Accessories bear the marks of lover of plump women

Xu Hong Fei's art has the exultant "weight" of plump, vivacious women overflowing with great vitality. This constant in the Chinese sculptor's works is about to be enriched by a line of eye-catching fashion accessories. Xu's luxury line will be launched at the Luisa Via Roma boutique in Florence next month.

His accessory collection was previewed in a show in Milan recently, in a selection of precious objects.

Xu Hongfei and fashion designer Paolo Vermigli show the master sculptor's watches with elements of jade. Photos Provided to China Daily

Xu has chosen green and blue as the colors for his namesake collection including belts.

Sitting in a hotel room in Milan, Xu, born in Guangdong province in 1963, talks about how his art has focused on chubby women since the early 1990s.

He comes across as reserved, but there are flashes of humor. At random, he shows me his namesake line of luxury items that are easier to sell because they do not require any particular fit.

So where does his fascination with corpulent women come from?

"The majority of figurative artists depict slim women today and that is too obvious," he says. "I wanted to differ myself significantly from these others. People believe that slimness embodies beauty today. Mine is an alternative idea of beauty."

These days, being fat is generally regarded as undesirable and unfashionable, but it has not always been thus.

"Take the Italian Renaissance," Xu says. "At that time, extremely curvy ladies were considered the height of sexiness."

Indeed, concepts of beauty have changed throughout the ages, and the ideal of feminine beauty during the Italian Renaissance was decidedly more voluptuous than at any other time in history. "Women did not bother themselves with things like a few extra kilos, then," Xu says, and he reckons women are now too obsessed with being slim, "Chinese women included, even though they generally don't tend to put on weight, unlike many American and European women".

Xu says he creates extremely curvy ladies as an expression of sensuality and "the maternal-female principle, the nurturing power of the Earth".

"Those plump tummies, large bottoms, chunky thighs, make you feel the love of a mother; make you feel warm."

Italian Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Raffael and the French sculptor August Rodin have greatly inspired him. He has also been influenced by the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

"In the Tang Dynasty, chubby ladies were considered more beautiful," he says.

His recent show in Milan and one in Florence were titled Ironic Lightness. Xu had 23 different-sized sculptures on display, in bronze, marble, jade and wood.

The female figures present a sense of agility, coordination and continual movement. These smiling creatures with faces that are intensely expressive and with expressive body creatures are apt to considerably brighten up any onlooker's day.

The sculptures portray women in everyday activities, such as walking down the street, riding a bicycle or sitting in a cafeteria.

Giuseppe Ciappina, a visitor to the Milan show, said: "Xu Hong Fei's sculptures make me laugh, and the generosity of their forms touches people."

Stefano Rossi, a visitor to the Florence show, said: "Their simplicity captures people's attention You want to touch these chubby women and interact with them."

Anna Balzani, with Ornella Casazza, an art historian, co-curator of the Florence show, says: "Their voluptuous bodies make them look ancestral and almost mythical. But their intense faces look benevolent and motherly, as if they were an emblem of a different and yet graceful sensuality."

Xu says: "Focusing on slim ladies is boring. My choice is more challenging. It was a risk in the beginning, though. But I was lucky enough to fascinate an international audience."

His work is extremely popular in the Chinese mainland, and he is well known in Australia, Europe and other places in Asia.

He cannot find happiness in thin ladies, he says.

"Have you ever seen catwalk models? They are beautiful but all alike. You can't remember anyone at the end of the show."

His best female friend is chubby, he says.

"We met in a coffee shop. She said 'Hello' to me. She is the heaviest woman I've ever met: at least 150 kilos. I couldn't even hug her in the beginning. As soon as she knew I was the sculptor of chubby women, she wanted me to touch her arms, her bottom, for the pleasurable sensation. She has been posing for me as a model for a while. I seldom use models now. Chubby ladies live in my mind."

Given that it is not easy to find chubby women in China, Xu plans to visit Africa.

"I will go to Uganda soon. That is my one fixed idea at the moment," he says, laughing. He wants to find inspiration in Ugandan ladies.

"A friend of mine told me that they are so sensual. He's talking from personal experience."

Xu finally reveals the main reasons behind his fashion debut. He has decided to enter the fashion world because of the popularity of his art. He stresses the fact that, historically, fashion has always been in contact with the art world, and mentions the collaboration that Chanel developed with Picasso.

Xu's unexpected, exuberant accessories are produced by an Italian designer, Paolo Vermigli. Paolo has been working in the fashion industry for 30 years and has collaborated with many brands, including Thierry Mugler, Braccialini and Gherardini.

"I am drawn to Xu's aesthetics," Vermigli says.

"He is the first Chinese artist to use jade for fashion items."

Xu uses the very traditional jade that Chinese women love. It is employed in most items where the artist's work with its typical themes and motifs is re-presented. The elements of jade are hand-chiseled by the master sculptor in China.

Xu has chosen green and blue as the colors for his namesake collection: watches, glasses, belts, necklaces, scarves and fragrances. The accessories will initially be sold in three exclusive boutiques in Florence, Luisa Via Roma, Fratelli Piccini at Ponte Vecchio and Ottica Fontani, and if they do well they will be sold elsewhere in Europe.

In fact global marketing is the goal, and retail shops in Beijing and Shanghai have been lined up.

Products being sold include belts, cufflinks, pens, scarves, sunglasses and watches.

Xu is also introducing a luxury perfume inspired by Guangdong; a fragrance that starts with fresh base notes of lemon.

All items are made in Italy.

Vermigli says: "Xu Hong Fei has always been in love with Italy, both for its great art masters of the past and its creative fashion designers."

For China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 09/12/2014 page28)