MOUNTAIN JOURNEYS | 山行
Li Zhi: More than Landscape
Li Nan
Landscape (shanshui) has always been a subject of poetry and painting, and a source of support for the human spirit. Poems and paintings about landscape have become classics of traditional Chinese art. As a visual form, landscape is a particular embodiment of the Eastern visual concepts of multi-point perspective and the scenery shifting with every step. It is also a poetic expression of the Eastern philosophical ideas of the unity of man and heaven and the ability to forget the self and all things. These artistic ideas have inspired artists from Picasso to David Hockney.
In modern photography, landscape has generally gone in one of two directions. The first is landscape photography that examines beauty. As Mao Zedong wrote, “The rivers and mountains are so enchanting, / That countless heroes compete to bow in homage.” The second is landscape photography that examines ugliness. Driven by desperate, profit-seeking commercial interests, natural landscapes are being destroyed and hideous fake lakes and mountains have risen in their place. Thus, this juxtaposition of poetry and critique together constitute another kind of mockery.
As a result, there are a number of distinctive elements to Li Zhi’s landscapes.
Li Zhi studied painting for many years, and his thinking and style easily reflect how he blends painting into his photographs. The horizontal pictures are like handscrolls, and the black-and-white images are reminiscent of ink. The mountains and rivers, the grasses and trees, the floating clouds and remote cottages, the winding curves and extensive lines, the washes and outlines, all conceal ancient rhythms. However, his photographs are not entirely based on paintings and disengaged from the world. His perspective is solidly rooted in this world, as he observes the desolate fog that blankets the forests. In this bleak and cold reality, he devotes himself to those hidden, or even unknown, targets of destruction. It is landscape and more than landscape.
Numerous image-makers incorporate Eastern elements into their work; the majority use its forms and materials, but very few capture its poetry and spirit. In recent years, he has often printed his pictures on album leaves, hand scrolls, and fans. Combining photography with calligraphy and Chinese painting is a very “contemporary” path. This is undoubtedly worth doing, but when it is only done as a ploy or a scheme, then experts see right through it.
Thus, I hope that Li Zhi will push these two modes of landscape even further; his work cannot simply focus on scholarly ideals, it must also raise an issue. The ideal landscapes all spring from real issues.
Size（cm）：50X90 Edition of 25
110X210 Edition of 5
Material：Archival Inkjet Print on 315gsm Soft Cotton Baryta Fine Art Paper Date：2014-2016
Li Nan
Landscape (shanshui) has always been a subject of poetry and painting, and a source of support for the human spirit. Poems and paintings about landscape have become classics of traditional Chinese art. As a visual form, landscape is a particular embodiment of the Eastern visual concepts of multi-point perspective and the scenery shifting with every step. It is also a poetic expression of the Eastern philosophical ideas of the unity of man and heaven and the ability to forget the self and all things. These artistic ideas have inspired artists from Picasso to David Hockney.
In modern photography, landscape has generally gone in one of two directions. The first is landscape photography that examines beauty. As Mao Zedong wrote, “The rivers and mountains are so enchanting, / That countless heroes compete to bow in homage.” The second is landscape photography that examines ugliness. Driven by desperate, profit-seeking commercial interests, natural landscapes are being destroyed and hideous fake lakes and mountains have risen in their place. Thus, this juxtaposition of poetry and critique together constitute another kind of mockery.
As a result, there are a number of distinctive elements to Li Zhi’s landscapes.
Li Zhi studied painting for many years, and his thinking and style easily reflect how he blends painting into his photographs. The horizontal pictures are like handscrolls, and the black-and-white images are reminiscent of ink. The mountains and rivers, the grasses and trees, the floating clouds and remote cottages, the winding curves and extensive lines, the washes and outlines, all conceal ancient rhythms. However, his photographs are not entirely based on paintings and disengaged from the world. His perspective is solidly rooted in this world, as he observes the desolate fog that blankets the forests. In this bleak and cold reality, he devotes himself to those hidden, or even unknown, targets of destruction. It is landscape and more than landscape.
Numerous image-makers incorporate Eastern elements into their work; the majority use its forms and materials, but very few capture its poetry and spirit. In recent years, he has often printed his pictures on album leaves, hand scrolls, and fans. Combining photography with calligraphy and Chinese painting is a very “contemporary” path. This is undoubtedly worth doing, but when it is only done as a ploy or a scheme, then experts see right through it.
Thus, I hope that Li Zhi will push these two modes of landscape even further; his work cannot simply focus on scholarly ideals, it must also raise an issue. The ideal landscapes all spring from real issues.
Size（cm）：50X90 Edition of 25
110X210 Edition of 5
Material：Archival Inkjet Print on 315gsm Soft Cotton Baryta Fine Art Paper Date：2014-2016
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