Beijing Meilidao International Art Institution launches “Pattern ? Style - Academic Series Exhibition” from February 2 to February 28, 2013. Last year, Meilidao International focused on the outstanding works by masters such as Guo Renwen and Leng Jun, this year, it pays more attention to support and foster the young artists, as well as the well-known artists. Liu Xiaoyu and Ma Jiawei, feature in the exhibition, the leaders of the younger generation in the Central Academy of Fine Arts, present to the public on February 2 their own thoughts on art through artworks.

In regard to the title, Ge Yujun, the curator said: “‘pattern’ means broad study and open vision, ‘style’ means the academic depth and the height of personality.” The two young artists are the doctoral students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, completing their college education. Their works are not the pursuit of purely visual effect and commercial value, instead, “a traditional cultural heritage, an interpretation of a creative idea, or a thought and an expanding of the core issue of art… there is no denying that ‘a(chǎn)cademic’ and ‘research’ are the outstanding features which make them different.

Li Xiaoyu is committed to realistic portrait painting. His artistic talent was noted in the High School Affiliated with the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Li treats art as his mission, and believes that it is the art that gives an artist the independent personality and value. He calmly studies realistic portraits, not only indulging in art, but also integrating himself into the broad cultural background, continuously improving his accomplishment in the humanity and spiritual realm, requiring a profound understanding of society, which will certainly be revealed further in his later works.

This is different from Li Xiaoyu, who is committed to the language of realistic portrait painting, Ma Jiawei explores how to use more diverse artistic language to express her feelings. Her creation is inspired by her mentor Prof. Ding Yilin: any works may lead to the opportunity to fine tune the next one. Based on traditional easel painting, along with the use of a variety of materials, she creates her works, in which there are objects of symbolic meaning and a realistic sense, gradually becoming the media to express her feelings of life. Different artistic language blends into each other, and complements each other in her paintings, to achieve a certain comfort. From the cement pipes, Ma Jiawei presents her world in her own unique perspective, using her keen mind and special language.

Regarding the artistic value of the two young artists, Ge Yujun, said with pertinence: The two young artists pay more attention in thinking about the development and inheritance of the law of art, than the investigation and research of art itself, rather than marketing and management of the market, they are hardly involved with the intervention of the art market. Therefore, in my opinion, in a sense, their works seem to be of more potential significance and of more value at another level...

?About the exhibition

Theme: Pattern ? Style – Academic Series Exhibition

Curator: Ge Yujun

Duration: February 2 – February 28, 2013

Venue: Meilidao International Art Institution

Address: No.77 Building6, 22 International Art Plaza, Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

?About the artists

Ma Jiawei

Born in Baoding, Hebei Province in 1982, Ma Jiawei graduated from the High School Affiliated with the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2003, and acheived her bachelor’s degree (2007) and master’s degree (2011) from the Department of Oil Painting of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 2009, she visited Museums in Europe, including Germany, France, Spain, and so on, between 2009 and 2010, she visited Japan twice for a cultural study. Currently she studies for her PhD in the Institute of Plastic Arts of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, instructed by Prof. Ding Yilin.

Li Xiaoyu

Born in Liaoning on July 12, 1979, Li Xiaoyu is a member of the Chinese Artists Association.

From 1994 to 1998, he studied in the High School Affiliated with the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and acheived his bachelor’s degree (2002) and master’s degree (2005) from the First Studio of the Department of Oil Painting of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, instructed by Prof. Jin Shangyi and Prof. Sun Weimin. He had studied in the course of sketching taught by Prof. Jones, Dean of the Glasgow School of Art, UK. Since September 2005, he has taught in the major of Oil Painting, the Department of Painting of the Art Institute, Renmin University of China. From September, 2010 until now, he has studied for his PhD in the Institute of Plastic Arts of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, instructed by Jin Shangyi.

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO