Join us for an exploration of each artist’s craft, trajectory and connection to legacy throughout the weekend in this interactive artist talk.
Originating in the Ming dynasty, this technique of wood printing and hand painting delivers a beautiful piece of artwork. Yangliuqing is a region southeast of Beijing that is known for creating some of the best New Year’s prints in China. The artists Wang Wenda 王文达 (carver), Chen Yuhua 陈玉华 (painter), Gao Yan 高筵 (outliner) are from Yangliuqing Painting Workshop/ Museum of Yangliuqing New Years Pictures and will be demonstrating New Year’s prints. Historically, Yanliuqing woodblock prints have been among the best-known types of New Year’s prints.
During the Spring Festival, people hang New Year’s prints on doorways, walls, and other surfaces to bestow good luck upon their homes and businesses. Among the best-known types are the Yangliuqing woodblock prints, named for a small town eighty miles southeast of Beijing. With its characteristic bright colors, graceful lines, and traditional subjects, the Yangliuqing print tradition dates back to the sixteenth century and continues today through such endeavors as the Yangliuqing New Year’s Print Workshop, where the three Festival participants work. The process includes outlining, carving, printing, and applying additional color with a fine brush. It may take a group of artists forty days to complete one print.
Watch the artists at work throughout the weekend at the Artisan Village.
PRICES
Everyone: FREE
Saturday, July 12, 2014
5:00PM – 5:45PM
Zone 5
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Gao Yan, Wang Wenda, Chen Yuhua
Yanliuqing is a town eighty miles southeast of Beijing. The Yanliuqing Museum/Workshop is a government-sponsored entity with studios of artists working on different parts of the process.
Gao Yan is in his late 20s. He holds a degree in fine art, with a focus in painting. He specializes in creating the outline of the picture/image on thin sheets of paper, which are then adhered to the wood block and used as the guide for carving. His position also involves the creation of larger-scale paintings that are not used simply as carving templates.
Wang Wenda is in his 70s. He is a senior carver at the shop who has been working there for more than 50 years. He will demonstrate wood-block carving.
Chen Yuhua is in her 50s or 60s. She specializes in applying additional color (painted with a brush) to the printed images. She has been working in the shop for more than 20 years.
杨柳青年画，全称“杨柳青木板年画”，产生于明代崇祯年间，制作方法为“半印半画”，即先用木版雕出画面线纹，然后用墨印在纸上，套过两三次单色版后，再以彩笔填绘，勾、刻、刷、画、裱等纯手工制作。杨柳青年画具有笔法细腻、人物秀丽、色彩明艳、内容丰富、形式多样、气氛祥和、情节幽默、题词有趣等特色，主要通过寓意、写实等多种手法表现劳动人民的美好情感和愿望。
杨柳青年画取材内容极为广泛，包括历史故事、神话传奇、戏曲人物、世俗风情以及山水花鸟等，其中尤以直接反映各个时期的时事风俗及历史故事等题材见长，不仅富有艺术欣赏性，而且具有珍贵的史料研究价值。杨柳青年画既有版画的刀法韵味，又有绘画的笔触色调，构成与一般绘画和其他年画不同的艺术特色，被公推为中国民间木版年画之首。2006年，杨柳青年画入选国家首批非物质文化遗产名录。