Finding art beneath the rubble

Chinese painter Xue Song found artistic purpose for his latest exhibition at Shanghai Theater Academy from a blaze that ruined several of his works over a decade ago.

Xue, a stage designer at the academy, used to paint in his spare time and leave his artwork behind at the end of the day. When the fire broke out, his paintings were destroyed, a tragedy that sparked the creative idea behind his latest creative outpouring.

Forming a unique collage, he has put together fragments of half-burned posters, magazines and books and glued them on to a canvas painted with images of relevant subjects. The final result is a strange interaction between the background and brushstrokes, representing a strong-silent dialogue.

Art critics have attacked his work, claiming others could have done the same job, and that Xue was just fortunate to stumble upon a neat idea. But Xue maintains his claim to originality.

"You can train an ordinary worker for a week and he would learn all the craft for my collage," he said. "I've seen some imitations of my work, but none of them were done with great confidence."

The title of his show is borrowed from an old piece of Confucian wisdom: to review is to learn something new. Xue said that many of his ideas are drawn from studying older subjects and existing images.

Classical paintings from both Chinese and Western art history, urban scenery and public idols are all among his most commonly featured subjects. Calligraphic elements are also a key signature of his work. He believes calligraphy marked the climax of Chinese classical art.

While Xue is not a calligraphy artist, he does appreciate classical works and uses details from these characters as an inspirational launch pad, incorporating forms of the calligraphic lines and curves into his paintings.

At his M50 studio on Moganshan Road, Xue continues to perfect his fire-red craft by methodically burning old documents for his works. He was also one of the first artists to set up shop at this now hugely popular spot some nine years ago.

Until June 16

ShanghART 796

796 Huaihai Road M.

Tel: 3395-0808

(China Daily 05/23/2009 page14)