On January 5, 2016, “2015 Creative Achievement Exhibition by the Postgraduate Students of the Department of Sculpture, CAFA” opened at Dayuntang Art Museum. The exhibition is jointly organized by the Department of Sculpture, CAFA and The Rhythm Art Organization, Prof. Lv Pinchang, Director of the Department of Sculpture, CAFA serves as the academic chair, and Prof. Yu Fan, Deputy Director of the Department of Sculpture, CAFA serves as the curator, to present 37 works of outstanding creation by the postgraduate students from the Department of Sculpture, CAFA, showcasing the status quo of the vivacious teaching, creation and research of the Department of Sculpture, CAFA, at the same time it will also display the present status of their achievement to the public, absorbing views and attitudes of all the parties involved, to offer a new referenced possibility for the teaching exploration of the academy and the artistic innovation of students. The exhibition is greatly supported by The Rhythm Art Organization, and it was also awarded the “Dayuntang Sculpture Award” at the same time.

The Department of Sculpture, CAFA is a highly creative teaching specialty, its teaching, research and creative vision breaks through the “ivory tower” of the academy, positively moving towards the folk and social life, starting from the horizontal and vertical dimensions to expand their own horizons. This was not only performed in terms of creating the ontology language, it also embodies the institutional building in the development of discipline construction. CAFA actively explores the possibility of the cooperative platform of college teaching and society, such as the “Summer of Iron and Steel” creative camp which was held in Taiyuan, in cooperation with the Taiyuan Municipal Government to hold the “Zeng Zhushao Sculpture Art Scholarship”. To launch the “Creative Achievement Exhibition by the Postgraduate Students” together with The Rhythm Art Organization, is another achievement and a platform for the Department of Sculpture, CAFA to communicate with society, it has been successfully held for 3 years, to form a continuous observation of the teaching status quo of sculpture speciality, and played a role in the development of the academy teaching and academic construction. Director of the Department of Sculpture Lv Pinchang addressed the opening with a speech and said that: “The creative quality of postgraduate students of the Department of Sculpture is continuously ascending, and we can see the multivariate features of the students in the exhibition which reveals an active tendency. It is embodied in three aspects: firstly, the open field of vision, the students take in new things by an open and inclusive mentality, the use of artistic vision to gaze at the existing problems; secondly, the students treat artistic creation with in-depth thinking, the use of a speculative perspective to perfect their artistic thought; thirdly, they are more and more mature in order to grasp material technology, being able to treat technologies with a professional insight, constantly excavating the technological potential, filled with creativity.” Prof. Yu Fan said they set up the award in order to help students walk out of the campus and communicate with society after their training.

The exhibited works are created by the postgraduate students from the Department of Sculpture, CAFA over the last year, basically covering the creations in different directions under the guidance of different teachers, truly and comprehensively displaying the situation and concern of the students’ creations. Seen from the displayed works, they are both the expression of traditional realistic sculptural language and the experimental exploration of different materials and languages which is manifested in active creative thinking and the explorative ability of the young artists of the academy. It is also the observation perspective for the selection, Prof. Lv Pinchang stressed that the exhibition and the usual teaching attached great importance to the students’ expression of language that was different from the traditional styles, even little progress or development was encouraged, material was not first place in the work, but the precise expressive way of the work, whether it was in line with the artists’ heart, whether the audience could understand the things expressed by the artists by the works was the first.

The exhibition will continue to January 15, 2016.

Reviewed by the teachers from the Department of Sculpture, CAFA Jiang Jie, Chen Ke, Wang Wei, Cao Hui and the critic Yin Shuangxi, the winners of “Dayuntang Sculpture Award” were selected:

The Best Work Prize (none)

The Best Creation Prize: Du Yingqi

The Best Production Prize: Lin Zhi

The Best Material Application Prize: Dai Lina

The Best Skill Inheritance Prize: Wang Mingze, Wang Dong

Finalists: Wang Chengpu, Dong Lin, Wang Yanyan, Qiu Mian, Xia Lijia, Wei Xiaohao, Zou Yang, Li Wanqiu, Peng Xianfeng, Wang Enlai, Wang Leqing, Wang Chaoyong, Wang Chuan, Yang Guang, Guo Xiaorong, Zhang Guozhao, Wang Tunan, Yuan Zhe

Text and photo by Zhang Wenzhi, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO