Chinese Art

"Cultural link extends as far as the Middle Kingdom"

10.12.2002 - 31.01.2003

China is an important up-and-coming market for the German economy. It is therefore reasonable to presume that a company such as Lauda Dr. R. Wobser – which has been represented with partner companies in the ”Middle Kingdom” for over a decade now – should also be interested in the culture of this far eastern country and that it should present Chinese art in the form of an exhibition entitled ”Connecting Tradition and the Modern Age” at the FabrikGalerie. Paintings and sculptures are both outlandish and exotic, and their simplicity, aesthetics and poetry act like balm on the soul of the observer. The 25 objects by the 8 Chinese artists, who are all between 30 and 40 years of age, show how deeply almost all of them are rooted in traditional understanding of art and techniques. How much China was closed off to outside influences for a long time and how little the painting of various epochs has found its way into China’s artistic life. It is very clear from this exhibition how tradition, philosophy, learning and wisdom have influenced Asia’s character and shaped the emotions of an artist and how it is translated in his work. The Chinese woman Kexin Ju who, as a self-employed economic advisor, maintains business relations between German and Chinese companies, works as an interpreter and translator, and who also wishes to forge cultural links between the two countries, has brought ”her” exhibition to LAUDA’s FabrikGalerie. Kexin Ju comes across as lively and committed at the opening of the exhibition, which wishes to express not only emotions and sensations, but also ”quite different human aspects” and which ”is a reflection of the development of society, of Zeitgeist and mutual individual feelings – irrespective of their origins or culture”. ”A high degree of traditional awareness and the spirit of social critique” distinguish the representatives of various cultural schools in China and elucidate their philosophy, which is based on Taoism. Emptiness (a particular feature of Chinese pen-and-ink drawings), the lack of a background, white areas and the view without a perspective, stand for the ”letting go of all the troubles of the world and the spiritualization of observations and experiences”. This merger of real and personal images directs the way of thinking of China’s artists, poets and philosophers, and is particularly evident in the art of calligraphy. It is in his type of stroke, the mastering of his brush, that the calligrapher expresses his ”elevated way of thinking, the integrity of his character and the extent of his education”, which is why the mastering of the art of calligraphy was a prerequisite for admission to all higher public offices in the China of old. Even today, pupils are expected to suppress their own individual expressions and to learn from the great examples and only develop their own individual characteristic style over time. Kexin Ju fondly explains the diverse tools of the calligraphers and painters, using several paintings to explain the artists’ ”signatures”. Her perfect, clear German surprised visitors at the opening of the exhibition. Tracking down the explanation for this perfection led us to Lauda, as Kexin Ju was a student of the Sinologist Dr Hans-Joachim Wolf, who was brought up and lived in Lauda, and who spent five years teaching German at the University of Chonquing in the province of Sichuan. Ms Ju’s interest in Germany and her love of the German language arose during this period. She left China in 1985, studied German and business studies at the universities of Würzburg and Erlangen-Nuremberg, married a German and today lives in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Her fine ear for languages is complemented by the music of the Chinese woman Pan Jing, who energetically and gracefully coaxed strange-sounding yet familiar sounds from the pipa, an old Chinese string instrument. Her playing was graceful, elegant and extremely virtuous when she plucked the strings of the lute-like instrument, tapped it, sometimes just dabbing at it, coaxing gentle sounds out of it or reaching inside of it, or gently drumming on the wood. Very poetic sounds, as gentle as the whispering of summer rain, as mysterious as the opening of a flower, the image of a frost pattern on a window, a ”Moonlit Night in Spring” was the name of the final song of her encore, which was applauded by a delighted audience. ”It was with a concentrated ”charming offensive” that China came to Lauda”, remarked Dr Gerhard Wobser, who himself dedicates a large part of his affections to art and his ambitious ”FabrikGalerie” project. The eight previews held since the gallery was created in 1995 were concluded in the exhibition year of 2002, which again presented several different artists. Acting in close cooperation with the Lauda-Königshofen art community, it is the objective of the FabrikGalerie to offer local artists in particular a forum for presenting their works, according to Dr Wobser. Some of these works are included in the art calendar which the Lauda company has now published for the fourth time and whose proceeds will be going to the ”Hilfe für Kinder in Not” children’s charity. As one of Lauda’s company objectives is to forge closer contact with China as a future market and powerful trading partner, Dr Wobser took particular delight in presenting the diversity of contemporary Chinese art, bringing to the forefront a country with which Germany will have more and more contact in the future. The company’s employees and regional visitors to the gallery alike were allowed a glimpse into a country and its culture which remains one of Asia’s most mysterious discoveries.

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