On 12 October 2018, “Trace of Mind: Zhang Baowei Solo Painting Exhibition” opened at CAFA Art Museum. The exhibition was hosted by the Central Academy of Fine Arts, organized by CAFA Art Museum and School of Architecture, CAFA. At the centennial celebration of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the 25th anniversary of the restoration of architectural education by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the 15th Anniversary of the establishment of the School of Architecture, a great significant launch of the “Trace of Mind: Zhang Baowei Solo Painting Exhibition” took place which is as one of the most important academic activities organized by the School of Architecture.
Mr. Zhang Baowei has contributed to the founding of design disciplines for the Central Academy of Fine Arts which was a prelude to the architectural education of the Academy. Zhang Baowei was also one of the architects who initially went abroad after the reform and opening up, he went to Spain in 1979 and was employed in the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac’s studio, and he was then invited by the former President of Central Academy of Fine Arts Jin Shangyi to return to China to establish the Department of Design in the 1990s. Mr. Zhang advocated the idea of “grand” design and actively promoted an experiment in the teaching of basic modern design disciplines and laid an important foundation for the development of the design disciplines of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and also depicted the prototype of the architectural education in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. From the Department of Design and School of Design to School of Architecture, Mr. Zhang Baowei has devoted himself to education for more than 20 years and cultivated many outstanding talents in the fields of design practice, management and education.
Many honored guests gathered at the opening ceremony. The Party Secretary of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Gao Hong, President of Central Academy of Fine Arts Fan Di’an, Vice President of Central Academy of Fine Arts Su Xinping, Vice President of Central Academy of Fine Arts Lyu Pinjing, Dean of School of Design Song Xiewei, Dean of School of Urban Design Wang Zhong, Dean of School of Architecture Zhu Pei, Party Secretary of School of Architecture Fu Yi, Deputy Director of CAFA Art Museum Wang Chunchen, representatives of the senior professors Saone Chang, Sun Jiabo, Wen Bao, Zhang Lichen, Sun Jingbo, Wen Lipeng, Han Guangxu, Dai Shihe, Qiu Zhenzhong, Zhou Zhiyu, etc., the architectural critic Wang Mingxian, artist Shang Yang, Professors from Tsinghua University Li Dexiang, Zhu Wenyi and Shan Jun, He Yuru and Xu Quansheng from Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, as well as other honored guests attended the opening ceremony together with the teachers and students from the School of Architecture. Mr. Zhang Baowei’s alma mater Tongji University also sent him a congratulatory letter. Dean of School of Architecture, CAFA, Zhu Pei, hosted the ceremony.
Mr. Zhang Baowei believes that the cultivation of architects’ artistic accomplishments is of paramount significance. As an educator and architect influenced by sentiment, he instructs and influences others by his words and actions. Mr. Zhang loved painting when he was young, and he completely accepted modern art when he was an architect in Spain for more than ten years, there he was inspired by the works by modern art masters. After returning to China, he was too busy with teaching, management and research in artistic creation. Now Mr. Zhang Baowei has an enthusiasm for the creation of painting again. A series of paintings combined with experiments in the use of a variety of materials are displayed. Zhang’s paintings use pleated paper which are repeatedly immersed in thick ink and then affixed to the canvas. The papers are immersed and dyed in a mixture of oil paint and ink, to represent traces of “water”. He refuses to use concrete object symbols in his creation, which reveals a complicated and incredible cultural mind, and is also a metaphor for a pure view. Rather than to understand it, the audience needs to maintain careful observation traces of the mind between the past that was incomplete and the present that can’t be fully experienced and to understand a passion that returns to a silence after it has blossomed.
A seminar on Mr. Zhang Baowei’s artistic creation and design teaching was held in Gallery 4 of CAFA Art Museum before the opening ceremony. The President of Central Academy of Fine Arts Fan Di’an, Vice President of China National Academy of Arts and painter Tan Ping, the architectural critic Wang Mingxian, Professors from Tsinghua University Li Dexiang, Zhu Wenyi and Shan Jun, Zhu Xiaodi, He Yuru and Xu Quansheng from Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Professors from Central Academy of Fine Arts and painters Sun Jingbo, Dai Shihe and Zhou Zhiyu, Professor of Central Academy of Fine Arts and calligrapher Qiu Zhenzhong, Party Secretary of School of Architecture Fu Yi, and Prof. Chen Weihe from Central Academy of Fine Arts delivered their views and opinions on the teaching and artistic creation of Mr. Zhang Baowei.
The exhibition remains on view till 4 November.
Text edited by Lin Jiabin, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO
Photo by Hu Sichen/CAFA ART INFO
About the Exhibition
Title: “Trace of Mind”: Zhang Baowei Solo Painting Exhibition
Host: Central Academy of Fine Arts
Organizers: CAFA Art Museum, School of Architecture, CAFA
Opening: 15:30, 12 October 2018
Venue: Auditorium, CAFA Art Museum
Duration: 12 October – 4 November 2018
Venue: Gallery 4, CAFA Art Museum
Academic Chair: Fan Di'an
Strategy Planning Directors: Lyu Pinjing, Zhang Zikang
Exhibition Directors: Zhu Pei, Fu Yi
Curator: Wang Tiehua
