The Landscape of the Soul - Historical Consciousness in Ren Hong's Art

The reconstruction of historical memory is the source of Ren Hong's creation. In her works, history is not merely a simple structure cast into the picture, but the spiritual history of the Republic and herself. Every person is both a natural being in the present society and a product of specific historical conditions. Therefore, the reproduction of history becomes an eternal theme for humanity. History influences, entangles, inspires, and shapes value orientations; history is the shadow of our bodies. In Ren Hong's "Red Memory" series, the strong political color, nostalgia, and heroism are her shared memories, united with the Republic. We cannot avoid or forget those vibrant years: Chairman Mao, model operas, the defense of Zhenbao Island, combat heroes in her paintings, and the focus on major world events: the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein, 9/11, and Obama's election…etc. We cannot crudely interpret all of this as the artist merely expressing for the sake of expression, remembering for the sake of remembering, but rather as an intellectual examining the DNA within our flesh and blood, tracing the hidden traces within our spiritual history. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? Forgetting means being condemned. And all of this comes from the brush of a woman with a delicate and somewhat frail appearance—truly unexpected.

Since the New Era, artists, to rebel against past authority, have strived to break free from the shackles of "serving politics," and distancing themselves from politics has become the dream of artists pursuing pure art. However, Ren Hong has stubbornly held onto the political string, invariably depicting politics and people's livelihoods in both the "past tense" and the "present tense," a focus so different from that of women of her age. While female painters are drawing on their own life experiences and familiar themes—painting scenes of domestic life, daily life, travel, expressing kinship, love, and friendship; painting still lifes, landscapes, and everyday life—expressing their own feelings… and seeking that lost female "self," she remains completely unconcerned, still immersed in reminiscing about history, focusing on social, political, and cultural themes, expressing a unique "self." Is this truly the painting of a woman? Is what she expresses and focuses on a larger political issue? Is it a larger kind of love? Is it now that we think of Xiang Yu, unable to bear crossing the Yangtze River?

While the delicate sentiments and small melodies temporarily escape grand narratives and enter into the inner self, this also leads to another extreme: forgetting the responsibilities of intellectuals. In our traditional aesthetic framework, male art is considered a manifestation of masculinity, while female art belongs to the feminine school; men should excel in powerful momentum and grand structures, while women prefer gentle and delicate expression; men should be rational, while women are emotional; their focuses differ: men prioritize fame and fortune, while women prioritize love and family. This traditional "dualistic" aesthetic thinking mode is deeply rooted in the Chinese consciousness, leading to the fixed mindset of "male strength and female weakness" in aesthetics. Ren Hong breaks free from this convention; her paintings, in the pursuit of "self," transcend gender cultural differences.

Her works lose their delicate sentiments and small melodies, and have no time for narcissistic embellishment. Only a longing for long-lost, simple emotions and a reverence for the spirit of an era, can help her re-evaluate her life's values. Born during the Cultural Revolution, Ren Hong was immersed in the fervor of the "red ocean" from the moment she became aware of the world. With her parents, both actors, constantly busy performing, she could only find joy with a group of friends in the theater troupe compound through playing musical instruments, singing, or painting, striving to acquire a "skill," and spending a vibrant and colorful childhood in a competitive learning atmosphere. These beautiful years, filled with ideals and clear goals, became an unforgettable memory for her. As an adult, she was admitted to the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, where a multifaceted and solid foundation in art allowed her to navigate her later artistic creations with ease.

Ren Hong's paintings have a strong socio-political dimension, but they are not thematically dependent on any particular political authority. Her work is influenced by political pop art, but it differs from the political pop art that flourished in China during the 1980s and 90s. Many works, largely imitating Western models, appropriate and replace historical and revolutionary themes, using irony, satire, and banter to reflect on and critique political history. Ren Hong, however, does not use this method to satirize or critique history. Instead, she uses fragments of past historical and cultural images of current events as "symbols" that hold childhood memories, reminiscing about the innocent joy of her youth and the ideals and pursuits of a young girl. These works, called "red memories," are merely vehicles for revisiting old dreams, carrying a gentle, beautiful warmth and imbued with a sublime, even sacred, quality. They stir the hearts of a generation with similar experiences, evoking a glimmer of warmth and idealism that remained amidst the bloody political struggles. History sometimes takes detours, but the people in history were kind and sincere, leaving behind some traces worthy of reflection and remembrance in the passage of time. Her works, though highly individualized, are also a collective political memory of a generation, perhaps a reaction against the "parody" prevalent in some contemporary art.

Ren Hong's paintings are not mere reproductions of old photographs of past historical fragments. She uses photographs and propaganda posters of news figures from specific historical periods as her source material, selecting iconic images that remain in people's memories. These images are merely "symbols" in her paintings, not specific individuals or events in a general sense. The meaning of these symbols has been sublimated or refined into a spirit of the times. Her paintings of Mao Zedong, Red Guards, model operas, and war heroes undoubtedly express the sincere yet naive fervor of people during the Red Era. Later paintings of the Gulf War, 9/11, the Chinese Olympics, and Obama's inauguration in the United States express her reflections on the changing world at the turn of the century. The images she chooses are sufficient to represent the hot topics of a historical period and the spirit of the times they embody—this is the meaning inherent in her "symbols." If she merely remained at the level of symbolic reproduction, superficially copying old paintings and photographs, it would lack artistic value. How can we bridge the gap between the "past tense," "present tense," "progressive tense," and even the "future tense" in the minds of contemporary people, connecting them into a chain of thought and expanding the space of the image's connotation? She once again utilized the power of "symbols," creating a dual use of "symbols." First, she used these symbolic imprints of the times as the main image of the work, then superimposed them with a pattern composed of four-dimensionally continuous abstract symbol codes. These abstract symbol codes have an intrinsic connection with the main image; for example, the heroic image is superimposed with a pine tree symbol pattern; the pattern composed of arrow symbols signifies certain movements and speeds, such as "catching up with Britain and the United States"; the symbols of doves, torches, and party emblems all correspond to the core connotation of the main image. These symbols that make up the pattern, such as what the pine tree signifies and what the arrows point to, are all conventional symbols with symbolic meaning in the context of the time, a more abstract spiritual symbol. Under the influence of this dual symbolism, the image not only estranges the familiar main symbols in the text but also imbues them with new meaning. The main image, covered by symbolic patterns, evokes a sense of illusion and isolation, creating a historical spatial feel. Therefore, her work is not a simple reproduction of historical images from memory, but rather leaves room for reflection and imagination while revisiting the past. This dual use of symbols, in the conceptual contemporary pop art, subverts the dogmas and patterns of traditional revolutionary painting with its unique artistic form, forging its own path.

On the surface, her symbolic coding patterns seem to utilize the learning resources of the Academy of Arts and Crafts, naturally and cleverly incorporating craft techniques into painting to create new visual effects. However, a deeper examination reveals that this reflects Ren Hong's psychological needs and spiritual direction during her creative process. The artist says that when she inadvertently discovered this language form, she experienced a spiritual epiphany and continued to pursue it tirelessly. Why does she so tirelessly repeat the same symbolic symbols, using an infinite amount of "time" to accumulate and encode them in a complex and gradual way? This impulse and choice in artistic creation can be seen as a psychological need of the painter. When she enters a creative state, it's like "a loving mother's thread," each stitch imbued with affection; like a farmer "working from sunrise to sunset," laboring tirelessly... In this repetitive manual labor, the painter experiences "meaning" as if meditating. The meaning within is infinite, and the greatest infinity enters into nothingness, the so-called "formless great image"—what a vast spiritual space this is! Ren Hong may have achieved transcendence of reality and surpassed herself in this repetitive manual labor, achieving a kind of healing and peace for body and mind, realizing self-redemption in art. Of course, she no longer uses handcraft to create patterns; she can easily cover them with a projector. However, how can this replace the outpouring of a life poured with emotion and thought? Making and painting are ultimately not on the same level of discourse; she realized the predicament of her art.

How to transcend herself? She designed and implemented various breakthrough plans. First, she returned to her original profession of ceramics, using elegant blue and white porcelain and gorgeous polychrome porcelain to create a series of junk food works titled "Hamburgers," and a series of monsters with human heads and crocodile bodies titled "Beautiful Crocodiles," using startling images to critique contemporary reality. However, she is even more passionate about reflecting on history and culture. After "Red Memories," she created a series of "fashionable beauties" from the 1920s and 30s, and in these images of older beauties, she embodies her reflections on the path of women's lives. In recent years, she has also wandered among cultural relics to search for historical traces. She can rush to Kaifeng on the first day of the Lunar New Year to photograph the ruins of the old city walls that are about to be demolished, search for the tomb of Lü Buwei in the overgrown weeds, and walk the route of the Three Kingdoms to converse with the ancients. She also travels back and forth along railway lines, using her camera to photograph old train stations around the city, or abandoned and soon-to-disappear old train stations, such as Tongxian Station, Liangxiang Station, Xinle Station, Yangcun Station, Wangdu Station… She managed to find dozens, even hundreds, of these historical relics that were on the verge of disappearing from people's lives and sight. Why was she so attached to these old things? Was it merely a curious hobby, or a conscious historical awareness? In any case, thanks to her tireless collection, people are not losing this cultural memory due to the disappearance of historical artifacts. Cultural memory is the way a nation compiles its historical information; only by preserving cultural memory can history remain in people's hearts and be passed down from generation to generation. Once people lose this cultural memory, where will they find their roots? In this sense, she consciously took on a responsibility to record history and culture. It is remarkable that this woman, who grew up surrounded by the ancient operas performed by her parents, was not swayed by the romantic tales of talented men and beautiful women, becoming a fragile and weak woman. Instead, she was cultivated with a historical and cultural awareness, developing into a broad-minded, far-sighted, independent woman who dared to accept hardship and face challenges.

Her art is still "on its way," with potential for development in many areas. I believe she will break through her current limitations and reach a brilliant new artistic space.

April 28, 2009, Beijing, Mingjia Garden
Tao Yongbai