ArtCN is delighted to present "Manderings of the Heart", a new exhibition by Dai Mouyu, will be open to public. It will be Dai Mouyu's first solo exhibition at ArtCN. The exhibition will present the artist's works of the past three years for the first time. The media of his works include but not limited to ink, gouache, mulberry paper and hemp paper. The artist's sketchbook for the past nearly 20 years will also be unveiled to the public for the first time. 

Dai Mouyu is alternately working on two different bodies of work, which feel natural in his own artistic practice. One is representing mostly landscapes painted in thinnest brushstrokes that feel quiet and soft while the artist uses more spontaneous and direct thicker brushes for the other work. It is like converging two kinds of energy in a ballet of movements and stillness combined with emotions, time, and distance. Sometimes when there is conflict, the contradiction could lead Dai towards a new direction. A temporary dilemma becomes a new possibility. “My work looks quiet but it contains a dynamic, a sense of movement, for it is actually an enhancement of the energy I feel flowing around me.”The artist says.

When someone understands and pays attention to a plant, the life and harmony contained in that plant would slowly appear. Just like with the restless wind and birdsong outside the window at the moment, there is also a movement of its own in our detached listening. Undoubtedly, the grass is not only grass - especially the grass outside our doorstep that we take for granted. A thousand paintings of grass can offer a thousand different images, which is the gist of creating a painting. In Mouyu’s work, what the audience see is the endless cycle of life.

ArtCN held an online talk with artist Dai Mouyu during the lockdown. The artist shared his reflections on the esthetic processes of his newest work, its connection to his minimalist life style, and the influence of photography that has led him to explore new ways of applying his strengths and emotions within an unconventional form. During the conversation with ARTCaffè founder Raffaella Gallo, the artist said when he was little, he loved drawing lines on the ground with a stick, thus his parents signed him up for extra-curriculum art classes, and afterwards he got accepted at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

The key point is not where the influence comes from, but rather making a clear personal choice after accumulating enough life experience and having established a close relationship with society. This is also the reason why the artist has been doing photography: the work experiences as a photographer give him the ability to make choices and allow him to return to his first focus. The line is the starting point for Mouyu, which is always the original intention and what heI always goes after. Line plays a very important role in photography, it helps the images to tell stories, especially when shooting people or scenes. Lines and their proportions bring mood and emotions. Different proportions show different moods.

Brush and ink reflect the heart of the people. People reveal themselves through painting and the ”right” work will eventually talk to the one whom it is destined for. The right work also determines that the work can be carried on in an honest way. It requires time to continuously improve one’s cognitive ability and most importantly the perception the viewer has of the painting. Over the years since 2005, the artist has completed approximately 200 sketchbooks. “What’s more important is persistence,” the artist said. 

Once you master one certain practice, then one is rewarded in its many benefits and a constantly renewed energy. For Mouyu, leading a Zen life style is the way to obtain wisdom. His works tend to be an expression of his inner world but when he thinks that he has reached the stage of “being released”, it is still with a sense of being “under control”. Practicing for a long time makes one’s breathing clearer and calmer. It takes a lot of practice to achieve this state. The buildup of this energy makes the artist more at ease and in control of the way he paints without the anxiety that comes while creating. In different series of work, he makes use of the force and dynamism that he get from the breathing practice. All the ink lines coming out of the artist’s brushes are contained in his breath.

Practicing calligraphy is like breathing. Dai Mouyu always mentions the "breathing" of his paintings. Breathing is deeply rooted in Chinese people as a form of cultural expression. Whether it’s the perception the artist has of the world, or the creation of his paintings, or his every brushstroke, each varies with his breathing. Eventually, while you are gazing at the painting, the breath is still flowing from the painting to you and back to the painting. And your gaze tells your story along with your breathing.