​　　Ernst Gombrich talked about a major shift in Western Art in the early 20th century in his work The Image and the Eye: Further Studies in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation which he accomplished in his later years. By this he meant that  the love of people for realistic reproduction in art since the Renaissance, has gradually faded over the past centuries while the envious empathy of achievements of faithful reproduction has cooled down. Their artistic tastes have diverged towards the primitive and ancient art. Meanwhile, he noticed that the enthusiasm for the subjective expression in the 20th century paintings: “in our museums, there is a wide variety of diversified artistic images, which make people feel dazzled and confused. They can be almost in line with all kinds of creations in the living world of Nature...In short, it is nothing but a human being living in various cultural environments and climates, which was born in his dreams and nightmares.”[1] This paragraph points out that the source of artistic creation does lies not only in the observation of natural things, but they also originate in the inner world of the artist, from his dialectical thinking about natural society, while a dream is a reflection of the state of mind, which is an important source of artistic creation.

　　Jin Rilong is an outstanding artist of Korean nationality from Yanbian, Jilin Province, China. In 1982, he won the Gold Award of the First Fine Arts Works by Ethnic Minorities with his work Grandma, which reflected the lives of ethnic minorities. He sprang to fame and attracted the attention of Jiang Feng, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In September of that year, he was enrolled in the Department of Oil Painting, the Central Academy of Fine Arts which initiated his dreamy artistic career. From 1996 through to 2005, he successively obtained Master’s and Doctor’s degrees from the renowned Seoul University and Hongik University in South Korea. After  returning to China in 2006, he taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. His design creation and teaching work over the past twenty years, did not annihilate his love for painting. Moreover they further promoted his associate research in graphic painting and design, which led him to take a distinctive and tortuous path, which also brought him abundant achievements.

　　Although Jin Rilong is modest and he has always kept a low profile, his inner love and devotion for art are almost fanatical. I have seen it with my own eyes, during the tropical summer vacation, in the corridor space of the teaching building, where every day he used to paint on the canvas with sweat and colors, creating dozens of large-scale abstract paintings, the quantity and quality of which impressed me greatly.

　　Recently, I have had the opportunity to see the artworks that Jin Rilong has sorted through and prepared for his solo exhibition to be presented at Prince Kung’s Mansion. Thus I have learned that he has never abandoned artistic creations which also brings out the question of how could he create so many artworks while being deeply occupied with his work at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

　　Through close observation of Jin Rilong’s artworks, I have obtained an interesting impression, that his works have undergone a process from realistic painting in the early days to human body paintings full of symbols and forms, and gradually turning to modern abstract paintings. This does not condense the process of Western art that has developed from realism, impressionism, expressionism, symbolism and abstract art from the late 19th century through the early 20th century, which is also a path of development for Chinese painting language from figurative representation to freehand expression, and further to abstract composition. It is really “to see a world in a wild flower and a buddhi in a leaf.” In Chinese contemporary art, many artists have actually experienced transformations from figurative realism to abstract expression. There must also be many painters who have insisted on their original road of realism and made great achievements.

　　For me, Jin Rilong’s transformation in painting has his own internal rationality, for he has not only been familiar and skilled in design art and graphic composition (as it’s known to all that the development of Western modern art is closely related to the design art brought about by the industrial revolution), which is more related to his continuous reflection and expression on the inner world. In the same way, abstract art is exactly about the inner spiritual world of human beings rather than the reappearance of external things. There’s a saying in Laozi’s Tao Te Ching, “The Tao, which can be told, is not the true Tao; The Name, which can be named, is not the true Name.” It denotes that the Tao that can be told is not the usual Tao, the name that can be named is not the common name. The Tao can be told and the Name can be named  refers to “self-explanatory abstraction,” Xu Shen wrote in Origin of Chinese Characters, “self-explanatory refers to comprehension through a glance, and detection through observation.” This is to say that the concrete things that can be said to have images are the special state of the Tao and the fundamental state of the Tao is inexpressible and unrecognizable.

　　The works by Jin Rilong, from the perspective of the titles, from the early “Stone Tripod”, “Golden Hairpin”, “Doraji”, “Crown Prince Maui”, he then gradually turned to “Watching”, “Standing”, and “Blood” and other symbolic expressions, from the social themes of the late 1980s and early 1990s to the symbolic human body of the mid-to-late 1990s; these human bodies become integrated with the background, full of power and enthusiasm. These works weaken the depth and perspective of the space and turn to the graphic depiction of colorful human bodies, and most importantly they present a sense of tone in color. By blending the blur of the subjective image with the depth of the background, Jin Rilong has naturally developed the color composition and structure of abstract painting without differences in an image. The strong brushstrokes and lines of expressionism that existed in his previous figurative works gradually rose to the main body of his painting. The image of daily life gradually retired, and the interlacing, interweaving and overlapping of colorful lines have become a visual image with dynamic strength.

　　In the new century, from the titles of Jin Rilong’s works, “Abyss”, “Coexistence”, “Memories”, “Practice”, “Blessing Ritual”, etc., through which we can also find that the artist’s creative focus has turned to the inner spiritual world, and the T-shaped composition and the mid-line balance in his works also reflect a certain firm belief. The series of installations and video works of Jin Rilong that he created around 2015 did not just reflect his thoughts on human history, but they also reflected his comprehension of the mysterious nature of the universe. In general, Jin Rilong’s recent works focus on the spiritual world of mankind and they have a universal reflection on human conditions. Among this are memories of youth and some fleeting moments of life, as well as the inner feelings touched by ordinary life. There are also things that seem to be understated but cannot be ignored. Those warm and moving moments that have been forgotten by time, are what we can only watch, but cannot touch. ... There is also the lost beauty of traditional cultures that have condensed into silent gloomy feelings, only remaining to be eternal in memory. Youth passes like flowing water, whether it is a happy moment or a moment of sorrow, people will disappear in the innocent conscious space. However, in a dull life, it is easy to ignore the sunshine and hope that bathe us. The dreams and imaginations in Jin Rilong’s works, whether they are sly or secluded, are dialogues or monologues within our epoch. It is not so much to say that the painter is depicting society and nature, but rather presenting the warmest and most delicate emotional space in the inner world, and pursuing the ideal feelings of individuals in modern society.

　　Jin Rilong’s works are quite different from the predecessors’ realistic reflection theory, which is expressed as the interweaving of fantasy and reality. He lives among us, and he confronts the everyday world like us, and he also has the troubles and confusions of secular life as we do, but his spirit transcends reality, and he observes the epoch from an insightful perspective, “refocus”, we can detect uneasiness and impulsiveness, confusion and reflection from his paintings and we can find his life sentiment that combines reality with history. This should be a historical “transcending” knowledge model he has obtained by the rich and diversified network information of recent years, but also it reflects the multiple choices of the knowledge dilemma and value judgment in the information age.

　　The treatment of space in Jin Rilong’s works has a strong surreal and symbolic nature. He strives to find things that are consistent with his emotional state, and in the chaotic, complicated color representation, he has created an art world different from the everyday world. In this way, things are separated from the everyday environment and the specific cultural meanings that people usually endow with them. Dreams break the chains of memory and present their own meaning of existence, revealing the truth of the world in the solemnity of silence. These colorful and powerful creations have the warmth of humanity and present us with a new visual experience, which makes it possible for us to transcend the electronic image of the information age and re-experience the creative sovereignty of human hands and hearts in the art world. The liberation of the spirit of the artist’s subject releases the colorful light of the soul, revealing the rich display of nature and the human heart as a lyrical song with rhythm.

　　The Director of Tate Britain believes: “The fascination with art is closely related to good behavioral habits. It can bring endless success or even development.” Italian linguist Moro once said that Darwin depicted a scientific attitude as a modest combination of scepticism and bold ideas: every argument, even if people are most acceptable, should be treated as a hypothesis as well; and every hypothesis, even the most peculiar, is also taken as a possible argument and may be confirmed and developed. Looking forward to the world of contemporary art, what is most surprising and full of anticipation is the artist's constant innovation and exploration of the possibilities of artistic language. The artist’s pursuit of superb, thorough and novel language expression is endless, for which we are full of expectation for artists who focus on the study of artistic languages.

　　For Jin Rilong, the exploration of abstract art certainly cannot stay in the general sense of visual language and formal aesthetics. In this field, modern design art has actually done a lot of work and gained rich results as a reference. It is important to shift from the “retina art” that focuses on visual perception to the inner world and spiritual life of people. I look forward to the deepening of Jin Rilong’s creation, and on the basis of the feelings about daily life, to gain insight into the silent, unnoticed, unrecognized and amazing world vision. It is in the ordinary space and objects which surround us that there is a mysterious existence hidden by our cultural heritage. I hope that Jin Rilong will bring us a more “unfamiliar” spirit and lead us into the endless tunnel of life.

　　Note:

　　[1] Ernst Gombrich: The Image and the Eye: Further Studies in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation, Felton Press, 1982, p. 11. Quoted from Wu Jiafeng: “On Western Realistic Painting”, Culture and Art Publishing House, 1989, pp. 59-60.

Yin Shuangxi

Professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Doctoral Supervisor

Editor-in-Chief of Art Research