At that time, a painting only changed to listen to coffee.

"small plaid cloth" written by Ding Yi

□ Evening News reporter Zhan Hao reports

People who do not understand his paintings say that they are floral cloth, and this piece of "floral cloth" is now very popular in the international market, with a maximum price of 10 million yuan; he is extremely patient, and the subject matter that he began to create in the mid-1980s has not changed to this day; he is lonely, but he is the first Chinese artist to cooperate with international luxury brands; and his name, if ranked by last name strokes, always ranks first. His name is Ding Yi, and he is one of only three painters in Shanghai whose works have been auctioned for more than 10 million yuan. On December 10th, the exhibition of "General Abstract" Ding Yi's works will be held on Minsheng Hyundai gallery, showing the lonely persistence of an artist for more than 20 years.

The origin of painting "small plaid cloth"

Ding Yi is a symbol in the painting world, and what will never change is his "small plaid cloth". Ding Yi named it "Shi Shi", a printing term with almost no trace to find. Those who watch Ding Yi's painting are all surprised: for more than 20 years, it has been like a fine handmade pen for more than a day, and it is like the painting method of an old monk, how can he not get tired of holding on for so long?

The painting method of "Ten shows" began in about 1986. Before Ding Yi entered the Department of traditional Chinese painting of the Grand Academy of Fine Arts, Ding Yi already had similar works three years ago. At that time, the art world was faced with the impact of various foreign theories and schools, and a transformation was taking place in everyone's minds. Ding Yi, who was studying at the Shanghai School of Arts and Crafts, also studied Cezanne and the Paris School of painting. He painted many street scenes of Shanghai, and the picture was melancholy. He participated in many art activities at that time, and even participated in performance art activities. when Western surrealism and expressionism influenced a large number of young Chinese artists, Ding Yi was deeply reflecting: what am I going to do? When he was studying in the traditional Chinese painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts and saw that artists such as Wu Guanzhong had begun to explore abstract art, a rebellious idea was born from the bottom of his heart-- I wanted to get rid of the burden of traditional culture and Western painting. I want to make art strange and out of touch with traditional culture!

So he began the creation of "Ten shows" and deliberately cut off the relationship with the concrete. The picture seems to be constantly repeated and has no content, but Ding Yi is more and more interested in the painting. He does not like the creation of firing a shot for a place. His personality is better at digging deeper and deeper in a place, which has been dug for more than 20 years.

Choose to teach for 16 years for the sake of art

Despite the fact that Ding Yijin is now a "tens of millions of yuan club" and has become a dazzling artist on various lists, more than 20 years ago, his painting method was so advanced that no one understood it, even less sought after, and bosom friends were rare. For his only dream of growing up as an artist, Ding Yi gave up his popular job as a publishing house after graduation and chose to teach at the School of Arts and Crafts in order to have more time to create. When others go abroad, Ding Yi will not go either, because after going abroad, there will be a long time to give up their ideals in order to survive.

Ding Yi stayed at school for 16 years. In order to save cooking time, he still lives in the school. At that time, no one bought a painting. Ding Yi remembers that in 1983, he traded a painting for a can of Nestle coffee, which was as fashionable as today's iPhone. The first time Ding Yi sold a painting was in 1987, when he sold a painting to Singaporeans and got 250 yuan in exchange coupons. At that time, he could already buy a tight small household appliance.

Cooperate with luxury goods, still calm

Although Ding Yi is very popular in the circle, he is still very calm. after all, glory comes a little late, and his mentality has long been accustomed to the long-term horizontal K line on the artist's price index. it also makes Ding Yi take a solid first step in cooperation with major international brands. A few years ago, the artistic director of Herm è s saw Ding Yi's painting in a gallery in the city and thought that the style of his work was very suitable for Herm è s. After the study, Ding Yi was formally invited to design silk scarves for Herm è s. This is the first time Herm è s has worked with a Chinese artist.

Ding Yi is more calm about all kinds of comments from the outside world. 'what Herm è s takes a fancy to is not necessarily my design, but the international sense shown in my work,' he said. Ding Yi stressed that artists must adhere to the freedom of creation, big brands cooperate with artists, hoping to get more creative inspiration and vitality from artists, and once the brand is too strong, artists give up their freedom of creation for the sake of fashion. it will not only affect the future creation, but also affect the artistic reputation, the natural loss outweighs the gain.

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com