No.20259  76.5x197cm Collage on Paper 2020

Except for the work entitled No.19234 , these are all collages on paper I have completed during the pandemic spread in 2020. Almost without any strokes in painting, I have made use of painting fragments left over during various periods to make collages. The fragments that I have kept for over a decade, are just like my own experiences and memories in my mind. If I did not use brushes to paint, there will be no technicality in painting as all my technical skills were omitted. My creative process is based on judgment and decisions as all of them are related to my previous experiences, and my decision in paintings are usually instantaneous and they reflect the momentary feelings. Therefore, the isolation caused by the pandemic is suitable for my creations as they originate from my past art (of my own as well as those of modern Chinese and foreign art), and also seem to be from my past and present life. Staying at home is not a big problem for me, but if it lasts any longer, I also have some expectation, especially for a person like me who loves nature. Thus several of my works are related to spring, here are my captions as a proof: “Although I have to stay at home, there’s a spring in my heart,” “All of my feelings for spring can only be told to Begonia,” “As long as we had to stay in shabby rooms, we can feel the spring breeze is smiling on the peach blossoms outside the window” and so on. There is not a concrete image of the Nature in my work, as I feel it at the moment instead of seeing it. Like a poem, it does not represent Nature, it makes us feel the world. Actually, it’s unnecessary to figure out what this is when watching my work, it’s fine when you just think about what you feel. I have written on my work, “It’s nothing, it’s everything…”It means something like this. In recent years, everyone can be an artist, and what I am doing is something that everyone can do. The major difference lies in the creator, experience and taste. 

No.19234  80x200cm  Collage on Paper 2019

No.20263  76x144cm Collage on Paper 2020

No.20265  142x69cm Collage on Paper  2020

No.20270  200x80cm Collage on Paper 2020

No.20271  200x80cm Collage on Paper 2020

Wei Jia (b. 1957, Beijing) practiced traditional calligraphy, Chinese painting and poetry from an early age. Wei graduated with a B.F.A from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (1984) and M.F.A. from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (1987). He currently works and lives in New York and Beijing. Wei has had numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally, including Central Academy of Fines Arts (Beijing), National Museum of Art (Beijing), CU Art Museum University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, U.S.A.), Lincoln Center (New York), etc. Since 1987, he has had 16 solo exhibitions in the United States. His works are in the public collections of The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Utah Museum (Salt Lake City), the Dadu Museum (Beijing) and the Brooklyn Museum (New York). His recent shows include Blurred Boundaries, New York School of Interior Design Gallery, New York (2018); Wei Jia: Recent Work, Schmidt/Dean Gallery, Philadelphia (2017); Lin Yan, Wei Jia: A Garden Window, Kwai Fung Hin Gallery, Hong Kong (2015); Oil & Water: Reinterpreting Ink, The Museum of Chinese in America, New York (2014) and Tales of Two Cities: New York & Beijing, Bruce Museum, Greenwich (2014). In 2018, He has first solo exhibition A Way of Life at Fou Gallery, New York. The Illustrated Word at Chambers Fine Art, New York, 2019

Image and Text Courtesy of the Artist.

Edited by Sue and Emily/CAFA ART INFO