“Meeting” Oneself: Builders Invited into the Artistic Palace

Recently, a group of construction workers, wearing hard hats and work uniforms, entered the halls of the National Art Museum of China, an art institution. Workers from the Beijing Urban Construction Northern Group's Future Star Science Low-Carbon Industrial Park project were invited to view an exhibition featuring artwork based on their lives: “Transmission · Truth: A Portrait of Laborers—The Works of Li Chuanzhen.”

 

 

The creator of this exhibition, Li Chuanzhen (Vice President and First-Class Artist of the National Academy of Painting of the Chinese Academy of Art Research), went to the Future Star Science Low-Carbon Industrial Park project site to better complete the exhibition and capture the most authentic and vivid images of laborers in the process of China's modernization. He visited the construction site and workers' dormitories, engaging in heart-to-heart conversations with the workers, listening attentively to their stories, and carefully understanding their joys and sorrows.

 

 

 

This exhibition uses three groups—"older generation migrant workers," "elderly people and children left behind in rural areas," and "new generation migrant workers"—as its narrative thread. The artistic presentation is highly innovative, cleverly integrating easel paintings with industrial installations such as scaffolding and bunk beds. The cool industrial gray tone echoes the identity of migrant workers as urban builders, successfully creating a fusion paradigm of mainstream value narrative and innovative artistic expression.

 

 

 

Since its opening, the exhibition has attracted numerous art enthusiasts and members of the public, receiving enthusiastic responses.

 

 

 

The migrant workers depicted on the canvases bear the marks of life's hardships and labor on their faces, yet their eyes gleam with resilience and hope for the future. With simple sincerity, the artwork captures their moving moments of toiling amidst steel and concrete, and dreaming in their dormitories, vividly showcasing the extraordinary fighting spirit and vitality of ordinary laborers.

 

Artwork: Warmth

 

Artwork: Terminator (Partial View)

 

 

"I never imagined that our appearance at the construction site could become such beautiful works of art in an art museum. I'm deeply moved and proud!" a worker exclaimed excitedly in front of a painting.

 

 

By viewing these masterpieces depicting their work and lives, the workers gained a profound and unique cultural experience. They felt the warmth of being respected and seen, and their busy minds and bodies received artistic nourishment and comfort.