LI JIN: The Last Five Years
李 津：五 年 回 顾
info@vermilionart.com.au
vermilionart.com.au
Vermilion Art, 5/16 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay Sydney NSW 2000
The cellist YoYo Ma once said that his arduous daily practice frees him to express his ideas, feelings and imagination in performance. In the last five years, the world has been turned upside down, yet New Ink master Li Jin’s routine morning practice session continues in his studio in Beijing, in Buddhist temples in rural Sichuan, in fine hotels in Shanghai or in Kyushu island in Japan.
From 2019 to 2023, many of us encountered challenges in different ways. Li Jin said that “To keep painting is a comfort for me and I hope my work can bring some comfort to others”. His irrepressible humour, his sharp powers of observation and his consummate skill as an ink painter shine through in these depictions of food, mood and a life lived during upheaval.
Li Jin: The Last Five Years starts from 4 April 2024. It will be Li Jin’s first exhibition in 2024 internationally.
⼤提琴演奏家⻢友友曾说过，⽇复⼀⽇的艰苦的练习
让他能够在演奏中更⾃由地表达⾃⼰的思考、情感和 ⽆际的想象。过去五年，世界发⽣了翻天覆地的变
化，但新⽔墨⼤师李津的例⾏晨课仍在他北京的⼯作 室、峨眉⼭的佛教寺庙、上海的外滩酒店或⽇本九州 岛继续进⾏。
从2019年到2023年，我们很多⼈都遇到了不同的挑 战。李津说：“坚持画画对我来说是⼀种安慰，也希望 我的作品能给别⼈带来⼀些安慰”。他的幽默、敏锐的 观察⼒和炉⽕纯⻘的⽔墨技巧把这个动荡时期的⽣活 的描绘的栩栩如⽣。五年回顾，李津表达的是平凡⽇ 常中的⾮凡。
《李津：五年回顾》将于2024年4⽉4⽇开展，这将是 李津2024年的⾸次国际展览。
Vermilion Art
5-6/16 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay NSW 2000
yzuo@vermilionart.com.au +61
All is clear 众⼭⼩ 2019
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x46 cm
$ 25,000
*All prices include GST. 价格含GST。
Beach situation 有情的海滩 2020
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 38x44 cm
$ 29,500
Leisure pleasure 消磨图 2021 ink, colour and seals on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 33x33 cm
$ 19,500
Summertime in Sanya 三亚海夏 2019
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
$ 18,000
Lush 润泽图 2020
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
calligraphy extracted from Song dynasty poet Sushi’s romantic metaphor about poplar blossoms. 纸书法内容出处为宋代⽂学家苏轼所作咏物词《⽔⻰吟 次韵章质夫杨花词》。
$ 12,500
Yin and Yang 滋阴
2020
35x35 cm
$ 12,500
ink and seal on Xuan paper 纸本⽔墨与印章
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章
35x46 cm
$ 29,500
Kangaroo valley 袋⿏⾕ 2020
Spring has sprung 春暖花开 2020
ink, colour and seal on Yuanshu bamboo paper 纸本设⾊与印章 38x44 cm
$ 29,500
ink, colour and seal on Yuanshu bamboo paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
$ 18,000
Happy Immorals 和合⼆仙 2021
Arhat 罗汉 2021 ink, colour and seal on Yuanshu bamboo paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x30 cm
$ 15,000
Lying in Zen 卧禅 2021 ink, colour and seal on Yuanshu bamboo paper 纸本设⾊与印章 30x35 cm
$ 15,000
$ 58,000
Life on the island 系岛⽣活 2023
Life on the island 系岛⽣活（detail）
The
$ 79,000
Carnivore is not Vulgar ⾁⻝者不鄙 2020 ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊ 35x136 cm, framed 59x161x4 cm signed, inscribed and marked with eight seals of the artist 款识 钤印⼋处
The Carnivore is not Vulgar ⾁⻝者不鄙 ( installation view)
Abundance 有余图 2021 ink, colour and seals on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊ 35x136 cm, framed 59x161x4 cm signed, inscribed and marked with two seals of the artist 款识 钤印两处 calligraphy extracted from Verse for Praise of Buddha, which compile prayers for blessing, longevity, and good fortune, and protection from evil and disaster.
$ 79,000
Abundance 有余图 ( installation view)
Couple of Drinks ⼩酌图 2023
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 40x23 cm, framed 75x61x4 cm calligraphy saying, “Getting slightly tipsy, watering flowers, planting bamboo, listening to the zither, playing with cranes, burning incense, tea is boiling”.
$ 12,000
The drinker
2021 ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 33x33 cm
$ 19,500
饮酒者A
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x46 cm
$ 29,500
Crush and A Clash 情窦初开 2019
Settlement 租界 2020 ink, colour and seals on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x45 cm
$ 28,000
$ 15,000
Morning Dew 晨露 2019 ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
The Secret of Happiness 妙乐天机 2023
ink and colour on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊ 53x230 cm, framed 68x249x6 cm signed, inscribed and marked with four seals of the artist 款识 钤印四处 calligraphy extracted from the Song Dynasty’s poet Shu Xieyang’s Drinking and Drunkenness at the Spring Equinox, Sitting and Sleeping with the Moon in the Window.
$ 220,000
The Secret of Happiness 妙乐天机（detail）
A companion from childhood ⼉时的伙伴 2022
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章
38x43 cm
$ 29,500
No barriers 眼底都⽆碍
2021
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章
36x46 cm
$ 29,500
$ 18,000
The Four Cardinal Vices 酒⾊财⽓ 2019 ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
$ 18,000
The Four Cardinal Vices 2 酒⾊财⽓ 2 2019 ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
Peony beauty 牡丹美⼈ 2019
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x35 cm
$ 18,000
$ 18,000
Love of butterfly 蝶恋花 2021 ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 33x33 cm
ink, colour and seal on Xuan paper 纸本设⾊与印章 35x46 cm
$ 29,500
Plum blossoms by the moonlight 明⽉梅花 2019
In another world 温柔乡 2020 ink, colour and seal on Yuanshu bamboo paper 纸本设⾊与印章 18x27 cm
$ 12,000
Wellspring of desire 思春 2020 ink and seals on Xuan paper 纸本⽔墨与印章 35x35 cm
$ 12,500
The Way of the Ink 墨道
2017
ink and seal on Xuan paper 纸本⽔墨与印章 136x69cm, framed
$ 80,000
$ 80,000
A Leisurly Immortal in the Bamboo Grove ⽵林 闲僧 2017 ink and seal on Xuan paper 纸本⽔墨与印章 136x69cm, framed
Self-Cultivation #1 修⾏的⼈ 之 1994 ink, colour and seal on paper fan 纸本扇⾯设⾊与印章 25x53 cm
$ 23,000
Self-Cultivation #1 修⾏的⼈ 之 (detail)
Self-Cultivation #2 修⾏的⼈ 之⼆ 1994 ink, colour and seal on paper fan 纸本扇⾯设⾊与印章 25x53 cm
$ 23,000
Li Jin
John McDonald
Li Jin (b.1958) is one of the most acclaimed living Chinese artists.
One of the keys to Li Jin’s attitude to life is that he uses himself as a character in so many of his ink and watercolour paintings. We see him as amorous, drunk, gluttonous and bewildered; wide-eyed with stupefaction, or dressed in some absurd costume. We realise that all of these personas are contained within one human being, and that each of us harbours the same capacity for multiplicity.
The artist’s self-deprecating humour should not lead us to assume that his work is frivolous or ephemeral. As a painter, Li Jin is skilled in age-old styles known as xieyi (ink wash), and gongbi (fine line brushwork). The latter is associated with an exacting realism, the former is more subjective and distorted. His distinctive style of ink painting became a way of circumventing the demand for grand statements. As avant-gardists made inflated gestures in the name of political and creative freedom, Li Jin’s work remained intimate in nature and often small-scale.
For Li Jin, there is nothing more authentic or natural than satisfying one’s appetites –whether it be for a table laden with mouth-watering dishes, or the curvy, sexy women who stare vacantly from his pictures. If there is a moral to be gleaned from his work, it is to be true to oneself, regardless of all the pressures to conform to social, religious, political and cultural norms.
John McDonald is an art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald.
李津
约翰·⻨克唐纳
李津是最富盛名的在世中国艺术家之 。
李津的⼈⽣态度在他的⽔墨作品中呼之欲出。他⽆数次将⾃身形象融⼊作品，
或意乱情迷、或酩酊⼤醉、或⼤快朵颐、或困惑不已；时⽽作⽬瞪⼝呆状，时
⽽着奇装异服出现，令⼈捧腹。这些丰富的⻆⾊与性格，都蕴藏在同⼀副躯体
之中，⽽这也正是我们每个⼈都拥有的多重性。
艺术家⾃嘲式的幽默绝⾮轻浮草率或昙花 现。作为 名职业画家，李津精通
⼯笔和写意等传统技法，前者与严谨的现实主义密切相关，⽽后者则更为主观 抽象。他独特的⽔墨⻛格是⼀种对宏⼤叙述的规避，当先锋派艺术家以政治⾃
由与艺术⾃由之名摇旗呐喊时，李津保留了其作品本质上的私密感，并常伴随 较⼩的尺幅呈现。
对李津⽽⾔，没有什么⽐满⾜最本能的欲望更真实、更⾃然的了，⽆论是 桌 令⼈垂涎的饕餮盛宴，亦或是玲珑性感、神⾊茫然的⼥⼈。如果要从他的作品 ⾥提炼⼀种精神内核，那就是忠实于⾃⼰，⽆需顾忌社会、宗教、政治和⽂化 规范的压⼒。
约翰·⻨克唐纳（John McDonald）是《悉尼先驱晨报》艺术评论家，任此次展 览特邀策展⼈。
