Art Chowder November | December, Issue 18 | Page 26

O
ne challenge is the job itself; it’s really hard! But he is
lucky. Before he became an art student in Guangzhou, he got
a job at the age of 16 as a farmer and worked the fields for
several years. He said no job is more difficult or requires more
patience than farming. “The rice trained me to be patient,” he
said. He takes that well-honed toughness and respect for the
passage of time right to the canvas with him. As a student he
spent entire days, morning to midnight, “face to the paper.”
But he also had the wisdom to turn his face to the people,
knowing there was no other way to truly understand, to be a
responsible recorder. It’s really very little wonder that he is the
only Olympic Artist to be sanctioned by both the U.S. and Bei-
jing Olympic Committees.
Then there is the half-life countdown of culture. Alexander
acknowledges that no one can stop it, that world integration
is in many ways a positive development. With the advance of
the Internet, communications, and transportation, the global
community is growing and becoming more homogeneous.
But Alexander is one who considers himself lucky he is alive
at a time on the planet before cultures are stirred together
beyond distinction. He says the unique styles and customs of
humankind are part of its treasure, and when he finds that in
the world, he feels he “meets the treasure.” He charges him-
self, as an artist, with the happy task of studying these cultures
thoughtfully in their natural habitats, and recording them beau-
tifully for generations hence to look at in the same way we get
to look at “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.”
Nothing can stop him, the old soul, the farmer-turned-painter,
the traveling child…
Except mortality. Alexander is in his 66th year. He is not old,
he is not sick, both his parents are alive and well and demon-
strating an impressive legacy of longevity. All the same, as
he’s matured, he says he’s “cooled down” quite a lot, and
thinks his paintings are maybe not as exciting. He is more
drawn to landscapes and natural monuments such as the Grand
Canyon — less bustle, more peaceful, he says. He is wise;
he knows he cannot change how his work shifts and cools;
he calls it a “natural rule.” He also acknowledges that he is
finding beauty from a different angle — it may not have the
heat and thrill of Times Square or Pike Place Market, but the
fact that his interests will change what he produces is another
feature a camera lacks. It makes a person wonder what Zhang
Zeduan did as he aged; perhaps he too cooled down and wan-
dered away from the town center to the edge of the wilderness,
where maybe the people were fewer, but the worthiness of
making a record for history stayed the same. We’ll probably
never know for sure. But we are always allowed to imagine.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE