Panoramic presentation of Shanghai’s first large-scale ＂anti-epidemic＂ exhibition： summoning, retrograde and the moment of fighting ＂epidemic＂

The scene of Shanghai rushing to help Hubei medical team gather and pledge to go out in danger, and the working conditions of Shanghai medical workers in key cities such as Wuhan; The responsibility of the frontline staff of Shanghai’s anti-epidemic in the open city, the grace and love of the anti-epidemic volunteers … What kind of picture will the images that have touched countless people in the past two months be put into the artist’s pen?

On April 8,"Call-Shanghai Art and Photography Theme Exhibition for Fighting COVID-19 Epidemic"When the Chinese Art Palace opened in Shanghai, there was no opening ceremony for the exhibition, but on the first day of the opening, a group of special audiences were welcomed-some members of the Shanghai medical aid team who lifted the 14-day medical isolation. They visited the exhibition under the guidance of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the images in the works of art were their personal experiences not long ago.

Jerry Lee, the commentator of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, tells the story in the picture to the members of the Shanghai medical aid team in Hubei.

"Call-Shanghai Art and Photography Exhibition for Fighting COVID-19 Epidemic" is the first large-scale physical exhibition in Shanghai with the theme of fighting COVID-19 epidemic. This exhibition has more than 800 works. Apart from art and photography, it also organically integrates folk art, calligraphy, sculpture, installation, poetry, video and other literary forms. All the works are original new works, and more than 80% of them are made public for the first time.

Members of the Shanghai medical team (first from left) can’t help but raise their cameras when they see the people in the painting, and think of the scene when they "went out to war".

The exhibition is divided into five parts: the main exhibition and the supplementary exhibitions of photography and comics. In the five parts of the main exhibition, there are not only works showing the various stages and processes of the war "epidemic" with time as the main line, but also scenes showing the war "epidemic" with space as the center. The photographic attachment "Unforgettable Moment" takes "Moment" as the key word to freeze the fleeting touching pictures in the process of "epidemic".

Exhibition entrance

Huge art collective creation, panoramic reproduction of anti-epidemic group images

Walking to the five-meter exhibition hall of the Chinese Art Palace, the first thing you see is a huge masterpiece "Call" with a width of 18 meters and a height of 2.2 meters. This is a huge art comprehensive material work jointly created by the Shanghai Artists Association. More than 20 artists work day and night, every 6 meters, and are divided into three groups to create collectively in one week. This is also the largest collective art creation with the theme of fighting epidemic in China, which reproduces the frontline people fighting epidemic in a panoramic way.

Dramatically create "Call" (partial)

A closer look at this huge work shows the most ordinary people around us, including medical workers, construction workers who built Raytheon Mountain Fire Mountain, courier brothers who stick to their posts and community volunteers. After a closer look, there are some familiar touching plots, such as "the little boy wearing Messi jerseys", "getting a haircut in front of the protest line", "volunteers who deliver food to medical staff every day" and "the mountains and rivers are on the same day" in aid materials. Under special circumstances, the people in the painting have also become the heroes and the most lovely people in everyone’s hearts, precisely because they persist in creating extraordinary things. The artists who participated in the creation also said, "This unprecedented experience has made us more cohesive and empathetic, and ordinary life is so precious."

Dramatically create "Call" (partial)

Dramatically create "Call" (partial)

On the left-hand side of the exhibition hall, the large-scale freehand landscape comes from Wang Jiafang, executive director of Shanghai Artists Association and painter of China Painting Academy. In the context of "war and epidemic", the painter linked the landmark landscapes of Wuhan, Shanghai and even the whole country across time and space by montage. In the picture, the Bund in Shanghai echoes the two clock towers in Jianghan Pass in Wuhan, which seems to indicate this unusual year of 2020.

Wang Jiafang’s "Wei Wei China Qing" at the exhibition site

On the edge of this 5-meter-by-3.2-meter freehand brushwork landscape, there is the only calligraphy work in the exhibition, and it is equally huge. This work was written by Zhang Feng, a young calligrapher in Shanghai, for 18 hours in a row. The famous calligrapher Han Tianheng paid tribute to the 1649 heroes in the Hero List by introducing the first chapter "Doctors are kind". It is reported that after the exhibition, this huge calligraphy work will be presented to the Shanghai Hospital in Hubei Province for collection.

Members of the Shanghai Medical Team for Aid to Hubei took a group photo pointing to their names in the calligraphy "Heroes List of Shanghai Supporting Hubei Medical Staff".

In addition, Li Shoubai, the chairman of Shanghai Folk Writers and Artists Association, has recently created a special four-part painting "Centripetal Force, China Power" which combines paper-cutting and oil painting, and the oil painting "Retrograde" created by Shanghai young painter Luo Lingjun, which is four meters high and stands tall, showing the action of a retrograde dressed in protective clothing, which seems to indicate that he is about to join the battle at any time.

Jin Wenyi, an exhibiting artist, introduced that his works were originally used as a diary of creation in a special period. At that time, he saw a medical staff wearing airtight protection and his goggles were covered with sweat. At that time, he was very moved to see this photo, and his paintings were also based on it.

Artist Jin Wenyi (right 1) introduces his works.

Luo Lingjun’s oil painting Retrograde is at the exhibition site.

There is also an installation work in the exhibition, which comes from the artist Ding She. This work made of steel wire is called "Cover". As the name implies, the artist expresses a mask. "Masks are still in short supply, so when I was creating, I invited my friends to weave nearly 600 masks with metal materials. In addition to expressing the meaning of mutual links, the metal texture also made the works show a sense of strength." Ding she said.

Small works show the daily life.

In an unobtrusive corner of this exhibition, there is a small piece of "online celebrity" by Gan Feng, whose other name is better known-Murong Yindao. This work, which originated from the traditional gatekeeper, became the "gatekeeper" in the circle of friends in the Spring Festival of 2020. Huo Qubing more than 2,000 years ago and Xin Qiji more than 800 years ago have a new meaning here. This work was created on the day before New Year’s Eve, and Murong Yindao also hopes that the homophonic sound of "Huo Qubing and Xin Qiji" can dispel the bad epidemic.

Gan Feng (Murong Yindao)’ s work "Going to the Sick and Happiness" is in the corner of the exhibition hall.

There are also some small peasant paintings in the exhibition that simply and directly express the current platform. Among them, Cao Xiuwen’s "Uniting as One" and Ji Fang’s "Keeping the Epidemic Prevention Gate", the non-genetic inheritors of Jinshan peasant paintings, not only maintain the unique charm of peasant paintings with exaggerated art, novel conception, bright colors and elegant shape, but also express the prevention and control measures such as temperature monitoring and guarding in daily life in combination with hot spots.

Jinshan peasant paintings, Cao Xiuwen’s "Uniting as One" (upper right) and Ji Fang’s "Keeping the Epidemic Prevention Gate" (lower right)

In artistic creation, some small works with the same theme can often constitute a big creation. Among them, the young painter Xu Xufeng’s work "Together" belongs to this type. The author presents the daily state of 30 masks with 30 small works. His creative inspiration comes from different types of masks used by friends every day, while the background words mainly come from messages from all parties.

Xu Xufeng’s "Together"

In the same type of creation, some home themes focus on every day of life, and artists faithfully record every bit of life, as well as utensils and food.

Zhang Peicheng’s Life Guard

During the epidemic, a large number of works on the theme of medical staff also emerged. How to draw one’s own language and sincerity is not easy for artists, but the works of old artists may be enlightening. Chen Jialong, an artist in his 70s, watches the news every day to understand the trends ahead. He combines computer synthesis with Chinese painting to create cross-border works. Although it is wrapped in layers of protective clothing, the gentle eyes of the doctor in the picture bring the patient the greatest comfort and confidence. Ruimin Qiu, an oil painter, focused on the treatment of protective clothing for medical staff when his face only showed his eyes. He used a pen to summarize decisiveness, bold colors and a sense of decisiveness, determination and responsibility.

Chen jialong’s "The Magic in White Will Win the Battle"

Ruimin Qiu’s "The Cutest Man"

Advocate peak-shifting exhibitions and focus on online and offline exhibitions.

"More than 800 works exhibited in this theme exhibition were selected from more than 13,000 visual art works. Why can an anti-epidemic exhibition be organized after more than two months, among which the network initiative is indispensable. " Ding She, Deputy Secretary-General of Shanghai Artists Association,

On New Year’s Eve, Shanghai Artists Association, Photographers Association and Folk Writers Association released creative initiatives through the Internet. Among them, thousands of painters of comics, printmaking, traditional Chinese painting and oil painting responded positively, creating more than 1,000 works and pushing 25 issues online. Shanghai photographers, a group of first-line medical workers and volunteers have used cameras and mobile phones to take pictures of people and things around them, creating more than 10,000 photographs and pushing them online for 31 issues. The exhibits of this theme exhibition are the results of re-collection and re-launch on the basis of previous online collection and according to the exhibition hall characteristics and exhibition curatorial plan of China Art Palace.

Exhibition site

In addition to paintings and photographs, the exhibition also focuses on the multimedia theme works newly created by Shanghai literary and art circles, such as the four-grid comic book anti-epidemic story image, the eight-episode video of "The Paper" anti-epidemic first line, SMG anti-epidemic documentary, and various art categories such as "cloud creation", "cloud performance" and "cloud display". These works represent every author’s heart, and they are true, sincere and sincere, condensing every author’s emotions, enthusiasm, enthusiasm and love, providing spiritual comfort for people who are worried and conveying warm power for people who persist in fighting.

The exhibition shows the "video story collection" of media reporters and photographers.

At the same time, Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles Media Center and China Art Palace will also open online exhibition halls for online display, as a supplement and extension of the exhibition. In the special period of epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic, you can enjoy wonderful works without leaving home.

Li Geye’s Guardian Angel

The postscript of the exhibition is also a cross-border work-the poem "Looking Back in Spring", which expresses the warm spring returning home as scheduled, and the poem of life is continuing to write endless chapters, and also looks forward to the early end of the global epidemic and the early return of a better life.

It is reported that this exhibition is co-sponsored by Shanghai Culture and Tourism Bureau, Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Shanghai Health and Wellness Committee and Jiefang Daily, and jointly organized by Shanghai Artists Association, Shanghai Photographers Association, Shanghai Folk Writers Association and China Art Palace (Shanghai Art Museum). The exhibition lasts until May 8th. During the epidemic prevention and control period, there is no opening ceremony for the exhibition, and it is recommended to watch the exhibition at the wrong peak.