Bending the Mountain and Honoring the Water: Shan Shui (山水) in the Work of Liu Dao

Liu Dao always strives to mix old and new as a reflection of China’s eclectic and ever-expanding cultural horizons. This dedication to the past, present, and future of China may be seen in both subject and medium. Liu Dao artworks are typically comprised of a multitude of media – paintings in acrylic and oil, LED, neon, stainless steel, wood, rice paper… a complete list is a blog post in and of itself. LED technology has only been around since the early 1960s, and has been used in everything from traffic signals to the flickering statements that hang on the walls of island6. LED technology pulses through the streets of Shanghai, and thus organically became a fundamental component of Liu Dao’s work. Painting, one of the most traditional fine art forms, boasts a history of nearly 50,000 years, as evidenced by the pigments flecked onto the walls of Spain’s Cueva de El Castillo. Mediums such as painting and papercuts are a storied part of China’s rich artistic history and are given due homage in Liu Dao’s own burgeoning traditions. The collective frequently places these contrasting mediums in the same frame, thus pushing the boundaries of multimedia art and those placed between viewer and art, as well.

 (国画), or painting in the traditional “native” style of China, has decorated scrolls, screens, and other media for centuries. This highly technical art form, with its emphasis on brush strokes and dynamic rhythm, is recognized all over the globe. has been treasured in China since the inception of representational art, while Chinese-inspired material culture has been adored and festishized throughout the world, as witnessed by the Chinoiserie craze that held court in Rococo-period Europe. Here at island6, Liu Dao is frequently inspired by a particular style of painting known as (山水), which literally translates to “mountain-water.”

“Early Spring,” a shan shui-style handscroll painted by famed Northern Song Dynastic Artist Guo Xi.

-style painting first rose to prominence during the Song Dynasty in the 5 th century. [i] Paintings using the “mountain-water” style typically depict just that, a natural landscape dominated by a mountain, often with a stream or other water source. works were heavily influenced by Taoist thinking, and are often meant to guide the mind to contemplate the mysteries of the natural world and mankind’s ultimately insignificant place within it. All works must follow three basic rules: there must be a pathway that meanders around the composition that draws viewers in, a threshold must be established in the composition to welcome viewers, and there must be a heart – the focus of the image, where all elements will eventually lead the eye. also adheres to (五行),Chinese elemental theory, wherein colors, directions, and elements are interconnected to form positive relationships. Liu Dao has long been fascinated by how -style art acts as more than just object, but as a vehicle. This celebrated artistic concept has found its way into Liu Dao works in multiple ways.

The exhibition “Everyday Frenzies”(2011), took inspiration from painting and poetry, and reflected on today’s urban landscape as seen through the lenses of the ancient tradition. The multimedia series explored in “Everyday Frenzies” was first displayed at Beijing’s Green T House, but had particular resonance when the second installment was displayed in the rapidly expanding Shanghai metropolis at our own island6. was once again the focus of an exhibition when Liu Dao opened “Spring Floods and Peach Petals” (2011) at The Arts House in Singapore. The exhibition featured works like “Economy Personified” , which challenges the traditional representation of philosophy. Writer and curator Loo Ching Ling wrote of the LED piece:

 The uneasy movements of an overweight tightrope walker remind the tense watchers of the thin line on which our global economy must balance itself in order to stay healthy. Performer Jiang Jun (江军) embodies the nature of a booming nation which treads gingerly forward and backward, carefully maintaining its balance. In  Jiang brings to life the spirit and philosophy of  (山水),which seeks, above all, harmony between elements and respect for the power of forces beyond our control. Only then will we keep our balance and attain peace in our hearts.

“Economy Personified” (粗红线)

Works like “The Thick Red Line” also interpreted philosophy through modern eyes. Loo Ching Ling wrote:

The zen-like state of obsession – whether in art, performance, video gaming, or other – is a journey toward the heart of the matter at hand. All parameters irrelevant to the issue dissolve from the one venturing forth. In a curious parallel to the principles of a  garden, the retro Pong video-game, beloved of teenaged geeks in the 1970s, takes its faithful disciples down similarly winding paths in seeking the heart of contentment and self-fulfillment. Just as Zen Buddhists likened painting to a form of meditative art, players of video games find themselves so deep in concentration that they enter a similarly absorbed state of mind. The bouncing ball of the game, zipping from side to side across the empty field, is zen-like in its simplicity of concept and yet dynamic and complex in movement. Huang Binhong (黃賓虹), art historian and painter, wrote of the  (山水) ideal, “The more zigzag the way, the deeper the scenery. The winding path approaches the secluded and peaceful place.”

“The Thick Red Line” (行走的经济)

The intricate laser woodcuts of “Extra Qi!” (给力) recall the roaming qualities of shan shui paths.

More recently, Liu Dao has utilized style in its signature LED – painting – paper collage multimedia artworks. A scene is highlighted in the delicate painting of the vase in “Cranberry Blue” while electric facets of nature flutter above the porcelain rim. Like the mystical landscape on the vase, the LED butterflies follow meandering paths in the composition, and their ethereal presence comments on the ephemeral nature of life. The old is delicately kissed by the new as the butterflies alight on the lip of the vase.

“Cranberry Blue” (莓之蓝)

“Artisan’s Revenge” (艺人复仇记) also depicts a porcelain vase that features a finely painted s scene. This exalted ancient art form is perpetually destroyed by the flickering movement of the new – an LED figure armed with a devastating hammer. Here, is elevated within the boundaries of contemporary fine art, and is subsequently destroyed. Like Robert Rauschenberg’s (1953), such an act could be considered either vandalism or the conceptual production of a work through destruction.

“Artisan’s Revenge” (艺人复仇记)

Liu Dao isn’t out to destroy tradition, but to build on it, question it, exalt it, bend it, and ultimately… shape their own. Exploring style is just one of the many ways that Liu Dao flexes and ponders China’s continual march through artistic time.

[i] http://www.personal.psu.edu/mux101/assignment4.html

Photo credit: “Early Spring” by Guo Xi, from http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/painting/4lndguox.htm