Xiao Shu’s Art World

Sublime Art from the Master of Three Genres - Poem, Calligraphy and Painting

Kim Nam-Soo (Art Critic)

The reason that an artist is great is because the artist produces excellent art works through creative activities, and in turn, these art works contribute greatly to human beings whom the artists belongs to. However, the birth of such a great artist is very difficult and rare, and we learned from history that we can see only one or two of such artists in a hundred years at most. In other words, when we say we are looking at the birth of an artist of the historic status, it can be a short-sighted bias or a hasty conclusion, and such a conclusion should be left to art historians or experts of the next generation. I am one of those who agree on this latter argument.

With such a mindset, I had a preconception and was confident that Xiao Shu was only an artist of a prominent status, but I was delightedly surprised that his works reflected his profound level overcoming human limitations, and perplexed at the thought of how superhuman experience and expression in such diverse genres and styles were possible. Creating own poems, calligraphy and paintings is consistent with the principle that writings and paintings have the same origin, but there are no small number of artists who only adhere to one of these three genres all their life, and do penance for perfection of their art. Then, in the case of Xiao Shu who has mastered all of poem, calligraphy and painting, much study is needed to understand his true intent, but critics or experts who know him claim that he is a living historic figure of art, which makes me contemplate.

In an article “I will sing a grand river pleasantly” written by Ga Woo Ang (柯宇昂) including an interview with Xiao Shu, a poetic conversation is described as follows. “In the early 1980s, this happened in a calligraphy competition on the New Year’s Day. When the announcer was introducing famous painters and calligraphers one by one, a long haired man in plain clothes jumped to the podium, blocking the announcer’s introduction, and said, ‘Today I will introduce you to a famous poet, painter and calligrapher Mr. Xiao Shu.’ Then, when people attending the event were curiously looking around to see who Xiao Shu was, the man smiled and said ‘I am Xiao Shu’. While people were perplexed at this daring statement, Xiao Shu walked confidently to the table, and instantly composed a poem and painted a picture. They recognized Xiao Shu’s high level, and it was the first incident that made him conspicuous in Beijing.”

Xiao Shu only began his full time art career in the early 1980s, and has not had stellar career or famous teachers like artists from prominent schools. Painting styles that he admired were those of Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou (揚州八怪) or Bada Shanren (八大山人), and maybe due to this, his characteristic style was not constrained by any forms or rules. Instead, he advocates the lively aesthetics of absolute freedom, and puts it to practice in his work. As I pointed out earlier, it is too early from his age and career in art work to tell whether he is an artist who will go down as one of greats in the art history. However, it is obvious that he has an aesthetic inspiration and a God-given talent with a high potential, and I think its prognosis is now slowly showing up. Let’s quote Ga Woo Ang (柯宇昂) again who praised Xiao Shu extremely highly. “When Xiao Shu paints a picture, he takes a poem as a spirit, calligraphy and color as two wings, and powerful and free strokes as a mind. Just like spring water that flows slowly over thousand miles but erupts rapidly when it encounters a gap“. Reading part of his writing in the form of a travel sketch in August 1988, it can be seen that he is a painter full of tireless tenacity and confident spirit. “I crossed the Desert of Gobi. With my strong two legs. Nobody could stop me who had nothing any more. Scorching weather of the Desert of Gobi could not scare me, and hunger failed to throw me down. While struggling with hunger and thirst, I advanced over 800 miles of the frightening desert, and finally came back to Beijing. … I was oppressed and driven out to the fringe with no reason. Now I am coming back to prove my innocence, and show the world that those who have oppressed me lost and I won. …” In short, I think that a painter like a phoenix who can endure and overcome any pains is Xiao Shu. His highest education level is graduation from Craft and Art School, and he is now a professor in his alma mater. He has always overcome difficulties in his turbulent life by wisely turning those troubles into the opportunities for advantage. He was born in July 1937, the same year when Japan invaded China on the occasion of the Marco Polo Bridge incident (breakout of the Sino-Japanese War). When he was only 3 years old, he became an orphan, losing both of his parents. He began learning sketch when he was 9 years old, and had earned a living by painting since the age of 13 years. He could only start school education after the end of the Second World War, and soon became fascinated by art work. He learned painting from Mei Lanfang, calligraphy from Ma Renryang (馬連良), and poetry, essay, singing and dance from Kwan Pyung Ho (管平湖). Already by the age of 17 years, he had published many poems and essays, and was very good at the old string instrument (seven stringed lute) in addition to poem, calligraphy, painting and engraving. Moreover, he had a talent in mathematics, which earned him a reputation of all-around genius.

Now, let's explore the art world of Xiao Shu more deeply. He is an all-around artist who can freely take on given subjects such as landscape, flowers and birds, literary painting, and portrait. His paintings are full of clear sprits and brilliant vigor, and thus the vitality of life can be fully enjoyed from the wriggling brush lines.

His spirit world is communicating with the real nature to create unique landscapes with new formal features. Perhaps because he has lived for a long time at the foot of Mountain Tien, his works are continental, magnanimous and lively. They are also characterized by his passionate sensibility, poetic emotion, and poetic concept as a poet being poured into the canvas. His cursive style as a subject is a plastic art with his own identity, just as its name suggests. Although traditional subject matters such as Mae-ran-guk-juk (apricot, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo) and old stories for portraits are showing up on the canvas, he embraces a near-perfect sense of modernity in terms of techniques including the methodology of expression. This is where his outstanding talent stands out. He has recently released a series of large paintings of 3-4 meters in size. In terms of the scale of the work, he is overwhelming other artists. In particular, his representative work, Nine Fishes, has nine silvery fishes filling the canvas, and you can see his excellent skills in the light and shade of the ink stick and the harmony of colors. Furthermore, you can understand his matchless level through the free flowing variations in brave movements of the brush.

The Cultural Division of the E-Land Group is preparing a non-governmental international art exchange exhibition in celebration of the Year of Korean Art, which will undoubtedly provide an opportunity for advancement in the internationalization of Korean art. In particular, inviting talented Chinese artists to Seoul for an exhibition is expected to strengthen friendship at the civilian level as well as to promote the comparative research and exchange of information between the two countries' arts. I look forward to a good exhibition that will enhance the status of Korean art and also contribute to globalization through continuing and improving international exchange.