The
father of the YUNNAN School of Art: Within the underground Chinese contemporary artist community,
one in every three artists has emulated Jiang's historical
Yunnan Style of art. His fame in China eclipses his fame in
the Western World to the point of that they perceive Jiang
as one in a billion.
The colors in Jiang's serigraphs
and paintings are of unsurpassed richness. A colorist, Jiang's
intention was to reverse the trend of the stale Chinese tradition
of painting in gray, black, and white. Jiang says: "Chinese
art had reached a sick level due to its lack of color."
Use of imagery. As noted above, Jiang is a storyteller.
His paintings are steeped in Buddhist and Chinese mythology.
Each figure has a symbolic meaning. The paintings and prints
have so much complexity and visual fascination that the viewer
is constantly seeing something new. Jiang says "For
every picture there is a story, and for every story there
is a picture."
Jiang's vision has continued to grow and expand.
Probably because of his personal experience in two cultures
he has increasingly seen the world as a single system, as
a meeting place of diverse forces. This is reflected in the
number of environmental and ecologic themes which have recently
begun appearing in his work, notably in such pieces as "Nature
Suite," "Genesis," "Lovers Trees,"
and "My World."
The secret and essence of Jiang Tiefeng's work is
best expressed by the artist himself:
"An artist is not a photographer; my work
is my understanding of life. It is difficult for me to remember
what distances I have traveled, how many mountains I have
climbed, how many rivers I have crossed, and how many villages
I have passed through. I can only recall the countless joyous
moments and hardships of the past years from the many pictures
I have painted. My deep love of the colorful earth and for
Xishuangbanna, a region of the Yunnan Province, has encouraged
me to explore and create unceasingly. Such a mysterious land
blessed with unique beauty offers innumerable subjects to
be painted. My paintings are not only pictures: they are also
music and poetry that is bewitching, sweet dreams that are
being dreamed."
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