A Study on Post-Industrial Myths in Northeast Oil Painting Creation Against the Background of Urbanization

Abstract

This article comprehensively explores the profound transformation of oil painting creation in Northeast China under the backdrop of significant changes in the era. With the advancement of urbanization and the restructuring of urban and rural structures, artists' creative perspectives have undergone notable shifts: from grand narratives to micro depictions of individual emotions and daily life. Meanwhile, under the waves of urbanization and marketization, the disintegration of the planned economy and structural adjustments of industries have profoundly reshaped the social landscape. The withdrawal of the working class and drastic changes in living spaces have driven the themes in painting to shift from collectivist narratives to a gaze at 'post-industrial' imagery such as decaying factories and unemployment realities. Artists like Zhao Xiao-jia, Cui Guo-tai, and Guo Xiao-guang, through their profound representations of abandoned spaces and the collective sense of confusion, reveal the spiritual emptiness and cultural disjunction that have faded in the wake of the industrial era, bestowing upon oil painting significant value as a vessel for visual culture and spiritual memory.