EDUTAINMENT
Edutainment > My Villagers Series - by Shi Yanqing, born 1973
From 2005 until 2006 Chinese contemporary artist Shi Yanqing, born 1973, created this series of 7 reduction woodblock prints titled "My Villagers". We regard this series as a milestone work of contemporary Chinese printmaking, and selected it for our virtual gallery of One Hundred Chinese Master Prints.
Author: Dieter Wanczura
(May 2009)
My Villagers - No. 1 - Reduction Woodblock Prints
Shi Yanqing created this series of seven designs from November 2005 until April 2006 as reduction woodblock prints.
My Villagers - No. 2 - Small Edition Size
The edition size is extremely small with 8 copies (6 copies for the number 6). All prints are signed, dated, numbered and titled by the artist in pencil. To our knowledge the series is sold out and no longer available from the artists.
Shi Yanqing - Article about this series, written by a German Jounalist for artelino
Shi Yanqing - My Villagers No. 2
copyright Shi Yanqing
My Villagers - No. 3 - Shown at Important Exhibitions
Prints from the "Villagers" series were selected for the First International Print Exhibition in Guanlan, Shenzhen city in 2007 (published in the official catalog of the exhibition, ISBN: 978-7-5059-5576-9). In 2007 the number 5 from the "Villagers Series" attended the Exhibition for the Memorization of the 80th Anniversary of the PLA (Chinese People's Liberation Army).
About the Guanlan International Print Exhibition in 2007
Shi Yanqing - My Villagers No. 3
copyright Shi Yanqing
My Villagers - No. 4 - Shi Yanqing Comments this Series
Shi Yanqing fortunately described his print series himself - in simple words and with a simple message:
"I was born in a small village in Shanxi province. There are no streets, only narrow meandering footpaths. There are no phones. You can communicate only by letters from outside. It seems that my village was fenced out from the modern cities. Each of my villagers only has a small piece of land. They work hard, they are honest and warm-hearted."
"What I drew are my familiar villagers, their smiles and their hopes: they all do the same action, they cover their eye with one hand. Look at this world that we used to see with two eyes, maybe we will find a different new world."
Introduction to Chinese Prints and how to buy them on this web site.
Shi Yanqing - My Villagers No. 4
copyright Shi Yanqing
My Villagers - No. 5 - Zhang Minjie Comments this Series
Shi Yanqing was a student of famous Chinese printmaker Zhang Minjie. Zhang Minjie wrote a comment about the "Villagers Series" of his student.
"Mr. Shi Yanqing's Villagers series is about portraits. But what he wants to show us, are the feelings and impressions about the living situation of his villagers. One can see different smiles from different persons. But what they have in common is how they look at the world with the same eyes. The distance between the mode and their figure, it is a normal section from life, so it looks very vivid."
"Although the seven persons have their own expressions with different clothing and with different backgrounds, the same actions say something about what is behind these portraits. It is a reflection on the current culture. It is really precious how the artist can express these exploring art languages by the subject of portrait prints."
My Villagers - No. 6 - Shi Yanqing at Guanlan Print Exhibition in 2009
In 2009 another woodblock print by Shi Yanqing was selected for the Second Guanlan International Print Exhibition. The selected print is titled "The Bridge". It has been available from artelino in two copies.
Second Guanlan Internation Print Exhibition - 2009
Shi Yanqing - My Villagers No. 6
copyright Shi Yanqing
My Villagers - No. 7 - Large Format
The prints of this series are very large with roughly 26 by 40 inches (66 cm by 100 cm) for the print size and circa 18 by 36 inches (45 cm by 90 cm) for the image size. They are printed on a solid, thick Chinese paper.
Chinese Prints - our first article from 2003
Shi Yanqing - My Villagers No. 7
copyright Shi Yanqing
Author: Dieter Wanczura
(May 2009)
The images on this web site are the property of the artist(s) and or the artelino GmbH and/or a third company or institution. Reproduction, public display and any commercial use of these images, in whole or in part, require the expressed written consent of the artist(s) and/or the artelino GmbH.
Current Local Time: Monday, May 20, 2013, 6:55:15 PM Central European Time
