for a technique that is determined by contemplation and continuity in unremitting transformation. The artist nonetheless abides by the traditional Chinese basic premise that calls for the identity of one's art and one's art of living.
Du Jie's works are intended for close viewing, with regard to the small formats she chooses and also to the esthetics of her paintings. The reason is that when seen from a distance, the blank spaces in the painting tend to blur, i.e., the still visible canvas ground and the line applied to it melt into a seemingly monochrome surface. So here art decelerates the heart rate, practically commanding our look at it to slow down. The mutual relativity of emptiness and abundance that has determined Chinese cosmology, philosophy, ethics, calligraphy and visual arts for thousands of years inevitably shows in Du Jie's paintings: the esthetics of production and reception argue by analogy.
Until we meet again is the title Du Jie chose for her Beijing exhibition, and this refers not only to the starting and ending points of the painted line that are joined at last when she finishes another piece, but she also means this exhortation in a totally literal sense. Du Jie extends an invitation to the gallery so as to share her joy about the fact that several of her paintings which had already been sold were lent back for the occasion and can now be seen in a creative encounter with her later works.
First published: Galerie Urs Meile Beijing - Lucerne
Translation: Werner Richter
