Solo exhibition of Wu Hao
Shimmery Glamour – Artwork of Wu Hao
/Huang Hsiao-yan
Every time I see a painting by Wu Hao, my heart feels “rich and content.”
Prosperity
That sense of luxury perhaps comes from the magical abundance of color, so complete and so bright. How does one use color to the fullest without being garish? Other than long-term training, I think that “natural talent” is a key condition. Qualities of the work show one’s background and cultivation, but the quality or strengths of those works cannot lie, and always so realistically and completely tell of the childhood years, or protection borne by the body and its sensory organs, or the things seen or experienced in the environment. Frequently, they express meaning outside of words. Although some of the colorful and glamorous artworks of Wu Hao merely deal with still flowers and fruits by the table, they evince an atmosphere of broadness.
I think of the situation where one’s location in a poor village with yellow leaves, flickering lights, and dilapidated walls, but the atmosphere evinces a past of “extremely luxurious life,” as Ts’ao Hsue-chin, whose “forty years are of the oblivion.” The once bright ages, even though they only remain as the stained glass windows of old churches, these dreamlike flickers are the super nutrients inside the creators. Upon first glance, the works of Wu Hao make me feel the extension and realization of “prosperity in old dreams.”
Lively profusion
Wu Hao’s horses are always decorated with joy and smiles. It is the lively profusion belonging to festivals and joyous youth, as if accompanied by the banging of drums and percussion. So the horse in the painting begins to move, and the red-cheeked girl can jump or move about step by step, as if in a shadow puppet theater. Red, plum-red, pink, or coral red. Warm colors change, seem folksy but do not have garish or poor totems. I think that is a gift about color structures and about discovering a unique personal characteristic.
This reminds me of a visit with my parents to the yellow plains. My father always wanted to pay respect to his ancestors in their homeland, and we wanted to see the true landlocked interior of Xian. When driving towards the dusty and smoky plains, we were going toward the heartland of China, away from the western lands, wanting to go to the place written about by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei, “morning rain of the city Wei clears the light dust, the guest houses are green and the willow colors washed anew.” But, as far as the eye can see, there was nothing but yellow sand. In a grotto made out of yellow sand, there are signs of life of ordinary people, and there are also ethnic traditional decorations or apparel. These textiles, shoes, hats, and trinkets all have extreme characteristics of being bright, blinding, glamorous, and exquisite. It seems that these bright color arrangements are used to give some color and light to a place covered in complete darkness at night, to shine on this monotonous environment. Wu Hao’s works quietly revealed the outpouring of color of yellow sand under the bright sun.
I remember that in Umberto Eco’s great work, History of Beauty, he wrote much about light and color in the medieval era. In the so-called Dark Ages, there were bright and beautiful gold and red colors that became the backgrounds to the century. The colors were as bright as heaven; the temperature of colors as though they were flames underground, exciting and enticing. Yet such forceful methods and colors were used to paint quiet subjects.
Drama-like
Perhaps you too remember the gold and stone utensils and colorful apparel in Dream of the Red Chamber. Characters of the book are all in full make-up, with their dresses and headgear, cloaks and shawls; the materials and colors come alive, as if the stage awaits their red clothes and colored sleeves. Wu Hao’s works also present the sense of stage, the sense that one is “awaiting a great show.”
For example, when we read about the entrance of Wang Hsi-feng, “wearing golden butterflies on bright red silk, a tight silver coat, covered by five-colored etched stone-green silver-mouse coat, and a sapphire rumpled skirt with florals.” Or the ordinary “purple mink Chao-chun cloak,” “plum-red flower speckled coat,” “bright red rumpled silver-mouse coat,” where we read about the luxuriant purple or multilayered shades of red. Actually, we read these colors in the paintings of Wu Hao too, seemingly mystical colors only found in classical literature and privately created.
Returning to poetry in the Middle Ages, Eco writes, “sensations of bright colors are everywhere. Grassy green, blood red, and milky white. Every color it has its own superlative adjective, and one color is divided into many shades.”
We read the artworks of Wu Hao beyond the delights of the first glance. We also read his colors as if they were words, and the colors that he uses are the superlatives that are symbolic metaphors in poetry.
Fragrance.
The glamorous flowers of Wu Hao are full and vibrant. They have a sense of weight, and the flowerpots even convey some scents. Painting flowers easily brings a sense of accomplishment, but it is also the most difficult to paint flowers.
It is truly difficult to paint stems, leaves, and even the spirit of the plants, without being “garish” or shallow. Wu Hao’s flowers are beautiful and alive, as if each angle, each flower, or each fruit speaks: “Be strong! Be powerful! Live well!” I like this sense of “proactivity,” which is certainly not a self-centered sadness, but seem very alive and very lively; this is human-like, and is the true intention and desire of the artist.
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This is a classic line from Shakespeare. Wu Hao’s camellias, hydrangeas, peonies, or roses are all exquisite, high chroma and warm hues supplement each other and release their own fragrances. It is easy for glamour to be effective, but “being not gaudy” is a difficult technique and style. Finding balanced beauty in the competing prettiness of blooming flowers, creating a sense of long-lasting aesthetic qualities results from years of work by the painter.
Looking at these painted flowers, I could not help but think of Oscar Wilde, the aesthetic poet and author at the end of the 19th century. It is always easy to think of him when considering flowers or obsessions, or romance and glamour. I read Wilde’s 1891 poem, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,”「 The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.」(Eco, History of Beauty, p345) Cassia, also known as “golden shower,” blooms in late spring and early summer. Flowers drawn by Wu Hao have an air of Chinese New Year, the openness to a bustling life regardless of the times. There is a busyness of arranging holidays and festivals, like a fire pot in a clay house in the winter. One painting can instantly warm the entire space.
Old dreams
Wu Hao was a painter born in Nanjing, and he truly has stories. This fascinating childhood habitat instantly makes people feel the outstanding beauty like the gold powder used for make-up during the Six Dynasties. This also reminded me of Günter Grass, winner of the 1999 Nobel Literature Award. He is not only a famous novelist, poet, playwright, but is also someone who loves painting. Taipei Fine Arts Museum held an exhibition of his watercolors and poems in 2007. Each poetic watercolor is accompanied by a beautiful poem. One of his short poems, “A Brief History,” just happened to correspond to the military life of Wu Hao after he left home. A young soldier, the uncertainties of the whole era; one person’s memory coincides with the stories of an age.
When I was seventeen
Holding my cookware
Like the man on the scout trip
With my granddaughter Louisa
Standing on the road to Spremberger
Eating peas with a spoon
One grenade exploded
The soup spilled
And I was just
Slightly scratched
And felt fortunate for it (translated by Chang Shan-ying, Yuan Dian Publishing)
The disorder hidden at the bottom of hearts might only leave impressions of great mountains and lakes, or simply a mystical stroke of color and shadow. These images in old dreams gradually take shape, so when the painter who left his home when he was still young, the first image and memory, or the first visual shock, flows outward. Like the green mountains by Yu Cheng-yao, or like the bright beauty created by Wu Hao.
When I was still young, I frequently saw prints by Wu Hao. It is fortunate that now there are enormous oil paintings. Of course, there should not be too much demand for the medium, but the oil paintings are unique yet focus on the same subjects. But you should know, between this flower and the next flower, there is always different times and different fragrances. This is the uniqueness of oil painting.
Einstein said that he was unable to conjecture which destructive weapons would be used in World War III, but in World War IV, if there are still people, they would probably only be able to use rocks and stones to fight! I always think, even if the world was destroyed, on its last breath, there are a few things that will certainly remain: religion, philosophy, and the arts. For this, I thank artists for their willingness to overcome themselves and challenge extremes in their lifetimes, leaving various beautiful artworks in the world. Perhaps, many artists had not thought of this!