RTSM | WU Didi: "No one of us can avoid the 2020 pandemic, and the world will be so different from then on."

TEXT:CAFA ART INFO    DATE: 2020.12.29

世界是我的世界The World is My World  100x200cm 布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

The World is My World, 100x200cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

 "The World is My World" hiding in my own world to see the world, as if out of time. The whole social shutdown ended almost all social activities. The virus forcibly pressed the pause button for communicate time, but the time was not less than a minute. Every day, in addition to the anger, sadness, and emotion felt in the Moments from Wechat, my own time seemed to return. Susan Sontag said, "we live in a world of appearances." We used to face the crowd, now we face ourselves. You will find that your seemingly "autonomous" choices in society are mostly passive. According to John Stuart Mill, "the first lesson of civilization is to learn to obey society." I think the second lesson is habitual obedience, active obedience, and even forgetting that they are obeying... The object of this kind of obedience is not individual, but bound up with the whole of society. It's like we live in a panoramic world where everyone has nowhere to go. As Foucault said, society does not shape the human body and soul as the subject all the time. Maybe if you comply with the social requirements, you will no longer exist, or the deeper "I" goes out, the farther away I will be and the cleaner I will disappear. Waiting for the pandemic to pass and return to social orbit, we are looking at ourselves again.

共同体 Community 140x200cm布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

Community, 140x200cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

“Community”.The sudden outbreak of the pandemic in the community first made the whole country and then the world in the same context. Everyone felt unprecedented insignificance and uneasiness. Each body serves as a fulcrum to each other, but at the same time it also intervenes with each other. People need a community as support, but if they rely too much on community, people will be bound to it. The community suffers in the competition of freedom and security. It's like the entanglement between people is both intimate and torture. As Sartre said: others are hell! Absolute intimacy is bound to cause friction. If we separate from each other, we will lose our warmth and fall into loneliness. A proper community should be a close relationship with distance. Only in this way can it be a long lasting community.

三秒以后 After 3 Seconds 120x240cm布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

After Three Seconds, 120x240cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

“After Three Seconds”. Every moment becomes the beginning of all the later moments. In this world where we don't know where to speed up, comedy and tragedy vie to perform, and we are trapped in it. We are not sure what will happen to the next moment. Just as the eternal reincarnation of Zarathustra?

严肃的瞬间No.1 A Moment of Seriousness 120x120cm布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

A Moment of Seriousness No.1, 120x120cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

严肃的瞬间No.2  A Moment of Seriousness 120x120cm布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

A Moment of Seriousness No.2, 120x120cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

 “A Moment of Seriousness”. We exist in the overall state of affairs of the world. The structure of the events is like the links of a chain. "All the facts in the logical space are the world." As the world changes rapidly, all coincidences become inevitable. There is no accident in logic. Every moment should not be ignored. "The present" is the latest embodiment of truth. We are refreshed by countless "moments".

表象即真相 The Appearance is the Truth 100x160cm布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

The Appearance is the Truth, 100x160cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

“The Appearance is the Truth”. It stands like a monument, covered with moss, trying to contribute rainbow like colors, showing their intrinsic and potential possibilities. The small and great of life coexist at the same time, and the new life luster constantly emerges.

内在的静止和运动  Inner Stillness and Activities 120x240cm布面油画 Oil on canvas2020.jpg

Inner Stillness and Activities, 120x240cm, Oil on canvas, 2020

“Inner Stillness and Activities”. It is also covered with moss, they exist clearly in the night. The darkness absorbs all the passion of life, with silence and noise, with slight and hasty movements. Every tiny thing will experience its own life course. Maybe every subtle one is profound. After all, everything comes from the dark and will return to the dark.

Wu Didi


WU Didi.jpg

Wu Didi

1976   Born in Chongqing, China

2001  Obtained BA Degree with a major in Visual Communication, Design Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

2004  Obtained MFA Degree, Oil Painting Department (Studio 4), Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

Teaching at the Stage Art Department, Central Academy of Drama, Beijing, China

Currently lives and works in Beijing, China

Solo Exhibitions

2020 Object view, Trealm Art Space, Guangzhou, China

2019  Wu Didi, Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong, China

2016  Precised Fictitiousness, Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong, China

2015  Wu Didi, Chamber Fine Arts, New York, USA

2014  Wu Didi, Chamber Fine Arts, Beijing, China

2011  The Spring Equinox, New Millennium Gallery, Beijing, China

Major Group Exhibitions

2020  Unsettled Stillness, Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong Spotlight by Art Basel, Hong Kong, China  

The Rival of Tradition, Song Art Museum, Beijing, China

Extended Theatre: The 1st Public Art Exhibition in Nanhai, Qiangdeng Lake Park, Foshan, China

2019   2nd Sculpture Project Pingyao, Pingyao, China

Against the Stream, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China

2017  Vibrations: Bienal de Curitiba, China Guest Country Exhibition, Museum Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil

Beyond Peach Blossom, Xinjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Urumqi, China

South of the Mountains: 11 Contemporary Chinese Artists, Basilica di Santa Maria, Florence, Italy

2016   China NOW, gallery@oxo, London, UK

Sao Yi Sao, Shugutang Art Museum, Shenzhen, China

Beyond the Mirror Phase, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China

2015  International Representational and Abstract Exhibition, Ningbo Art Museum, Ningbo, China

The Vivid Spirit Contemporary Art Exhibition, Quanzhou, China

Sao Yi Sao, Peninsula Art Space, Shanghai, China

Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest, The 2nd Edition of China-Korean Art Festival, Gwangju, Korea

Image Study – Concept and Language in Paintings, Zheng Guan Art Museum, Beijing, China

The Revival of Tradition – Another Approach to Contemporary Chinese Art, New York, USA

Temperature of History – Central Academy of Fine Arts and Chinese Figurative Oil Paintings, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

Breaking the Image – Methods of Handling Images by Chinese Contemporary Artists, Sishang Art Museum, Beijing, China

2014  APEC Beautiful Home Exhibition, APEC Convention and Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China

She – Times, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China

Pink and See, Xinjiang Contemporary Art Museum, Urumqi, China

2013  Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, A.C. Art Museum, Beijing China

Methods and Media in Painting, Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing, China

The Revival of Tradition—Chinese Contemporary Art, Tuyap Conference and Exhibition Centre, Istanbul, Turkey

Inspiration From Nature, Times Museum, Beijing, China

All Beings—Breathing, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2012   CYAP Young Artist Exhibition, International Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China

Society Spectacle: Suzhou Jinjihu Biennale, Basai Contemporary Art Museum, Suzhou, China

The Revival of Tradition—Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, La Galleria Pall Mall & The Royal Opera Arcade, London, UK

2011  Existence Without Immortality—Modern Female Artists Exhibition, China Millennium Monument Art Museum, Beijing, China

My Shining Hour, Sheng Art Space, Shanghai, China

No Accidental, Yuandian Art Museum, Beijing, China

2008  Seoul International Art Expo, Seoul, Korea

China Blue Festival—Chinese Contemporary Oil Painting Exhibition, Malmo, Sweden


Image and Text Courtesy of the Artist.

Edited by Sue and Emily.