The Stylistic History of the Works and the Narrative of People’s Time: The New Book Release and Dialogue of “Painting Things: The Art of He Duoling”

“The Matters of Painting – The Art of He Duoling,” newly published by Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House, takes the works exhibited in the large-scale art exhibition “The Matters of Painting – The Artistic Journey of He Duoling” held at the Chengdu Art Museum in 2022 as a clue. It compiles and edits comments, interviews, artist’s narratives, and letters related to He Duoling’s works published in public media or included in the artist’s personal albums. From the classic work “Spring Breeze Has Awakened” in 1982 to new works such as “Learning with Ye Xiao” and “Wild Garden Wall” around 2020, the book comprehensively showcases the artistic development journey of oil painter He Duoling over the past half-century. It is a documentary collection of case studies on the artist with a complete timeline and clearly defined stylistic changes.

The book concisely and comprehensively summarizes the artist’s painting techniques, styles, and conceptual changes from the 1980s to the present through a compilation of excerpts from various documents. It includes warm narratives from old friends such as Ouyang Jianghe and Zhai Yongming, as well as theoretical analyses from critics such as Li Xianting, Lu Peng, Zhu Zhu, and Yao Feng, making it rich and comprehensive. To more accurately present the artist’s contemporary value, the second half of the book presents a parallel comparison between the artist’s personal artistic chronology and a chronology of major events in Chinese cultural and artistic history from 1948 (the year the artist was born) to 2022. This intertextual relationship between the artist’s personal life and the context of the times allows readers to more intuitively feel how a cultural “celebrity” gradually moves from the present into history.

On November 18th, invited by the A4 Documentation Center, Mr. He Duoling will bring this new book to the multi-function hall on the 4th floor of the A4 Art Museum (Lushan). He will engage in an academic dialogue with Lu Peng, the editor-in-chief of “The Matters of Painting – The Art of He Duoling” and art historian, on the topic of “The Stylistic History of Works and the Narrative of Human Time.” A book signing session will also be held on site.