Fan Zhibin - Contemporary Chinese Art - Artist

	Beijing

	Guangzhou

	Shanghai

	Hong Kong

Fan Zhibin

Fan Zhibin's art can be located somewhere between traditional and contemporary painting. In spite of the strong traces of traditional ink painting, Fan's images manages to retain a fresh and modern look. In his paintings one can detect brushwork which stems from the Chinese traditional XieYi style which stresses the importance of conveying the artists inner feelings through carefree calligraphic brush strokes and at the same time one can also see strong western influences in sketching techniques, composition and subject matter. Fan Zhibin's figures convey deep psychological depth and a strong atmosphere of individuality. Gentle colors, patterns and human expressions blend into a personal statement. His art's subject matter ranges from flowers to urban and rural landscapes and all the way to figure painting which is the dominant part of his output. Fan stays extremely loyal to his artistic goals which aim inwards to the sole rather towards visual realism.

ArtRealization interview with Fan Zhibin

Fan Zhibin is a successful young contemporary artist that lives his art day and night. You can find him at the art department of Beijing Normal University chatting with his students informally as they sketch the model in the middle of the classroom. Even when he gives them a short break to loosen up and stretch, he leaves the big sketch board in front of him only to pick up his ever present drawing pad and quickly sketch a random student drinking tea or smoking a cigarette. His hand moves fast, at first it seems like the long squiggly lines are too random or misplaced but within minutes the picture is done. His attractive images have both emotion and power, the sketch expresses much more than the real image ever could. Unlike most young contemporary Chinese artists who choose the more popular and trendy medium of oil painting, Fan Zhibin is an ink painter. He insists on using traditional tools but completely breaks with tradition when it comes to the final visual result. His art is a refined blend of east and west, something that most Chinese artists try to achieve but so rarely do.

AR: What are the main influences on your art?

Fan Zhibin: The way I interpret things your question is one of development. Artistic influence is a long process of drawing inspiration and shaping ones art. As a little kid my first real encounter with art was through Chinese traditional painting such as Landscape Painting and Flower-&-bird Painting, I loved the feeling and admired the beauty in these works. During high-school and especially during my University years my artistic horizons broadened and I suddenly came to believe that the traditional art I was confined to was too narrow and limited, I started absorbing anything I could, I was eager to see and experience as much as possible, this diversity is very important and much of this exposure was to western art which gave me a lot of inspiration.

AR: Can you mention some central names from China and abroad?

It is hard to pinpoint but in China a big influence on me was the art of Zhou Sicong who died not long ago. I bumped into one of his ink paintings of old miners, it was the first time that art ever brought tears to my eyes, I ran to the art store and bought a collection of his paintings. One of my own favorite paintings is a kind of tribute to his influence, the painting depicts two old men chatting and drinking tea. There is a strong sense of warmth and security I always longed for in these images. I have a strong need to join them, be part of the atmosphere and enter their spiritual and intimate world but I can’t, I just don’t fit in. In the west I was highly influenced by Egon Schiele and Edward Munch. Schiele was himself influenced by oriental art and in turn influenced many artists in China. His strong stress on lines in shaping his figures was familiar to me, he also gave me a new angle on the use of lines and techniques of expression.

AR: Lets talk about the tools used. Why do you insist on using a Chinese brush? What kind of advantages does it possess?

Fan Zhibin: (smiling..) The advantages in the Chinese brush are great but for the same reason there are some limitations too.

AR: Lets begin with the disadvantages then…

Fan Zhibin: Unlike the western brush which is fairly easy to use, the Chinese brush requires great skill, let me explain,,, even an amateur painter can produce a reasonable picture with a western brush, it has a relatively hard point and much like the pencil or pen we are accustomed to use, the contact with the surface is fairly direct. The Chinese brush on the other hand is soft and flexible an unskilled painter will find it extremely hard to control and usually the result will be crude and unpleasant.

AR: Advantages?

Fan Zhibin: The advantages are apparent only when one masters the Chinese brush. Instead of changing brushes for different uses like in the west, the Chinese painter uses different aspects of the same brush. As I said this involves great skill but once the artist is in control, the Chinese brush is an ideal instrument for expressing ones emotions and mood, its flexibility enables the artist to create a wide variety of results and different textures depending on the force in handling the brush, the amount of ink applied and the different parts of the brush that are used. My teacher once told me and I agree, that the Chinese brush has served artists for thousands of years and no one ever had a need to develop it into something else, this is because the Chinese artists received great pleasure and spiritual satisfaction by using it. If this wouldn’t be the case the Chinese brush would have disappeared or at least change over the course of history. The bottom line is that thanks to its unique features and cultural significance many Chinese insist on using it even after the introduction of western art.

AR: Nowadays most young artists as well as the Chinese audience are attracted to modern oil painting, what made you stick to ink?

I don’t look at what is popular and what sales best when I engage in art. Oil painting is the mainstream in the international art scene so this attraction is only natural, however, I believe that ink painting is attracting more attention and an increasing number of people are interested in the rich ink tradition coming from the east. My background is largely Chinese Traditional art, this is where I feel comfortable and at home. Throughout my development I sometimes came to believe that ink is a limited artistic medium and therefore inferior but looking at works of great modern ink painters I realized time and again that anything can be depicted with ink, even urban scenes that are miles away from the naturalistic subjects of traditional Chinese art.

AR: Apart from the tools you use what else is Chinese about your art?

Fan Zhibin: Western art gave me a lot when it comes to composition, color application and structure but the spirit of my art remains Chinese. This is rather abstract and hard to define but a skilled eye will detect the atmosphere and lyrical nature that my art absorbs from the long tradition of Chinese art.

AR: don’t you feel caught between two fires? On the one hand you’re not a traditional artist and on the other hand you‘re not a conventional contemporary artist?

Fan Zhibin: you’re right I am caught somewhere between two worlds, love both worlds and am highly influenced by both worlds, I take what pleases me from each tradition. My art is not conservative but at the same time it is not too wild, for me what is important is to be original and show something new, I believe that my art achieves this goal. Nowadays, the training students get in art schools in China is very similar to what students go through in the west, a lot of sketching of still objects, models, work on basic proportions, shading and so on but at the same time the Chinese tradition of art education is still very much alive, vibrant and highly influential in our artistic development. I love and enjoy both traditional as well as contemporary art so I try to find a middle path that best reflects my emotions, you can’t expect us to transform completely and become western but at the same time, considering the great changes China is going through under western influence, it would be inconceivable to remain unchanged and completely stick to tradition.

AR: What is the main thing you try to express in the figures you paint?

These figures are all vehicles for me to express my own emotions. I don’t only focus on human figures, from my point of view, anything that moves me emotionally is a potential subject matter, people, natural scenery, random objects and urban landscapes are all different subjects through which I try to reveal my myself, my mood and my innermost feelings. As for my self, I receive great spiritual enjoyment from the process.

AR: What is the state of Chinese contemporary art?

Fan Zhibin: Generally speaking, it is very good. The fact that there are so many different styles and trends that co-exist is an achievement that can’t be ignored. From a Chinese perspective the scope of contemporary works and the freedom artists have in choosing what to paint is definitely a positive thing. At the same time it must be said that contemporary Chinese art is still an imitation of western art, it still has a long way to go before it reaches a maturity. There are some people out there that try to shock the audience, I used to try and understand what is behind their extreme actions, I even read many commentaries that supported their art but I must say that I finally realized that no matter how tolerant and objective I try to be I just can’t get myself to like this kind of art. At the end the works that are not made of real artistic integrity will naturally be eliminated while the good stuff will survive and influence generations to come.

AR: What are you busy with at present?

Fan Zhibin: (with a big smile..) My wife just gave birth to two little twins, a boy and a girl, this is a great event in my life and it seems to me like a whole new world has opened before me, I’m a new person now. I’m also working on a new series of paintings that are all about our life underground in the subway. For me the subway is a place where different people with different backgrounds, moods, cloths and personalities gather together. They come from different places and go to different places, some get off while new faces get on, at the same time there are many advertisements that give a strong feeling of the era we live in. I personally take the subway a lot, I enjoy looking at all these different people, I want to capture this feeling in this new series.