Close Encounters 

By Liya Prilipko

He Jian is a true poet of the everyday world of routine and repetition, the household interiors, the life on the table, the artifacts that surround humans, and their unhurried unremarkable existence. He awards the events that are not at all large-scale, forgettable instances and trivial acts of bodily survival, self-maintenance, or petty entertainment with charm and singularity. Some of the portrayed events are more significant than others, like weddings, or new life circumstances brought by the changing world order (think pandemic, for example), but amidst these events, it is the most commonplace that He Jian turns the spotlight on - eating, drinking, sitting, walking, smoking, talking, embracing, leaning against each other, being in someone or something else’s presence. Confronting the viewer’s gaze with something so habitually overlooked, he creates the opportunity for Close Encounters, and he does it in the most poetic way. The poetry of the scenarios he creates for such encounters is not so much in the WHAT, it is in the HOW. The manner of depiction He Jian adopts in his practice is what makes the most ordinary scenes so peculiar, what turns inconspicuous into memorable, and repetitive into curious and fascinating.  

Checkered table cloths, lace placemats atop of electric appliances, and layered covers safeguarding sofas and armchairs - everything about He Jian’s domestic interiors seems numbly ordinary and queasily familiar except for the striking out-of-place features of its inhabitants. Plump faces, almond-shaped downcast eyes beneath defined narrow brows, well-formed noses, and full lips recessed into fleshy cheeks. They look as if they have stepped down from the murals of the ancient Chinese temples and grottoes. Their celestial vehicle, an auspicious cloud, is almost always hovering close by. Their hands should have been held in gestures of mudras, instead, elegantly curved, with slender long fingers, they are holding on to books, cigarettes, stuffed pandas, lollipops, teacups, or reaching out to tune up the volume of the radio. Yet their stiff facial expressions remain undisturbed by the material clutter of their immediate surroundings. They are apprehended by the state of eternal stillness. 

He Jian’s other series of works depict items that comprise our daily existence. A single object, be it a popular Chinese candy, a lavishly decorated three-tiered birthday cake, piles of rolled plastic pipes, a tower of stacked dishes on a stool, a gigantic burger, banana split sundae, as well as objects that surrounded the artist in his childhood and youth - a record player, sewing machine, radio, take a center stage in his work. 

There is a premise in Chinese philosophy that knowledge about reality as a whole could be gained by minutely studying small aspects of it. The studies of the natural world, its mountains, rivers and trees, waves and rolling clouds, flowers and animals, although occasionally present as symbolic details in He Jian’s work, mostly give way to sinuous patterns of various objects. However, with He Jian’s masterful cultivation of details, they are not just mere depictions of things, they are the portraits of the epochs. They tell stories, transmit emotions and feelings. He Jian’s radios and gramophones appear to be the portraits of the past. Warm, sentimental, and gently comic, they play on a collective nostalgia. While his festooned confections link us both to the past and glaring present. Delicately piped buttercream roses, macaroons, and drips of syrup crown elegant patisseries. Irresistible pastries and scoops of ice cream in crunchy waffles are adorned with petite meringues, candied fruits, nuts, and berries. They invoke feelings of celebration and recall memories of sweet moments shared over a piece of a sugary delight. Voluptuous and seductive, with just a little too much frosting, are they also telling stories of temptation, self-control, guilty pleasure, food obsession, or gluttony? What about a mouthwatering, skyscraper-ous in size beef burger? Are these stories of abundance, over-consumption, or food waste, that it tells? In other words, with He Jian, it never is just a piece of cake. 

Often, with the figurative works, almost an immediate desire to try to name the things we see arises, which forces the artwork to bend to the will of our first impression and expectations. He Jian’s peculiar artistic language, however, animates his motifs and engages the viewer to linger beyond the first impression. 

The subject matter is meticulously outlined with finely drawn brushstrokes, reminiscent of the traditional Chinese gongbi style of painting. Within the lines are washes of layered colors. Faded blues, reds, greens are often overpowered by earthly tones of terracotta, muddy ochre, mustard yellow, tints and shades of brown, ashy-grey, and charcoal black. With brilliantly manipulated brushwork, the artist imitates the visual compliments usually left by time, dust, and humidity. What appears as abrasions, discolored areas with streaks and stains of different shades, irregular marks and spatters, are all manifestations of artistic conception. These intentionally ‘aged’ works look even bleaker next to his other series of paintings that radiate such vibrancy of colors that give an impression of being just recently finished.

When contemplating He Jian’s paintings, the mottled paint on the walls of the Dunhuang Grottoes or halls of the Taoist Yongle temple, and their elegant depictions of deities, bodhisattvas, and monks come to mind. Historically those murals have been invoking the attitude of awe in the onlooker. What sentiments do He Jian’s painting impart to the viewer today? With a frescoesque mode of portraying the everyday life scenes as well as of his childhood memories, He Jian takes his works into a unique temporal dimension and gives a viewing experience a deeply surreal tinge. There is definitely some kind of duality about his works and a corresponding preoccupation between crossing or transcending it. They look both mystical and mundane, intriguingly ancient and unexpectedly modern. With identifiably Chinese elements and signifiers, his work fits easily into a global conversation of what is heritage, value, memory, globalization, and contemporaneity. They also seem to be questioning our modern value and belief system, implicitly yet inquisitively inquiring: Who are our Gods? What do we put on the altar of worship? 

He Jian’s art practice is undoubtedly informed by the traditions of Chinese classical paintings and the artist's vast knowledge of historical works, as well as the many motifs and poetic traditions related to them, yet in his portrayals He Jian filters these techniques and themes through a contemporary, cosmopolitan consciousness, effortlessly weaving them together. 

If you look at his work from a global perspective, they challenge your perception of what historical traditions in painting and particularly the Chinese-ness of these painting traditions mean. His works demonstrate ingenuity with which He Jian processes the shift that has been taking place in Chinese art and society. By experimenting and repurposing traditional painting techniques and philosophies to such intriguing ends, He Jian guarantees their survival for future generations.

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