April 30,? 2015 CAFA Graduate Exhibition for Postgraduate students was opened at the CAFA Art Museum, as the annual graduate exhibition of CAFA kicked off officially. The Graduate Exhibition for postgraduate students celebrates art research in all aspects of postgraduate education at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (ab. CAFA), showcasing over 400 works by 320 postgraduate and PhD. Candidates (dissertations from the School of Humanities are not available for the exhibition), including the specialisms in Chinese traditional painting, oil paintings, prints, sculpture, experimental art, design, architecture, film and television production, etc. It completely reflects the educational and creative achievements of postgraduate study in the past three years.

Gao Hong, Party Secretary of the Central Academy of Fine Arts(ab. CAFA), Wang Shaojun, Deputy Party Secretary of CAFA, Su Xinping, Vice President of CAFA, Chen Qi, Director of Postgraduate Division of CAFA, as well as the faculty leaders and professional instructors such as Ma Lu, Wang Min, Lv Shengzhong, Wang Zhong, Ding Yilin, Wang Huaxiang, Li Yang, Yu Fan, Lv Yue, Song Xiewei, Jin Jun, Lv Pinchang attended the opening ceremony. Senior Professors Jin Zhilin, Wu Biduan and Shi Jun also came to offer their congratulations and best wishes to the younger postgraduate students of CAFA.

Wang Huangsheng, Director of CAFA Art Museum chaired the opening ceremony and he referred to the exhibition space as each of the artists has only a three-meter-long space, their three years of study and creation has been concentrated into this space of three meters. Undoubtedly this is an excellent exhibition worthy of attention. Su Xinping, Vice President of CAFA addressed the opening ceremony stating that the graduate exhibition should be forged into an exhibiting platform for evaluation, communication and interactions. Also he mentioned that this graduate exhibition has made breakthrough in the borders of specialisms with the increase of comprehensive and experimental works: on the one hand most postgraduate students still focused on the exploration and thinking in their own specialisms, their works embodied strong performance dynamics, on the other hand, there were quite a few students that contributed to the contemporary transferring attempts in the traditional language from their specialism, many of them give expression to the unique nature of ideology, reasoning and language. Finally, Su Xinping warned the postgraduate students of the new beginning of their artistic life as they had finished their study at art schools. Currently the rich, complicated and profound social changes provided both nutrients together with oil and challenges to the artists. Once you chose art, it meant you chose a way full of misery, only if an artist kept challenging things and seeking the independent opinion in speculation, it might be that there is a possibility to find his own language of art through an independent way of creation. Prof. Yu Fan who represented the instructors suggested the postgraduate students should pay more attention to the relationship between the overall and the individual, no matter what the setbacks they come across in the future, they should think about the motto of CAFA “Do One’s utmost in the Subtle Detail and Apply Oneself to the Mass”. The academy was like a bus, though postgraduate students left it after they graduated but the relationship has not been cut off, they just turned from teachers and students to friends, they would encourage each other in their endeavors.

Wang Yicheng as the representative of the postgraduate students extended thanks to the guidance of their instructors, he believed that the graduation creations have experienced endless attempts and accumulation and they interpreted the understanding of art with lines, colors, textures and light, they carried forward hopes and dreams. Three years of training further affirmed their creative thinking this is a precious experience of life, which encourages them to become the benchmark of artists in their future artistic career.

The graduation exhibition is a summary of postgraduate study, but it should not be the terminal of study, instead it should be an extension, hopefully “graduates from CAFA” start from here, observe society, think about the problems, and initiate artistic life of their own.

The exhibition will remain on view till 18 May.

Text by Zhang Wenzhi, photo by Xu Fan and Wei Wei/CAFA

Translated and edited by CAFA ART INFO