The World is My World, 100x200cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
"The World is My World" hiding in my own world to see the world, as if out of time. The whole social shutdown ended almost all social activities. The virus forcibly pressed the pause button for communicate time, but the time was not less than a minute. Every day, in addition to the anger, sadness, and emotion felt in the Moments from Wechat, my own time seemed to return. Susan Sontag said, "we live in a world of appearances." We used to face the crowd, now we face ourselves. You will find that your seemingly "autonomous" choices in society are mostly passive. According to John Stuart Mill, "the first lesson of civilization is to learn to obey society." I think the second lesson is habitual obedience, active obedience, and even forgetting that they are obeying... The object of this kind of obedience is not individual, but bound up with the whole of society. It's like we live in a panoramic world where everyone has nowhere to go. As Foucault said, society does not shape the human body and soul as the subject all the time. Maybe if you comply with the social requirements, you will no longer exist, or the deeper "I" goes out, the farther away I will be and the cleaner I will disappear. Waiting for the pandemic to pass and return to social orbit, we are looking at ourselves again.
Community, 140x200cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
“Community”.The sudden outbreak of the pandemic in the community first made the whole country and then the world in the same context. Everyone felt unprecedented insignificance and uneasiness. Each body serves as a fulcrum to each other, but at the same time it also intervenes with each other. People need a community as support, but if they rely too much on community, people will be bound to it. The community suffers in the competition of freedom and security. It's like the entanglement between people is both intimate and torture. As Sartre said: others are hell! Absolute intimacy is bound to cause friction. If we separate from each other, we will lose our warmth and fall into loneliness. A proper community should be a close relationship with distance. Only in this way can it be a long lasting community.
After Three Seconds, 120x240cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
“After Three Seconds”. Every moment becomes the beginning of all the later moments. In this world where we don't know where to speed up, comedy and tragedy vie to perform, and we are trapped in it. We are not sure what will happen to the next moment. Just as the eternal reincarnation of Zarathustra?
A Moment of Seriousness No.1, 120x120cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
A Moment of Seriousness No.2, 120x120cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
“A Moment of Seriousness”. We exist in the overall state of affairs of the world. The structure of the events is like the links of a chain. "All the facts in the logical space are the world." As the world changes rapidly, all coincidences become inevitable. There is no accident in logic. Every moment should not be ignored. "The present" is the latest embodiment of truth. We are refreshed by countless "moments".
The Appearance is the Truth, 100x160cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
“The Appearance is the Truth”. It stands like a monument, covered with moss, trying to contribute rainbow like colors, showing their intrinsic and potential possibilities. The small and great of life coexist at the same time, and the new life luster constantly emerges.
Inner Stillness and Activities, 120x240cm, Oil on canvas, 2020
“Inner Stillness and Activities”. It is also covered with moss, they exist clearly in the night. The darkness absorbs all the passion of life, with silence and noise, with slight and hasty movements. Every tiny thing will experience its own life course. Maybe every subtle one is profound. After all, everything comes from the dark and will return to the dark.
Wu Didi
Wu Didi
1976 Born in Chongqing, China
2001 Obtained BA Degree with a major in Visual Communication, Design Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2004 Obtained MFA Degree, Oil Painting Department (Studio 4), Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Teaching at the Stage Art Department, Central Academy of Drama, Beijing, China
Currently lives and works in Beijing, China
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Object view, Trealm Art Space, Guangzhou, China
2019 Wu Didi, Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong, China
2016 Precised Fictitiousness, Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong, China
2015 Wu Didi, Chamber Fine Arts, New York, USA
2014 Wu Didi, Chamber Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2011 The Spring Equinox, New Millennium Gallery, Beijing, China
Major Group Exhibitions
2020 Unsettled Stillness, Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong Spotlight by Art Basel, Hong Kong, China
The Rival of Tradition, Song Art Museum, Beijing, China
Extended Theatre: The 1st Public Art Exhibition in Nanhai, Qiangdeng Lake Park, Foshan, China
2019 2nd Sculpture Project Pingyao, Pingyao, China
Against the Stream, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China
2017 Vibrations: Bienal de Curitiba, China Guest Country Exhibition, Museum Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil
Beyond Peach Blossom, Xinjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Urumqi, China
South of the Mountains: 11 Contemporary Chinese Artists, Basilica di Santa Maria, Florence, Italy
2016 China NOW, gallery@oxo, London, UK
Sao Yi Sao, Shugutang Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Beyond the Mirror Phase, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China
2015 International Representational and Abstract Exhibition, Ningbo Art Museum, Ningbo, China
The Vivid Spirit Contemporary Art Exhibition, Quanzhou, China
Sao Yi Sao, Peninsula Art Space, Shanghai, China
Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest, The 2nd Edition of China-Korean Art Festival, Gwangju, Korea
Image Study – Concept and Language in Paintings, Zheng Guan Art Museum, Beijing, China
The Revival of Tradition – Another Approach to Contemporary Chinese Art, New York, USA
Temperature of History – Central Academy of Fine Arts and Chinese Figurative Oil Paintings, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Breaking the Image – Methods of Handling Images by Chinese Contemporary Artists, Sishang Art Museum, Beijing, China
2014 APEC Beautiful Home Exhibition, APEC Convention and Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China
She – Times, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China
Pink and See, Xinjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Urumqi, China
2013 Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, A.C. Art Museum, Beijing China
Methods and Media in Painting, Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing, China
The Revival of Tradition—Chinese Contemporary Art, Tuyap Conference and Exhibition Centre, Istanbul, Turkey
Inspiration From Nature, Times Museum, Beijing, China
All Beings—Breathing, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2012 CYAP Young Artist Exhibition, International Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China
Society Spectacle: Suzhou Jinjihu Biennale, Basai Contemporary Art Museum, Suzhou, China
The Revival of Tradition—Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, La Galleria Pall Mall & The Royal Opera Arcade, London, UK
2011 Existence Without Immortality—Modern Female Artists Exhibition, China Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing, China
My Shining Hour, Sheng Art Space, Shanghai, China
No Accidental, Yuandian Art Museum, Beijing, China
2008 Seoul International Art Expo, Seoul, Korea
China Blue Festival—Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition, Malmo, Sweden
Image and Text Courtesy of the Artist.
Edited by Sue and Emily.
