Seeking the Surprising Charm of Opera
Celestial Auspiciousness
Oil On Canvas
300×178cm
BEI Jiaxiang’s Surprising Charm series employs traditional opera as its media, stirring a visual storm of Eastern aesthetics at the crossroads of oil and ink wash. These works are neither mere reconstructions of tradition nor formalistic pastiches; rather, they penetrate the stage façade through the “opera eye,” distilling the character spirit hidden within the physical form. The layers of oil paint echo the resounding cadence of drums and gongs, and the swirling ink wash together weave a “verisimilitude-imbued dreamscape,” blurring the boundaries between illusion and reality.
These opera characters embody the aesthetic principle of “layering bones over the flesh.” BEI fuses calligraphic wild cursive strokes into the painting, with scraped oil applying a jagged, pulsating rhythm that forms a relief-like “bone structure” of the figure. The ink wash employs the technique of layering in Chinese painting to shape costumes and robes, allowing the ink’s diffusion to breath with vitality. When comes to color, BEI poetically tames the Western lighting with Oriental imagery. The peach-red cheeks of female figures resemble the spots of light in Monet’s Japanese Bridge, while beneath, the muted blue-gray undertones evoke the tranquil, lotus-like coolness of ink wash. When Western expressionism clashes with violent hues against the human form, BEI transcends the inner resonance of his characters through such delicate application of color.
BEI Jiaxiang’s “opera eye” ultimately becomes a universal aesthetic lens, bridging East and West. While contemporary Western art indulges in conceptual overturns, BEI demonstrates that the most avant-garde revolution flourishes within the cracks of profound tradition. Oil’s textured richness can echo NI Yunlin’s solitary pride; ink’s misty fluidity can absorb the gentle radiance of Renoir. Those fragmented brushstrokes, elusive color patches, and illusory characters are not technical showmanship but invitations for viewers to partake in an oriental awakening—where the blurred boundary between stage and worldly chaos reveals the eternal joys and sorrows of humanity.