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Chinese Art from Songzhuang Art Village
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when I first visited Songzhuang.
Artist Chen Linggang invited me to visit his work space in Songzhuang, offering a valuable introduction to the area and its artistic community. This encounter led to an ongoing friendship with Chen Linggang, his wife, and their daughter, who generously shared their insights into Songzhuang's social and artistic landscape. They facilitated access to numerous artists' private working spaces, providing a unique perspective on the local art scene.
Chen Linggang's knowledge proved essential in understanding the dynamics of Songzhuang. He offered context regarding the artists' practices, the community's history, and the challenges they face. This firsthand experience allowed for direct interaction with artists within their studios, offering a deeper understanding of their creative processes beyond the typical exhibition setting.
This introduction aims to present a focused overview of Chen Linggang's life and work. I believe his perspective offers a compelling look into the art scene in that area.
Songzhuang 宋庄
Songzhuang is an artist village located in the Tongzhou district of Beijing, China. It has evolved into the largest community of contemporary artists in Beijing. Originating in the 1990s, it became a significant hub, particularly after artists relocated from the Yuanmingyuan artist village. Songzhuang is home to numerous art studios and galleries, and has also been home to notable artists like Fang Lijun and Yue Minjun, key figures in the Cynical Realism movement, while continuing to host a diverse range of artists working in various styles, from classical painting to sculpture and photography. In addition to the famous 798 Art Zone, which is now becoming increasingly commercialised, the Songzhuang Artists' Village represents a significant part of Beijing's contemporary art scene and offers very authentic insights into the lives of artists.
Cheng Linggang 陈灵刚
Chen Lingang was born in 1978 in Jilin, China and currently lives and works in Beijing. He graduated from Jilin Forestry University in 2000 studying Environmental Art. Although he did not formally study painting, after graduating from university he began to create artwork outside of work. Eventually, he decided to become an artist, and in 2008 he began to produce his most iconic works: they are like finely woven fabrics, with uncertainty in their orderly and repetitive grid compositions. The textured compositions of Chen Linggang's works play with our understanding of tradition, language, and reading, and add a layer of realism as the artist uses written paper as the basic medium in some of his works.
Works
Chen Linggang named his two series of artworks “Heritage” and “Reading”.
In his “heritage” series, Chinese ink characters combined with the rugged texture of folds in the rice paper leave a strong impression on viewers. Without
a deeper understanding of its history, when traditional Chinese ink painting is completely deconstructed and then reconstructed in a combination of different
forms, the significance of these artworks can only arouse our imagination through meaningless symbols. Only if we immerse ourselves in the context of Chinese culture can we directly experience the visual shock of this artistic composition and expression that compels us to question and meditate further
on history.
In Chen Linggang’s “Reading” series, ink fades away and only the combination of various papers is left. Reading these wordless works is the same as analyzing mysteries in history, which ultimately is the symbolic meaning. The process of reading opens a vast space for the viewer’s imagination.
----Excerpts from “History on the Paper” by Rong Jian
