“Apple Tree”: Reflection on the human spirit

　　In the early spring of January 2009, I was invited by the artist Xu Zhiguang and to a viewing of his solo exhibition organized by the Heng Artland Company at Guanyingtang, Beijing. As soon as I entered the exhibition hall, the pungent smell of still-drying oil painting pigment wafted at me. Dazzling my eyes however was the vivid explosion of colours before my eyes. My senses were overwhelmed, and the acrid smell quickly faded to the background as I took in the detailed passionate brushwork interweaving the textured layers of colours.

　　Once I got past the immediate visual experience, I started to contemplate on the artist’s conceptualization of the ‘Apple Tree’ series. Different people interpret any series of paintings differently. How one sees good and evil, beauty and ugliness will inevitably vary. Some people will see through the eyes of passion while others through the intellect. For me, the ‘Apple Tree’ series is a revelation of life’s passion and the wild apple trees - standing strong and fruitful - an illumination of the human spirit.

　　Xu Zhiguang chose the seemingly simple subject of “Apple Tree” and “Apple Orchard” but it is in reality a complex and eternal subject with many interpretations. It is a subject that lends itself to a melding of nature with human culture. An apple is not only a fruit of nature, but it is also an artistic ‘fruit’ of the artist’s brush. An apple tree, easily over a century old in the wild, with its twisting gnarled branches and heavily laden with fruits is a life force of nature and a metaphor of the human passion for life and upward aspiration.

　　“Apple Tree”: On Nature and Life

　　Under the artist’s interpretation, the apple trees created under his brush strokes have in fact transcended the mundane visual of apple trees, and have taken on a symbolic representation of the natural world of which we are all a part of. It reminds us of a purer, natural world in which our spirits reside in. It reminds us of something we urban dwellers so often misplace and forget.

　　There is a spiritual source of truth that resides in nature. Many religions and philosophies allude to a world of spiritual perfection of which the physical elements we see today are but a pale facsimile of this ‘truth’. The Platonic tradition of the human distant memory of perfect forms is a good example. In the Christian tradition, the Garden of Eden was humanity’s paradise. God has created Adam and Eve as the first humans and they were free to enjoy paradise with the sole exception of forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Unable to resist the temptation, Adam and Eve ate the ‘apple’ from the tree of knowledge and with knowledge came an understanding of good, evil and shame. Their punishment was eviction from Eden. Henceforth, humanity was lost from paradise. Yet the distant memory of paradise is in the human spirit, and somewhere in all of us is the yearning and search for our Eden. In our quietest moments, all of us look eagerly for a return to natural innocence and happiness. It is unimportant whether a true Garden of Eden exists. It is a metaphor for the human condition. Xu Zhiguang’s apple trees and apple orchards draw on this primordial source, reminding us of that distant memory of paradise .

　　From a less philosophical angle, Xu’s apple trees are a celebration of nature and life. The artist does not present things on a small scale and through his canvas expresses a glorious vision of nature. He describes the apple tree as the source of life for the apples, explores the natural beauty of the environment it exists in and creates a sense of the space it exists in. It is permanent impermanence – the fruits have a short life, but the apple tree guarantees a rebirth. In his paintings, Xu injects his own understanding of nature and man as one reflecting on the temperament and boundaries of nature’s beauty.

　　“Apple Tree ”: Ode to Art

　　The fundamental essence of art is the expression of truth, empathy and beauty. Art need not be ‘pretty’ but it needs to describe a deeper truth. For an artist, the artistic insight of truth, empathy and beauty has to be cultivated through philosophical thinking and cultural consciousness on the part of the artist. This artistic insight is what separates the craftsman from the artist.

　　It is said that Western culture is the result of two apples. The first apple was eaten by Adam and Eve. This first apple can be said to be the fruit of mankind’s religion and culture – wisdom and the eternal struggle to transcend evil. The second apple is the apple that fell on Newton’s head, inspiring him to develop the theory of gravity. This second apple is the fruit of human science and technology – the quest for truth and knowledge. These two apples have in turn spawned a third apple – this is the fruit of human art – the pursuit of beauty.

　　In a sense, the apple tree is a representation of wisdom in Western culture. Partaking the forbidden fruit has caused paradise to be lost to mankind, to be replace by a harsh world of difficult living conditions and hard work, but in exchange, mankind has received knowledge and with that a limited form of wisdom. Mankind has left behind ignorance and has gained knowledge of good and evil. This is the birth of humanism, independence and an awakening of the human-centric universe. In the Western Christian experience, the price for knowledge and wisdom is death and suffering. This was the price that was paid. Xu Zhiguang’s paintings remind me of this cultural history with its symbolic conceit of human wisdom.

　　Art is not simply an aesthetic but an essential ideal of humanity’s soul. A person bereft of this is analogous to the walking dead; paintings absent of the pursuit of idealism and without the imprint of the artist’s soul must invariably come across as insincere and somewhat facile. Under the impetus that art respects no boundaries, our generation has seen a flood of ‘art’ that strives for cleverness. Innovation has become a byword for art. We see artists strive to shock and dismay, presenting dark, strange and ugly themes built on flimsy philosophies. Everywhere we turn we see ‘art’ that demonstrates only spiritual impulsiveness and vacuity of mind. Art subordinate to fame and fortune lacks the nobility and purity of ideals.

　　A mass cultural awakening and self-awareness is of course, out of the question. However, against this backdrop, the philosophical pursuit and independent cultural depth of an artist like Xu Zhiguang shines especially clearly and conspicuously. His paintings come across like a fresh wind fanned by an honesty of feelings. He does not need to shock us to create an intensity of feelings.

　　Xu Zhiguang’s “Apple Tree” art exhibition has left us with an eternity of cultural questions to ponder upon. In the best traditions of philosophy, there is no answer, only wisdom.

　　April, 2009 in Tsinghua University

作者：Jia,Jingsheng