"Did he prepare this painting for the Singapore Biennale?"
Mrs. Sakai compared it with the draft of Gu Weijing's painting in her mind, and felt a little enlightened: "It's a clever choice, quite thoughtful."
It is a very smart way to use this painting style to impact the Lion City Art Exhibition.
Mrs. Sakai's face remained calm, and she secretly glanced at Gu Weijing in her heart.
"You also want to participate in the exhibition?"
"Mom, I want to give it a try. Didn't you also say that Singapore is a good stage to show yourself this year."
Sakai Katsuko looked at her mother's face and said tentatively.
"It is true that it is a good stage, but the competition is also unprecedentedly fierce. Time is too tight now. Didn't we agree to participate in the Yokohama Triennale late next year?"
Mrs. Sakai glanced at her daughter's longing face.
She casually exposed Miss Katsuko's little thoughts: "Why, the reason why you suddenly changed your mind is probably because you were thinking about debuting with your sweetheart. You thought it was very romantic, right?"
"Mom, there is no conflict between the two art exhibitions in Lion City and Yokohama."
Katsuko Sakai is a little shy.
"There is no conflict, but the results of your first real debut have different meanings."
"For the Lion City Art Exhibition, your father's help is limited. Let me ask you, Shengzi, if you are asked to submit anonymously to the organizing committee for selection this year, do you think you have the critical eye to conquer the judges? Do you rely solely on your own ability to get a booth in the professional group?"
Mrs. Sakai did not directly deny her daughter's idea, but thought for a moment and asked.
Sakai Katsuko hesitated slightly.
She looked at her mother's questioning gaze and wanted to nod her head and promise that she could do it.
But Sakai Katsuko hesitated for a long time.
She carefully judged her painting level, and finally said in a low voice: "As for this year, I am actually not very confident. I thought that if I can't participate in the master group, I will join the amateur student group under 28 years old. , actually it’s not bad, it’s acceptable.”
"Well, not bad, it's fair."
Facing my daughter’s unconfident answer.
On the contrary, Mrs. Sakai nodded with satisfaction: "If you are here to promise me that you will definitely be able to participate in the exhibition, I will definitely not agree to your request."
"If my daughter is carried away by love and loses basic self-knowledge, I will be really disappointed."
"In that case, how about you come and listen to mom's opinion?"
the middle-aged woman asked.
Sakai Katsuko nodded obediently.
"You want to participate in an exhibition with Gu Weijing. In principle, I have no objection. It must be a very sweet memory to make your debut at the same art exhibition with your sweetheart. I support you."
Mrs. Sakai's tone was gentle, but the meaning behind her words became much harsher: "But Katsuko, you told me - 'You have to give it a try, the amateur student group, it's actually not bad.' This mentality is not right." ”
"You are Katsuko Sakai, the daughter of Sakai Kazunari, one of the top ten artists in Japanese history. You have been hailed by the media as a once-in-a-century painting genius since she was a child. Everyone is looking forward to your works and achievements. Others What seems excellent to you is just mediocrity.”
"Your goal cannot be just 'not bad, acceptable', and your mentality when participating in an art exhibition should not be just to give it a try."
"Katsuko."
The lady took her daughter's hand.
"My daughter is someone who is destined to have a dazzling career with sparks and lightning, letting the world's artistic spotlight shine on you. Which starting point is right for the student group of the Lion City Art Exhibition or the master group of the Yokohama Triennale? It's better for you to say it, no need for mom to say more."
Sakai Katsuko remained silent and stopped talking.
Preferring to be a chicken head rather than a phoenix tail is not valid in an art exhibition.
The student group is the student group, and the master group is the master group.
No matter how beautiful the chicken head is, it is still a grass chicken, but the phoenix tail is the feathers of a sacred bird.
No matter how lively the works submitted by students are, they can only dominate among monkeys.
Your evaluation in the eyes of the world is still "an excellent child", and at most you can add that you have a promising future.
But the master group,
It is an adult world where real professional painters compete with each other, and it is the peak arena for artists.
All professional artists need a stage where they can prove their abilities.
Collectors and the public also need an intuitive and convincing standard to judge the artistic and aesthetic value of a painter's work.
To put it in a more utilitarian and naked way - art buyers need to determine how much the work signed with your name is worth.
Before the 20th century, this stage was the official salon in Paris. After the 20th century, it became the master group of various modern art exhibitions.
Gustav Klimt, Dalí, Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama...the most colorful pages in the personal biographies of these great artists almost all took place at the Venice Biennale. Competition for the Golden Lion Award.
Winning an award at a top art biennale is a milestone achievement in the life of every famous artist.
Since then, his net worth has undergone a dramatic transformation.
Before participating in the exhibition, you are just an ordinary painter. After participating in the exhibition, you become one of the masters.
Simply being able to participate in the competition is a very dazzling qualification in itself, and it is an affirmation of the artistic value contained in your works.
Even if it’s just a humble contestant who gets a small booth in the corner of the main exhibition hall of the master group.
The traffic and attention he received cannot be compared to the champion of the student group.
Sakai Katsuko can indeed participate in the Singapore Art Exhibition this year and then the Yokohama Triennale next year.
It's just that the meaning is completely different.
The achievements achieved by the first official appearance of your career represent the first anchor positioning you have established in the hearts of galleries and collectors.
The higher the starting point, the smoother the entire career will tend to be.
Katsuko Sakai has won various young artist awards since she was a child, and she has a promising future. She does not need a student group competition record to prove herself.
she knows,
What she really needs is to prove to the gallery that she is a mature artist rather than an outstanding child.
"Shengzi, the decision of whether you can compete or not should be in your own hands, not mine."
Mrs. Sakai shrugged: "It's less than half a year before the Lion City Art Exhibition. You can sign up first, if you can come up with a convincing enough work. Let me and your father feel that you have done a good job Prepare, then of course you can go to the exhibition."
She flicked her daughter's forehead.
"I don't object to your idea of participating in the Lion City Art Exhibition. I have never dreamed that my daughter would be able to shine like a queen on the stage in Singapore this year. What I object to is that you are not prepared. To compete.”
Sakai Katsuko had to admit that what her mother said did make sense.
"Be prepared...if I draw a work that makes you feel that it will definitely pass the audition of the professional category of the jury, you will let me participate, right?"
The girl asked after thinking.
"Of course it can be understood that way. I hope to see you paint a painting that is full of emotion and touches people's hearts directly."
Mrs. Sakai thought for a while and put forward her own suggestion: "Katsuko, your painting skills are not bad. However, if you want to stand out among professional painters, you should let your brushstrokes sink and create deeper paintings." s work."
"The brush is the carrier of the painter's emotions. You must learn to let your works speak for themselves." Mrs. Sakai said.
"It's actually very difficult-"
Sakai Katsuko tilted her head.
There are only more than a hundred days left before the deadline for soliciting submissions for the art exhibition.
Learning to incorporate emotion into a picture is no easier than improving one's painting skills.
"It's definitely not easy." Mrs. Sakai did not rush. "The goal is there. If you think it can't be achieved, we will wait for another year. You are still very young."
"——But Mom, I feel like I'm feeling something. Today I saw Gu Weijing painting, and I felt a miraculous vitality."
Sakai Katsuko lowered her eyelashes, but her tone was firm: "Maybe I can really do it, maybe."
She looked at Gu Weijing and copied Carroll's paintings today, and felt that there was a miraculous fire burning in his brushwork.
The moment Gu Weijing finished painting,
She seemed to see light, shadow and thunderstorm flowing from the canvas into the surrounding air. For a moment, she really believed that this was a miracle given by the female painter Carole in the kingdom of heaven.
This shock made Sakai Katsuko feel like she had been hit in the heart.
The blockage that had always separated her works from the real world was finally revealed.
Especially the moment she boldly took Gu Weijing's hand, she felt that her whole body was filled with a wonderful sense of happiness, and her chest was filled with desires that she had never expressed before.
This desire to express,
It's called love.
"At that time, if I had a paintbrush in my hand, I would be able to paint works full of emotion."
Sakai Katsuko was thinking about it, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up.
"Then come on, lovers can help us learn to love the world more deeply. I look forward to my Shengzi giving me surprises."
Mrs. Sakai did not reveal her criticism of Gu Weijing this time: "You can discuss this feeling with that young man more. If the person you love can become your muse, it will not only bring you happiness, but also achieve success." Your career. Then you are a very lucky girl and a very lucky painter."
Muse is the goddess in charge of art and music in ancient Greek mythology.
In European art circles,
When every painter feels that his creative inspiration has been inspired and his skill level is as if divinely assisted, he often describes himself as being blessed and kissed by the muse.
There are even painters who pray to their muse before painting, such as "God bless, God is on high".
At the same time, muse also specifically refers to heterosexual lovers in the circle who can inspire the painter's lust and creative enthusiasm. In other words, to put it bluntly, it specifically refers to female models.
In the collection of letters left by painters such as Picasso, Rubens, and Klimt, all those who mentioned "my muse" were women who had just been in a relationship.
certainly,
Traditionally, only new girls who have just been caught have this honor and are called the "muse" who inspires their creations.
As for the married wife or the tired old lover.
In the style of people like Picasso, the general description is usually "a wanton witch" or a "eating demon".
"Love should make both parties as dazzling as a peacock with its tail open, and strive to show the best of themselves to each other, and it should not become a hindrance to your life plans."
Mrs. Sakai gave Gu Weijing a rare compliment: "For example, I think that guy is very well prepared if he wants this painting style to impact the Singapore Art Exhibition."
"You don't want to be overshadowed by your sweetheart if you participate in an exhibition together, right?"
Sakai Katsuko nodded.
"By the way, I have one last thing to talk to you about today. Shengzi is a big girl now."
Mrs. Sakai hesitated for a few seconds, then took out a small black box with gold letters from her pocket.
"I asked for this from the front desk of the hotel. I think it's up to me, the mother, to give it to you."
"Um?"
Sakai Katsuko hesitated for a moment, looking at the golden English letters of the trademark [Durex] on the small black box, as well as the product category logo of Condoms.
She stayed there for two seconds at first.
Then his pupils dilated, his eyes were panicked, and he didn't know where to place his hands on his chest. A blush of rouge emerged from his white porcelain cheeks and quickly spread to his neck and behind his ears.
Almost instantly,
Sakai Katsuko looked like a shy deer, her earlobes were red and bleeding.
"Mom, you're making fun of me."
She lowered her head: "If you keep doing this, I will ignore you."
"Katsuko, don't be shy, this is a very serious matter."
Mrs. Sakai took her daughter's hand and said softly: "When a pure little girl like you falls in love for the first time, all your thoughts are focused on a boy. When your love is so intense, you want to give everything to him--"
"Mother!"
Shengzi was so embarrassed that she almost wanted to jump out of bed and run away.
"Katsuko."
Mrs. Sakai gently hugged her daughter from behind, "Discussing this kind of thing with you, the degree of embarrassment in my heart is not much less than that of you."
"But it's not up to me, a mother, to tell you this kind of thing. Who can? Out of my mother's responsibility, I must speak clearly today, and you must listen carefully."
"You have to listen carefully to what I'm going to say next and think about it carefully, okay?"
The middle-aged woman gently hugged Miss Katsuko's already plump shoulders and whispered in her ear.
Sakai Katsuko was still terribly shy, but she still nodded slightly.
"You know I come from a traditional Catholic family that requires the Ten Commandments and prohibits premarital sex. But I didn't ask you to be religious."
"To be honest, mom, I don't really follow this teaching."
Mrs. Sakai snorted softly: "However, I hope that if Shengzi really wants to stay with Gu Weijing for a long time, I suggest that even if you feel you like each other again, it will be your first kiss, first night, You should also give more slowly and be more reserved."
(End of chapter)
