Let Us Dream in The Light of Day
by Gu Chengfeng

Just like how artists come in different types, their works have unique dispositions——some works provoke deep thought with their sheer brilliance; some reveal bright minds at work; some are teasing and entirely unserious; and then there are those which bring us to the realm of dreams.

It seems that Zhang Jijun's works are of the last type. His oil paintings carry us far away from the troubles of everyday life to a different place, and yet neither is this world heaven. Here, toy-like maces and iron horses are dashing, and kites are floating elusively in the air. Boulevards are extending into the horizon, straight and hazardous; cold, solemn walls of crimson are standing erect in greeting. The wisps of clouds on the sky are comforting yet elusive; the figurines on the ground, hazy and mysterious.

Even those seemingly realistic brick walls evoke a surreal impression: a solitary building, dusty with age, stands compact yet forlorn in the field, its rust-colored form juxtaposed starkly against a background of cold colors. Yet just when our imagination is about to take off, the painter halts his brush, leaving us with a certain disquiet of the mind, a certain silence in the presence of that which exists and that which meets our gaze.

Seeing Zhang's art is like sipping a rich cup of tea, with an initial slight bitterness lingering about the tongue, which is soon taken over by a soft fragrance. And perhaps then, our gaze will take to the window and to the far horizon in the distance.

Who doesn't hope for a certain transcendence?  Dreams provide us with wings, though the flight is not always without turbulence. Yet to be able to dream in the light of day is truly a blessing of a kind.

The American philosopher John Dewey has said: in an imperfect society-and no society will ever be perfect-fine art will be to some extent an escape from, or an adventitious decoration of, the main activities of living.

Yet, perhaps escape can be relished, and daily life made rich by decoration.

Standing before Zhang Jijun's works, do you have dreams?