Yao Dixiong and the Nature of the Beast

LYING Manes and StrikingHooves in the Singing Gale de-picts a moving herd of hundredsof horses; viewers of the 10-me-ter-long scroll seem to hear the thuddingof their stampede and the excited whin-nying.The painter Yao Dixiong excels atpainting horses,a beast whose majestyhe can convey with a few strokes of hisbrush.His artistic intimacy with thiscreature is evident not only in his render-ings of a single horse,but also in how heanimates the spectacle of a free herd.Af-ter migrating to Australia,Yao broadenedhis interest in large mammals to includethe fauna of his adopted homeland,creat-ing two notable works: 2000 Kangaroosand Man and Nature - Australian Soul,which took his art into new dimensionsand to new heights.

Equine Passion

Yao was born in 1949 in the grasslandsof Xinjiang in western China,and practi-cally grew up on the back of a horse.Rid-ing by age five,he was an accomplishedhorseman by age 12.Gradually,paintingthe horses that were so much a part ofhis world became an important part ofhis life.Formal artistic education wasbeyond his reach,but the absence ofartistic discipline and the judgment ofteachers freed his mind and creativity,giving nature the role of his art instruc-tor.He studied the life around him and,in innocent absorption,formed a uniqueartistic style that distinguished him fromthe art academy and the art scene.InFlying Manes and Striking Hooves inthe Singing Gale for example,he used awhite powder to depict the splashing wa-ter raised by the herd crossing throughthe river,and perfection would not betoo strong a description of the effeef.Bydoing so,he defied a convention - theChinese painting tradition of reflectingwater splashes through a combinationof blank spaces and the contortions ofthe horses' bodies; this challenged theconventional aesthetic undertone of thesubtle and indirect approach.

Years of sketching the anatomical de-tails of the horse allowed Yao to combinethis deep knowledge with the brushworktechnique of traditional Chinese paint-ing.The result is work that fuses the boldaccuracy of Western naturalism with thelineal ease and grace of traditional Chi-nese painting.Good examples of this areGalloping and I'm Going to Marry.

The art world has great respect forthe untrained Yao's horses.Renownedcontemporary art critic Shao Dazhencommented: "Mr.Yao Dixiong's horsesare dynamic and have a great artistic ap-peal.His artistic language is not confinedby traditional approaches to this motif ofpainting; he has created a unique styleby blending a foundational sketch intohis works,hence giving his horses a highlevel of animation." The renowned WuGuanzhong once remarked of his fel-low artist: "Dixiong's excellence lies inboth mastery of brushwork and ink ap-plication in a distinct personal style.Bymaking their spirits and attitudes para-mount to the work,he grants his horses the human quality of personality.Hisworks are an extraordinary landmark incontemporary horse painting." The high-est possible praise for Yao Dixiong camefrom celebrated painter Fan Zeng.Notonly did he compare Mr.Yao to Han Ganand Cao Ba,two accomplished artists ofthe Tang Dynasty (618-9o7) enamored ofthe same subject,he even declared Yaono inferior to Xu Beihong,the highly es-teemed contemporary artist synonymouswith paintings of horses.

2000 Kangaroos

The awesome spectacle of movingkangaroo herds produced a similar aweto stampeding horses.In 1983 Yao be-came the first Chinese artist to receivean artist-in-residence sponsorship fromthe Australian government.Two yearslater he finished his 2000 Kangaroos.This scroll is 63 meters long and madethe Guinness Book of World Recordsin 1988 as the longest scroll painting inAustralia.

2000 Kangaroos was the world's firstcolossus painting to present an exoticlandscape in the traditional languageof Chinese art.It was displayed promi-nently at ceremonies marking Australia's2ooth anniversary,the 150th birthdayof the Australian state of Victoria,themaiden flight of the Australia-Malaysiaairline,the 2ooth anniversary of the ar-rival of the Chinese in Hawaii and at thetourism convention of the Pacific Region.So far,the painting has been exhibitedon nearly 100 occasions all around theworld.

2000 Kangaroos also reflects the dualinfluences of Chinese and Western art onYao Dixiong.He used Chinese ink andbrushstrokes to shape the bodies,thenWestern techniques and paint to createvaried and lively features and mahner-isms.Color was applied through the useof different paints and materials fromboth Chinese and Western schools ofart.For example,he felt gouaches,wa-tercolors and propylene pigments wereappropriate for the dusty heat of the kan-garoo habitats.But to reflect the depthand thickness of Australian forests,heborrowed from the crusty realism ofWestern landscape oils.At some pointsin the scroll viewers can also detect theinfluence of animation art.

These ecletie elements are amassedinto one work but with an inspiringseamlessness and harmony.The mas-terly Mr.Yao believes that there are nolimits and no taboos in the exploration ofthe abundant artistic traditions and ma-terials of the East and the West; in fact,all of them may be needed to reflect themultitudinous and diversified treasuresof our world.Man and Nature - Australian Soul

The soul in the title refers to the in-digenous culture of Australia.This 100-meter-long scroll,completed in 2001,established Yao Dixiong's fame in theinternational art world.

It took 18 years for the masterpiece tobrew in Yao's mind,and another two anda half years to actually transfer his ideasto paper.For inspiration,he spent manyyears living with Australian aboriginalsin the mountains and talked with lo-cal artists and craftsmen to learn about