Feel the spring 2020

Curator: Welcome. Here we have Dayou Lu's "Feel the Spring" from 2020. It’s a watercolor painting blending figuration and abstraction, currently housed here at the Shanghai Museum. Editor: Ah, it feels immediately light. Airy. The peach-toned background allows the bird and blooms to almost float. It has a sweetness about it, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. Lu employs deliberate brushstrokes, note the variation in line weight around the plum blossoms contrasted with the more blended textures of the bird's plumage. The composition relies on the strategic placement of positive and negative space. Editor: Positive and negative, yeah. That emptiness behind the bird—like a held breath. And the bird itself, so compact and self-contained amidst all that spring explosion. Does that speak to the experience of spring in Shanghai, maybe? Finding these pockets of nature in a bustling city? Curator: A valid interpretation. Semiotically, we can view the blossoms as symbols of renewal, the bird as a messenger—conveying a sense of optimistic determinism. The orientalist style adds a layer of art historical depth as well. Editor: I like "optimistic determinism." Stealing that. Seriously, though, even without knowing anything about the theory behind it, there's a sense of poised observation in that little bird’s stance, the delicate rendering captures a fleeting moment in a natural world, it is ready for spring's explosion, just watching the show. Curator: A precise articulation. Lu skillfully merges traditional Asian artistic elements with contemporary techniques and ideals. Notice the signature seals – integral, considered components in this piece that work together towards complete resolution and pictorial balance. Editor: You can lose yourself looking at those seals. Each one feels like a tiny world in itself. This feels like an experience— like something found after a fresh rain. Curator: A very intuitive observation, quite complementary to this analytical, stylistic assessment of “Feel the Spring”. Editor: Well, thanks for filling in the blanks, let's move along to our next bit of wonder!