On June 8, 2016, curated by CAFA, “The Temperature of History: CAFA and Chinese Representational Oil Paintings” was inaugurated at the Hubei Museum of Art. Since the exhibition project started at the China Art Museum, Shanghai at the end of April last year, it has been on show in Beijing, Nanjing, and other major cities, setting off an upsurge of visiting exhibitions. At the beginning of 2016, “The Temperature of History” was awarded 2015 “National Arts Fund Dissemination and Promotion Project”, and started travelling to the 7 art museums across the country on January 23, 2016, bringing the condensed version of centurial Chinese oil paintings to the grassroots and the ordinary people across the country. Following being exhibited at Ningbo Art Museum, Shandong Art Museum, Shijiazhuang Art Museum, now it has arrived at Hubei Museum of Art in Wuhan on schedule.

Hubei is a place with a lot of cultural heritage and it has a long history, both the birthplace of the important part of Chinese civilization the Chu culture and the cultural center that started the modern trend. After the founding of New China, it emerged Wuhan industrial engravings, Huangpi farmers' clay sculptures, 85’ New Wave and Hubei pop art, etc., which did not only constitute the developmental history of art in Hubei with an historical sequence but also deeply involved the development of Chinese art history in the 20th century, which formed a significant Hubei art phenomenon, among the nearly 200 participating artists, there are more than 10 artists who have close relationships with Hubei, including Wen Lipeng, Feng Zhen, Tang Hui, Hu Yichuan, Guo Shaogang, Yuan Hao, Zhou Xianglin, Gu Zhujun. The exhibition features more than 180 outstanding works, including two works reflecting Wuhan customs, namely: Yuan Hao’s “Dawn of the Yangtze River”, Fei Zheng’s “The Yangtze River. ”

At 9:00 am on that day, the press conference of the exhibition was held at the art exchange center on the 4th floor of the art museum. In addition to the leaders of the art museum and honored guests from CAFA, the exhibition also attracted the local mainstream media from Hubei such as the “Hubei Daily”, “Changjiang Daily”, “Wuhan Morning”, Wuhan TV, Hubei Branch of Xinhua News Agency, as well as the professional media including Art Document and artron.com who attended. The press conference was hosted by Director of Hubei Museum of Art Ji Shaofeng, Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts Lu Bin introduced the background and the general situation of the exhibition, and the exhibition curator Yin Shuangxi introduced the exhibition content from the perspective of academic planning.

After that, the opening ceremony of the exhibition was held on the ground floor lobby of Hubei Museum of Art. Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts Lu Bin, curator of the exhibition and Director of CAFA Editorial Yin Shuangxi, Deputy Dean of School of Plastic Arts, Director of the Department of Mural Painting Tang Hui, the exhibition director and Deputy Director of CAFA Art Museum Tang Bin, Director of the 2nd Studio from the Department of Oil Painting Ma Xiaoteng, teachers Kang Lei and Lu Liang from the Department of Oil Painting, CAFA attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition on behalf of CAFA. Leaders and honored guests from the Propaganda Department of Hubei Provincial Party Committee, the Department of Culture, Artists Association, Federation of Literary and Art Circles, local art museums, colleges and universities, as well as local oil painters were all present at the opening ceremony, which was presided over by Deputy Director of the Hubei Museum of Art Li Heqing. Party Member and Deputy Director of Hubei Provincial Department of Culture Yan Rongli, Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts Lu Bin, Hubei’s artist Director of the Department of Mural Painting at the School of Plastic Arts Tang Hui respectively addressed the opening ceremony.

Curator of the exhibition and Director of CAFA Editorial Yin Shuangxi emphasized the academic value of the exhibition in his speech. It stood as an historical retrospective while it also presented a combination of history and current reality. Different from the transverse sectioned exhibitions, it reflected the longitudinal development of the nation from a centurial perspective, offering the audience a macro vision and perspective. He said that, if one did not know modern and contemporary art, he or she could not understand China’s development then he hoped the exhibition would help more young people and audiences to learn about the hard history of the centurial Chinese paintings and the dedication of several generations.

About the Exhibition

Title: The Temperature of History: CAFA and Chinese Representational Oil Paintings (Hubei)

Hosts: CAFA, the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture

Organizers: CAFA Art Museum, Hubei Museum of Art

Duration: Jun 8 – July 10, 2016

Venue: Hall 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 of Hubei Museum of Art

Text and photo by Zhu Li, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO