In Between– Shuibo’s Art & Film

Duration : 12:00 - 20:00

Opening : Sep 10,2017 (Sun) -- Oct 22,2017 (Sun)

Venue : Room 108, No. 3, Lane 1363, Middle Fuxing Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai

Tel : +86 (0)21 5496 1918

Web : https://shunartdesign.com/

Artist : WANG Shuibo

Forewords

If anyone asked when or in which occasion I made acquaintance with master Shuibo, I could hardly recall those details, but only remembered that there was a familiar sense of kindness and an unconditional sense of trust.

There are people recently came back from Europe, suffering from jet lag, and not until they had lunch and overheard all those talking about investments, finance, Alipay and bike-sharing boom did they finally realise their return to this country. I have not spent longer time overseas than master Shuibo, and the time period I stayed in Tokyo and Paris was not overlapped with his duration either, but a lot of feelings are inter-connected and understandable mutually. Although he has a little bit of such feeling of not fitting in or being left alone commonly shared by those scholars who came back from abroad, yet the confidence and unyielding character naturally showed in his conversation are justified and reasonable from my point of view.

As the student of Mr. He Youzhi in Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing and mentor Frédéric Back in Canada, he was undoubtedly the lucky one. However, it is not only because of simple sheer luck, but also his great personality and hard work to gain his chance. Shuibo became Mr. Back’s assistant soon after, and drew over twenty thousand sketches in the following three years for the 20-minute-long movie. He said he began to wear glasses ever since. This is accordingly the fresh start of Shuibo stepping into the world of cinema. The Mighty River, the finale to the galactic journey of Frédéric Back, was nominated for Best Animated Short Film in the Academy Awards of 1994.

Sunrise Over Tian’anmen Square is an autobiographical animated documentary film, and also the debut film of Shuibo, which tells his personal struggle from the Red Chinese dream to the American dream from the first person perspective. Amount other awards, Shuibo Wang received the Nomination for Best Short Documentary Subject in the Academy Awards of 1999, for his revolutionary experimental style on documentary film making. This is the first part of the film in the exhibition.

Shuibo made an instant impact in the film industry, and is undoubtedly a talented figure in the world of cinema. The artistic sense flowing inside his films, is the pursuit and strictness cultivated from his solid painting practices.

From the East to the West, from film to painting, the whole artistic thinking of Shuibo is around the cultural collision of the East and West. Digging in deep of his paintings, not only does he blend in the Eastern silk and Western oil paint, and also he combines the Oriental mysticism and Western surrealism together, creating a ground in the middle for the viewers to a world that transcends the ideologies of the East and West.

In the exhibition In Between the East & West, we are honored to present the paintings and films of Shuibo together, so that the viewers will have the opportunity to better understand the world of Shuibo.

After the bright summer heat this year, we look forward to savoring the art of Shuibo in a cooler September, and welcome the first solo exhibition of Shun Art Gallery after its relocation to the villa in French Concession area.

Last but not least, we would like to thank the National Film Board of Canada for their full support.