Modern artist captures lives of nation's Muslims

 

Luo Guirong said the road less traveled is actually a shortcut to artistic success.

The creator of xylographic prints has over the past decades concentrated on a single subject - Islamic people and their life in his homeland, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

"I certainly keep an eye on what is going on in the contemporary art scene. But I will always hold fast to my favorite subjects because I know my people and my land better than many others do," Luo says.

A native son of Beijing, the 51-year-old was born in Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia, where he spent most of his life in the Hui ethnic neighborhoods.

"I have cherished a pleasant memory of my childhood playing with kids from various cultural and family backgrounds. I've never thought of myself as an outsider from Beijing," Luo recalls. "From an early age, I've yearned to express my feelings toward northwestern lifestyles through art."

Luo began his career as an artist with traditional Chinese ink painting. It was not until he enrolled in Ningxia University that he decided to expand his artistic horizons and entered the Department of Oil Painting.

With well-honed skills both in ink and oil art, Luo soon landed a job at a local TV station as a graphic artist upon his graduation in 1989.

Not fully satisfied with his life at the TV station, Luo kept on painting over the years in spare time.

"Only when painting in my studio did I secure a sense of fulfillment," Luo says.

However, after attending several exhibitions in Ningxia, he was quickly drawn to xylographic printmaking, which was a fad among local artists in the late 1980s.

"Why not try to grasp more artistic techniques to enrich my own language?" Luo told himself.

So he put all his spare time into learning the new skill, which he found "both challenging and intriguing".

Chinese avant-garde art had its first boom from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, when Western artwork and ideas were first introduced to Chinese artist community on a massive scale in the form of catalogs, translated books and exhibitions.

After exposing himself to a wide range of genres and cutting-edge art trends, Luo realized that "it is crucial for an artist to keep cool and not to be overwhelmed or distracted in face of changing trends".

In late 1990, Luo was encouraged by veteran artists to compete in the first nationwide printmaking contest for young artists organized by Chinese Artists Association.

After he took an Outstanding Young Artist Award with a print titled A Sunlit Porch, his desire to forge his own style became even stronger.

So he started experimenting in hopes of integrating his ink, oil and xylographic skills into his daily creations.

After a long time spent among the Muslim community in Ningxia, Luo made it his lifetime commitment to depict local people and their way of life. Luo often strolls on the streets of Yinchuan in his spare time.

He was struck by the beauty of Muslim worshippers at the entrance of the mosques, particular young ladies wearing ethnic robes and white veils against the backdrop of a sunny sky. He felt compelled to capture the moment in his xylographic art.

"Regional subjects do not confine an artist who seeks to create works of depth and universal appeal," says Luo who has devoted himself to making two gigantic xylographic series - one about Islamic figures and another about Muslim life in the China over the past two decades.

Tsinghua University art professor Dai Daquan praised Luo's work.

"Luo has made unremitting efforts to portray Muslim Chinese bathed in the sublime light of spirituality," Dai said.

"His innovative rendering of Muslim people and their life in a somewhat traditional medium carries a strong mysterious and surrealistic flavor."

Luo has developed a unique way of creating multi-layered colors and imagery on a single xylographic block.

The engraving and coloring process proves to be not only time-consuming but also physically and intellectually challenging. Luo often has to sweat alone in the studio for long hours. But Luo says he enjoys the time of loneliness.

"It is almost like an arduous drill for a spiritual practitioner," says art critic and Fine Art magazine chief editor Shang Hui. "But the seemingly boring process yields artwork that is spontaneous and unpredictably charming."

Over the past 20 years or so, Luo has staged several solo shows in China and abroad. More than 60 of his xylographic works have been displayed in collections of prestigious museums in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore and South Korea.

His artwork has also been sought after at auctions. In 2010, his signature work titled Beautiful autumn fetched 58,000 yuan at China Guardian (Guangzhou) Autumn Sales.

Luo's artistic language is very personal and easily recognizable, says Shang. "His artworks always give the viewer a powerful sense of spiritual tranquility and timelessness."

Luo has taken a leading role in the protection of the intellectual property rights of the exhibition, publication, collection, circulation and utilization of the xylographic prints.

As the deputy chairman of Ningxia's painters association, he is committed to raising awareness of IPR and guarding the interests of artists in the autonomous region.

zhulinyong@chinadaily.com.cn