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Ancient composition in iPhone age
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USING a smartphone to capture pictures is part of the daily routine for many, yet using one to create a piece of art from a special perspective is a passion for Xu Mingsong.
The well-known local art critic will hold his first solo exhibition, entitled “Tiny Shooting,” from January 24 to 28.
The 40 pictures on display, selected from thousands on his iPhone, are on a small scale — the size of A5 paper.
“Xu has an acute eye for arrangement and light and shade, and the iPhone is akin to the brush in his hands that records the fleeting moments in daily life,” said Chen Xiang, a local artist, “He’s a man with some sort of artistic mission. I also take pictures, but I just show them among friends on Weixin.”
Xu revealed that he started his hobby several years ago when he got an iPhone.
“At first, it was just for my interest, because I seem to have an eye to spot beauty around us which might be ignored by others,” he said.
“Every day I take pictures with my iPhone as it is easier and more convenient than a camera. I am particularly keen on the differences of objects cast in light and shade, under raindrops or even the wind. It seems that they enter into another unknown world that changes the original outlook.”
In his pictures, Xu abandons realistic form and shape, only leaving a trace of light and shade, or entangling lines and curves.
“My subjects really vary. It could be the street scene I see in front of the traffic light or a cafeteria when I was in Europe,” he said. “My friends joke to me that I have an iPhone eye everywhere I go.”
But Xu also pointed out that he hasn’t used any processing technique to improve the visual impact of these pictures.
“These are of the outcome of the natural light stretching in front of me,” he said.
Perhaps due to his knowledge and understanding in Chinese ancient art and contemporary art, Xu conjures up images sometimes similar to an ancient traditional ink-wash painting, sometimes impressionism, and sometimes an avant-garde work.
“The importance of this exhibition is not of Xu as an individual, but the opening of a new visual epoch,” said Jin Jiangbo, director at the new media department at Shanghai University. “Digital equipment closes the gap between ordinary people and art ‘high-above’ the sky.”
Date: January 24-28, 10am-4pm
Address: 681 Julu Rd
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