Qi Zhilong: Youth in Uniform

While artists create the masterpiece, the fate and romance of their own have also been formed. Sometimes, these romances extend the value of art works that will be handed down for ages.

At the Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition, titled "Mahjong", held by famous Swiss col- lector, Uli Sigg, the artist world had irst time focused on the "Chinese Girl", a masterpiece printed on the cover of exhibition catalogue. This masterpiece was also taken as the huge poster for Berne Museum at the same time. Qi Zhilong, who has never been absent for the integrate development of Chinese contempo- rary art, had been silent for many years before this event. In 2006, one of triple paintings, "Consumer Image", shifted to Hong Kong ear- lier, was sold at an unexpected high price at the spring auction in New York, which immediately made Qi Zhilong popular. It has been 14 years since this masterpiece was sold out, and it is coincident that the same span of time had passed till he was appraised by Li Xianting.

When Li Xianting saw his works irst time in 1992, it had just missed Venice Biennial works collection. That was the irst time for Chinese artists participating in the international exhibi- tion. Though felt regretted, Li Xianting im- mediately recommended the works to Johnson Tsong-zung Chang, the curator of Hanart TZ Gallery in Hongkong. Johnson Tsong-zung Chang was making preparatory works for the famous "Post 89' New Chinese Art" Exhibition. Johnson Tsong-zung Chang only bought one of triple paintings, "Consumer Image", and it had been put on "New Art in China 1989-93". At the auction in 2006, it was the one of triptyches which hit the fame for the artist.

In 1992, Qi Zhilong began to contact with contemporary art and the series of "Consumer Image" was his irst attempt. Qi Zhilong's cre- ative works began in Winter Palace Artist Vil- lage. At that time, in the atmosphere of Chinese contemporary art, particularly in Winter Palace Artist Village, the "political pop" and "cynical reality" style was prevailed. Copy and rewrit- ten of political figures had become the major icon, while the lat expression of painting had become the means of resolution for seriousness. Qi Zhilong's "Consumer Image" had also been classiied as the same sort of image. But the background of this creation by the artist was not derived from that sort. Consumption of the whole society was rushing forward, and pop music "The East is Red" and other songs were popular as red trend. The artists keenly integrat- ed the consumerism into traditional ideology, entertaining and disintegrating the mainstream ideology of the whole society, then clearing up the expectation of the public for the deepening of the elite, and inally sending back the artistic language to the populace.

From Consumer Image to Chinese Girl

Qi Zhilong said, "From 1992 to 1994, I was painting Consumer Image, which was very different from the political pop and had funda- mental distinction with consumer image some people still painting at present. Consumption is my idea of the rebel to political bop. In my point of view, the political pop is confronted with ideology, leading to another ideological myth of its own. The society in future will certainly be open and all ideologies can be consumed in the future. For this, the Consumer Image I depicted is just to clear up the political pop."

In 1995, Qi Zhilong bid farewell to the Consumer Image and turned to a series of paintings with the image of uniformed girls as the theme, "Chinese Image". He described his creation at that time, "Unlike Consumer Image, the girl is not adopted from the popular symbols in pubic, but the image is from my mind. What I need to know is how to solve the problem of presenting her in the image of contemporary. Figures must be in a sort of ambiguous way, including laughing appearance. My imaginary symbol has realized this change by this means, and this is just covertly matching the dashing features."

The exhibition of "Model Community" and "Gorgeous Trendy" has identified dashing art existed as a kind of art status. Critic, Lu Peng, considered that Qi Zhilong was distinct in this respect with other dashing artists, "Qi Zhilong has historical compassion, which showing the memory and full of aesthetic interest to the green dress during the Cultural Revolution. The artist seriously re-uniformed the beautiful girl and modiied the history with aesthetic interest accepted by common people. It is difficult to judge whether the audience will link this kind of image with the past image of 'courage, truth, noble and justice'. However, it is very positive that the artist has cleared up the seriousness of history. Of course, the so-called 'revolutionary idealism' is also gone away. They have sent the 'depth' into exile by folk model and similar drama." (Lu Peng, The 20th Century Chinese Art History, p.914).

Qi Zhilong is specialized in printmaking and the complanation features in his works is extremely novel at that time. For the series of Chinese Girl, Qi Zhilong aimed to provide so-called consumer image to consume the charming youth wrapped in faded uniform.

Cultural Theorist

During the same period, the series of "Family" and "Comrades", created by Zhang Xiaogang, who painted virtual nostalgic portraits of people as the typical model, had been in the internation- al limelight. In the view of Qi Zhilong, Zhang Xiaogang is culminant figure of extinction art of Chinese contemporary art in 1980s. He has transferred realism into the concept, and the tra- ditional standardized images into contemporary language, making the symbolized old photos be- come a summary for the memory of the special era in China. Qi Zhilong's "Chinese Girl" is romantic. In Qi Zhilong's series of "Chinese Girl", all Chinese girls are beautiful, charming, innocent, and pure, with rich expressions and vigorous feelings. Though they were fixed in a stereotype and had to dress in Red Guard's green clothing, but people who experienced from the 1950s to today could realize the history associated and the avant-garde trendy the artist had endowed in the painting. Qi Zhilong's fanta- sy of a group of Chinese Contemporary Portrait has been reined by the artist, who put forward various idealized Chinese beauties created by his imagination on the historical stage. These images of beauty have cleared up political signiication, and the vivid and true life become possible.

At "Chinese Portrait Exhibition" held in Municipal Art Gallery of Thessaloniki in Greece on October 10, 2007, Qi Zhilong displayed a dozen of masterpieces as an important part of the nd activity for 42 Demetria Art Festival to show his creative trend during 15 years (1992-2007). Political pop, consumerism, dashing art, post pop, and consumer realism adored recently are all symbols of Qi Zhilong. From "Consumer Image" to "Chinese Girl", Qi Zhilong's works have only two subjects, but all history of Chi- nese contemporary art has been included.

For the relationship between art and market, Qi Zhilong believed that, "The image of Chinese Girl I created is selling well, but how to judge selling well and what is the standard for selling well? I think that mainly lies in the value and quality it conveyed. Besides technology, it has signiicant relationship with the quality of humanities, as well as the time and situation related to the works. For instance, the images of political symbols created nowadays seldom have the quality of humanities, perhaps they only selling well. I am no longer painting political symbols, for I still have some sense of the intel- lectual in this respect. From the viewpoint of academic level, my Consumer Image is the end to the images of political symbols."

In fact, Qi Zhilong's success is that he has skill- fully explored the symbols of his own, which endowed with a powerful theoretical basis. It is the theoretical pursuit of cultural turmoil rather than the painting style of Qi Zhilong that has been concerned. His change at various stages has just shown a prophet who hit the point of present social and cultural pulse, while main- taining an ambiguous distance.