An important event of the Year of China in France, the personal art exhibition of Shidi in Paris in January 2005 attracted extensive attention from the local art, cultural, fashion worlds and the press. Her painting was seen by international professionals as the emergence of a novel form of watercolor.

　　On October 25 2006, the opening of Invisible Wings in the Wind: Exhibition of Angélique Shidi’s Art, co-curated by Mr. Fan Di’an, a renowned international curator and director of NAMOC, and Mr. Sanfo, Chairman of the Italian Cultural Center, and the launch of the catalog Invisible Wings in the Wind II, chief-edited by Mr. Fan Di’an, will be held at the National Art Museum of China at 10:30 am.

　　Co-organized by the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture of China, the Department of Foreign Exchange and Cooperation of the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, the Chinese Embassy in France, the National Art Museum of China, the Art Committee of China Artists Association and the Italian Cultural Center, and with special support from the French Embassy in China and L'Oréal, the exhibition is the tour and continuation of the exhibitions of Shidi’s art at Paris and Shanghai.

　　The works included in the exhibition, all watercolors and most with the dimensions of 200cmx150cm/150cmx100cm, are displayed in eight sections, namely: The Vague and the Appeal, The Inside-out and the Outside-in, The Trance of Self in Distance, The Resonance of the Chime, The Ethereal Sound, Humming Wind and Dancing Cloud, The Tune of Tiding, and The Galactic Whisper. Mr. Fan Di’an comments on her painting: “Familiar or unfamiliar with her, one feels like entering a mythic and profound world when facing with such a portfolio. Each work unfolded is a segment of nature she plucked at one moment – they come with the wind, graceful and sublime, bringing to the eyes pleasant joy and refreshing touches. All her works combine to form an aura with full vitality and shining splendor, from whence one feels Shidi’s talent and gift in art creation. She is willing to share with others the sunlight, the rain, the dew, the mist, the water and the rosy cloud in the world of her painting. That is exactly a most treasurable quality of art creation - it is a pleasure for one to discover and express oneself, but it is the fulfillment of this pleasure to have others share the same and acquire more.”

　　Shidi seems like a fairy from Heaven, and with her talent and brush she brings to people one surprise after another. She is the only Chinese to hold all at once the certificates of GIA (Gemological Institute of America), AJP (Accredited Jewelry Professional) and G.G. (Graduate Gemologist). It is the close contact with the gem and the cosmos that has stimulated the initial inspirations and creative impulse in Shidi’s heart. From the lively gems and the cosmos, she feels and comprehends the selfless gifts to human vision and soul from the Nature, and a symbiotic spiritual home is born between the soul and the objects. She says, “I am familiar with the world of gem, and in that free world is refracted the nature of every being, where I have been led to a dialogue with time. And I have often been overwhelmed by their traces, so full of vital energy.” So she takes the painting brush and begins to narrate her feelings with painting language, infusing into the paintings with vibrant colors all the dialogues she has with the gem and the cosmos, and leaving on the picture frames a self, who changes and flows like the sun and the morning breeze. In the works are secretly melted bits and pieces of gem powder, which lives in the painting with her life under the brushwork. She always wants the painting to be alive, to show the imagery of her changing emotion, and to grow with herself. Thus by means of painting, Shidi has left a colorful Diary of Paintings for her course of life.

　　Although without formal art education in an art school, her years of attentive studying with several famous masters has taught her an insight to watch, “an insight to look at oneself confidently, and to capture in painting what is unfolding in nature.” The highest realm in painting in ancient China is No Hindrance, referring to a smooth and unhindered harmonious relationship reached between the painter and the object he/she depicts, the oneness of the soul and observation, the oneness of the feeling and presentation, and the oneness of the language and the image. It is because Shidi has no intention to get involved in the contemporary debates over painting, and because she does not have to obey all kinds of canons that often hinder the free expression of painting, that she is able to obtain a true freedom in presentation and expression, and to fully present her soul with No Hindrance. Her joy in painting is a disposition of herself as well as a reward for her persevering pursuit of art. The guidance and advice of the masters do have important influences on Shidi’s production; meanwhile, she is very diligent and hardworking. Her seemingly spontaneous works abound in delicate and carefully conceived brushstrokes as well as exquisite and refined texture, and she is meticulous in her experiments and requirements in the materials. Often she would run into the studio the moment she wakes up, in an urge to express her feelings with the brush, and often for quite some time she would cut all contacts with the world and immerse herself exclusively in painting.

　　The creative passion of Shidi comes from her perseverance and love for art and for life. It is often with a sensitive, curious yet in the meantime transparent and innocent heart that Shidi perceives life, and injects, unreserved, this comprehension and affection into the brush, to feel the joy of the soul in the beats of colors and the effects of the ink. Her sensations induce her to start painting, and her painting is the result of immediate engagement with sensations. From her painting the viewer is able to see the naivety and pleasure in painting……That naivety is good enough to compensate the possible break in the process from sensation to completion, and gives her the courage to boldly express and freely narrate, thus she is able to paint sufficiently and with no impedance, and giving birth to a unified organic life with the surfaced subconsciousness. The firm belief in exploring and highlighting the spiritual power sometimes means enlightenment to life and even to the ways of living. Therefore, her painting as a whole may be seen as a symbol in defending the independence and purity of the spiritual subject.

　　Shidi, a lover of painting, “would show up and strike you with an intangible edge. Her unaffected naivety and untamed elegance would carry you away and leave no trace. Behold, here are invisible wings in the wind”. This may be the most appropriate and natural comment to both the person and painting of Shidi.

　　Curriculum Vitae

　　Angélique Shidi

　　Born in Hangzhou, awarded the certificates of GIA (Gemological Institute of America), AJP (Accredited Jewelry Professional) and G.G. (Graduate Gemologist) in 2004, member of China Artists Association.

　　Chronology in Art

　　2004

　　1. Her works included in the Watercolor Exhibition of the Tenth National Fine Arts Exhibitions of China

　　2. Award Winner of the Eleventh Fine Arts Exhibition of Zhejiang Province

　　3. Her catalog Invisible Wings in the Wind: Selected Artworks by Shidi published

　　2005

　　1. Her works included in Future Archeology: the Second Triennial of Chinese Art

　　2. Her works included in the Second Beijing International Biennial

　　3. Her works included in the Seventh National Watercolor and Pastel Exhibition

　　4. Participating In the Deep of Reality: A Case of Chinese Contemporary Art

　　5. Invisible Wings in the Wind: Personal Art Exhibition of Shidi held at the Chinese Culture Center in Paris

　　6. Invisible Wings in the Wind: Personal Art Exhibition of Shidi held at Shanghai Art Museum

　　2006

　　1. Her works included in the Theme Exhibition of Turino Winter Olympic Games

　　2. Her works included in the exhibition One Hundred Years of Chinese Watercolor Painting

　　3. Her catalog Invisible Wings in the Wind II: A Selection of Shidi’s Art published

　　4. Invisible Wings in the Wind: A Selection of Shidi’s Art Stamp Album I launched by China Post

　　5. Personal Exhibition Invisible Wings in the Wind: Exhibition of Angélique Shidi’s Art at the National Art Museum of China

　　For information:

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