Beginnings

Wilfully elongated comes from a translation I did last year for some Chinese artist:

"In contrast to the traditional style, Qin has altered the contours of his nudes: their bodies are wilfully elongated, and the their flesh pale."

This blog is about art,  philosophy and the unbearable qualities of modern life. Perhaps I'll tell some of my own story but perhaps it is better to begin by commenting on the life and work of others.

Let's start with Qin Qi who is a contemporary Chinese artist picked almost at random, a graduate of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts and  who made his  appearance on the  art scene in 2002. At the start of the Millennium, he painted  figures of youth and of fables but  changed  direction in 2004, experimenting with the image in diverse manners. His choice of titles is amusingly evocative “Chairs Can Save Lives” and “The Angry Octopus” attracted me, you too can see some of his work here. He apparently has a fascination with Jack Ma and has incorporated him in his work.

There are many contemporary art galeries in Beijing.  This, I suppose, is a sign of the affluence of modern China or at least its capital. And so the little Chinese  kids can aspire to becoming the next Warhol (I'm showing my age), Jeff Koons or Tracey Emin.  There is a tale to tell here, for I got to know intimately one of those kids in the South of France. A pretty girl not short of charm, with exquisite manners and a yearning to get away.

In China,  nudes as a cultural works,  can create official problems for the artist. So Qin in painting his wilfully elongated  nudes  is making a political statement no matter how small. Maybe the girl who chose the adjective "wilful" was too.