10 Questions with Qiurui Du

Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine ISSUE15 | Featured Artist

Qiurui Du was born in Beijing, China. He graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in illustration in the United States, and then he went to Pratt Institute for MFA Fine arts painting and drawing. He has had many solo exhibitions around the world and participated in many group exhibitions in important art museums and galleries. Qiurui Du has collaborated with many commercial brands, such as WWF X Alibaba for Marine environmental protection, Daphne. Lab, 66 Plaza, and VANS, etc. He also is the founder of E.E Art Group. Qiurui Du is committed to giving voice to young Asian artists and curating exhibitions to showcase their work.

www.duqiurui.com | @qiuruidu

ARTIST STATEMENT

Qiurui Du attaches great importance to the narrative in his works. He observes people's lives from his unique perspective and brings the hustle and bustle of unique experiences around him into his works. Qiurui Du constructs a virtual world through his childhood fantasies and memories. He uses characters to form exaggerated and crazy narratives and witty theatrical sets, showing intimate and familiar resonance. The vivid colors and the narration between the characters express the inner nature of the artist's hidden anxiety, sadness, and unease. In the series "A Bizarre World", he integrates his emotions into the bright colors and exaggerated expressions with his campy imagination to create a variety of crazy funny characters and narratives. In the series "The Adventures of Dama Wang", he uses the Chinese aunt, an individual full of contradictions and collective memories, as a unique perspective to guide the audiences into the world of his works, and uses weird and exaggerated scenarios to satirize the seemingly reasonable yet impermanent life. For Qiurui Du, the bright colors are to hide the sadness in his heart. The wonderful story collision between the characters and the joyful atmosphere in his works is to satirize the impermanence of the current time. However, in the noisy joy, he tells the fleeting doubt and gloom, and the precise expression and character settings amplify his depiction of emotions, making the absurdity more intense and complex. The "Non-Fashionable Lifestyle" series depicts "urban life" in a humorous way. With the rapid development of cities, whether it is the boom in fitness in recent years or the famous places where internet celebrities love to go, everyone in a big city is shrouded in the consumerist illusion of a fashionable lifestyle. "Nuclear Family" explores the conflation of old and new ideas and the topic of modern gender relations in entertaining images that provoke us to consider modern relationships and the transformation of our sense of self. As Qiurui Du said, in this world, everyone is the protagonist, and there is a show going on in every corner.

***Midsummer***, Group exhibition EYECANIDES x Kuiyuan gallery, China © Qiurui Du

AL-TIBA9 ART MAGAZINE ORIGINAL ISSUE15

INTERVIEW

Please introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is Qiurui Du, and I currently work and live in Shanghai, China. I am an artist, primarily focusing on painting, and I occasionally create sculptures as well. Sometimes, I also curate exhibitions.

Your journey from Beijing to the United States for your education in illustration and fine arts is quite remarkable. How have these experiences shaped you as an artist?

I've always loved painting because I found that I could express my emotions and thoughts through it, and I enjoy the process of creation. I never thought I would become an artist when I grew up. Even when I studied illustration in college, I was still uncertain about the future. I loved painting, but I hadn't decided to make it my career yet. During my education, I realized that what matters in my work is who I am, and my artwork is the medium to convey my ideas. The atmosphere at Parsons is more commercialized, while Pratt is more old-school in some ways; each has its characteristics. However, I think Parsons has had a greater influence on me because I met many fantastic teachers there who are professional artists themselves. They gave me a lot of advice and support. Pratt, on the other hand, provided me with clearer goals in the research direction of my work and offered professional assistance in exploring new creative media, which were all great experiences. However, I feel like I'm a late bloomer; many things I only began to understand when I was older. Although I can't exactly articulate how these experiences specifically impacted me, one thing I've learned is that being true to oneself, though difficult, is something I must strive for. Being an artist and creating art is a part of the journey of being myself.

As the founder of E.E Art Group, you're dedicated to giving voice to Asian young artists. Could you share more about the mission and vision behind E.E Art Group and the impact it has had on emerging artists?

In 2018, I curated an exhibition called "Illusion" at Able Fine Art NY Gallery in New York, and I invited some recently graduated young Asian artist friends to join the group exhibition. The idea was simply to showcase our works and reach a wider audience. However, when I was back in Beijing, I realized that young artists had very limited opportunities to participate in exhibitions, with many resources and information being opaque. Sometimes, you need to spend a lot of time networking, meeting the right people, and accessing certain venues to have opportunities to showcase your work. So, I gathered some like-minded Asian artist friends, and we created opportunities for ourselves. After the group exhibition "Revealing Glimpse" at CAMUS Space in Shanghai in 2020, which received a lot of positive feedback, I thought this initiative could continue, so I founded the E.E Art group. E.E stands for Extra Exists, and I invited some great emerging artists and curators to join this group. Therefore, almost every year, we seek out interesting artists and collaborate with spaces to curate intriguing exhibitions for them, aiming to bring more attention to those young artists. Between 2020 and 2023, we have curated around 10 - 12 exhibitions, allowing many young Asian artists to be seen by the public. I think the most meaningful exhibition was at the end of 2023; I curated a group exhibition called "Public Park" for LGBTQ artists, combining the exhibition with botanical installations to create a "mini indoor park" to explore the LGBTQ subculture in China, and drawing attention to minority group artists.

Your artist statement emphasizes the importance of narrative in your work. How do you draw inspiration from everyday experiences to construct the vibrant and whimsical worlds depicted in your art?

In selecting themes for my artworks, everything around me is a potential element, whether it's conversations with friends, social news, or encounters with strangers on the street. Anyone can be part of my creative inspiration. I use these elements that everyone can relate to in life to convey the viewpoints I want to express. It's not about preaching or criticizing others but having an equal discussion with the audience, allowing them to engage with the artwork based on their personal experiences. Perhaps it's more of a personal preference because I've always been someone who loves cute things. Since childhood, I've been drawn to cute and brightly colored objects. "Sailor Moon," which I watched as a child, had a significant impact on me. Each episode featured uniquely designed monsters, and although it was a fantasy story about girls saving the world, it also touched on universal themes like love and choices, friendship, and personal growth. Therefore, the cute and exaggerated artistic style does not diminish the seriousness of the underlying themes. So when I finish a piece, I hope it's not just a cute picture but a story, a mirror that people with different experiences can relate to and appreciate.

***To Love The Unloved***, solo exhibition, TCCA, China © Qiurui Du

Your works showcase a blend of humor, satire, and social commentary. What messages or emotions do you aim to convey through these series?

My work gained attention in China because it was filled with various Chinese "aunties," as I tend to depict people and events I've encountered throughout my life, with middle-aged women being the most common group. One day, I came across an article about Chinese "aunties" buying gold without any economic knowledge, and I felt it perpetuated a stereotype. Even internet users commonly associate square dancing with "aunties," and even in movies and TV shows, women in this age group are often portrayed as villainous. However, I believe that regardless of whether it's Chinese "aunties" or anyone else, every person's image is multifaceted and has many dimensions. Chinese "aunties" are just one entry point, reflecting one of many societal issues. Through my quirky and satirical visual ideas, I aim to showcase the diversity of the world, there are various characters and exaggerated, absurd events happening. I hope that the stories or scenes I create can evoke certain emotions in the audience. I hope everyone can understand the artwork with their own emotions and experiences because I only contribute 50% of the work; the remaining 50% is completed by the audience with their own emotions and stories. So, if they feel different emotions or sentiments in my artwork, I believe it's valid. There's never an official interpretation of my artwork. Any emotion or sentiment generated by experiencing and viewing the artwork is valid for the viewer because feelings are important, and I hope my artwork prompts viewers to think and feel.

You mention using bright colors to hide the sadness in your heart. How do you balance the joyful atmosphere of your art with deeper emotions and themes of doubt, gloom, and impermanence?

The visual essence of dreams is often highly fantastical; in other words, dreams are complex mazes that continuously blend different locations, narratives, and objects together. The visual presentation of dreams involves the intertwining of narrative, setting, and characters, reflecting the deep memories within a person through a theatrical experience, while dialogue can be presented in exaggerated, eerie, or non-linear forms. Sometimes, I think each of my works is like a bizarre dream. Each scene I create can be a visual representation of the emotions experienced in dreams, whether it's anxiety, joy, fear, or happiness. Through the objects and expressions in each piece, the audience interprets the subjective emotions with their own experiences. Perhaps my work doesn't use typical elements of surrealism, but it's a reflection of the emotions in my inner world, presenting subjective and abstract emotions through tangible objects.

***Nightmare***, Acrylic on canvas, 50x50 cm, 2023 © Qiurui Du

Your work is also a poignant critique of modern relationships and urban life in late capitalism. What inspired you to delve into these particular topics, and what insights do you hope viewers gain from them?

Due to China's rapid development, many people's lives have changed in just a few decades. People's lives are getting faster, as if they have less and less time for themselves, and they rarely pay attention to their emotions, repeating yesterday's activities day by day. They may have become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the big cities. I hope to use my artwork to record the exciting or precious moments of people's lives, including their passive adaptation and compromise to reality or self-deprecation during certain highlight moments. I hope to depict the ukiyo-e of our generation's ordinary life in my way, reorganizing fragmented information and life experiences. Then, I will tell people that life is still rich and colorful.

You primarily work with painting and sculpture, is there any other medium or technique you would like to experiment with?

I want to shoot some short films. I'm interested in documentaries, capturing everyday life, people, and events, then piecing together these clips to tell a complete story. Sometimes, I think my paintings are just storyboards for films. Perhaps I should start trying to shoot something.

***The Wind Blows Your Hair Is Like The Color Of The Wind***, Acrylic on canvas, 120x100 cm, 2023 © Qiurui Du

You have exhibited extensively all over the world and collaborated with commercial brands, such as WWF X Alibaba. What do you think of the art community and market? And how do you approach them?

I think now it's a good time for young artists to be noticed. We live in a "social media world", and I think it's important to post your work on your social media and be proud of it. Keep posting your artwork and sharing your creative process with others. What I have been doing is sharing my artwork on my social media to let more people discover my work. When I have exhibitions, I post information about my show so that people who are interested in me and my exhibition can learn about it and arrange a time to go to see my exhibition, because seeing the work on the Internet is not the same as seeing the work in a gallery or a museum. Anyway, the Internet is just a platform for me to share my work and hook people's interests. More importantly, showing your work in an actual space is the point. Many art-related opportunities come from my social media DM, but remember to continue creating work that you like and be true to yourself.

Lastly, what are you working on right now? Do you have any new projects or series you are developing at the moment?

I've been preparing for my solo exhibitions in March and May. This time, I will be showcasing a completely new series of works inspired by telenovelas. Additionally, I've been busy with my art book. I try to put my artistic journey into a cohesive narrative Anyway, this new art book is expected to be published in the second half of this year.

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