2024 CAFA Graduation Season | Wu Yunfeng: My “Ecstatic” College Life

TEXT:CAFA ART INFO    DATE: 2024.6.5

On May 1, 2024 CAFA Graduation Season was officially unveiled at CAFA Art Museum. Just as the theme “Direction of the Heart” contains good wishes and sincere expectations for Class of 2024 at CAFA, 2024 CAFA Graduation Season does not only contain their art achievements,  their enthusiasm and perseverance in creation are also reflected, which further conveys the imagination and expectations of young students as they embark on the road to the future.

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12 Exhibition View of 1001 Series.pngExhibition View of 1001 Series at 2024 CAFA Graduation

1001 Series

By Wu Yunfeng from Department of Oil Painting

The theme for my graduation creation was centered around my college life, and I finally decided to portray a scene related to playing games and parties. I hope that everyone can see the current life of young people from my painting. I personally am an indoorsman and I have been playing games since I was a child. In today’s social environment, not only adults are feeling stressed, but young people are also confronted with various difficulties, such as taking entrance exams for high schools, college entrance exams, and postgraduate entrance exams... climbing higher step by step but feeling more and more involute, more and more difficult. In addition to its entertainment properties, playing games can also help us relieve stress. With my teachers’ guidance, I have applied stronger color contrast in my painting, hoping to imply the contrast between the relaxed atmosphere and the tense physical and mental state. Of course, this is a deeper consideration when I worked on my paintings. If a visitor simply finds this color exciting, that’s fine.

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1001, 2.3x2.3m, Oil on canvas02 “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 1.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 103 “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 2.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 204 “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 3.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 305  “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 4.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 406  “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 5.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 507  “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 6.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 608  “Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 7.png“Ecstatic” Indoorsmen Life 7

During my creation, it has gone through a process from a small number of people to a large number of people in drafts. When I gathered old friends to cooperate for the creation and take pictures, everyone faced the same screen and played a game, and it seemed that we could forget our various identities for a short time. Whether we were from CAFA, Beijing Film Academy, or Central Academy of Drama, or we were freshmen, sophomores or juniors seemed to be less concerned about. Everyone was just immersed in it, either cooperating or competing. This is what the game brings to us, and it is what I hope to convey to the viewer through my painting. Therefore, in the end I chose a directly front bird’s-eye view to allow visitors to clearly see the expressions and states of the characters in the painting, and I encourage visitors to immerse themselves in it from a prying perspective, in the relaxing atmosphere you may feel a little happiness, and relief from pressure. This is the most sincere experience I want to bring to everyone with this painting, and it is also I think what realistic creations should do well. 

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Exhibition View of 1001 SeriesCourtesy of Wu Yunfeng, edited by CAFA ART INFO.