I'm Jeff Chang
I've been collecting calendar posters for about three decades
The theme of the exhibition is the special kind of drawings
Calendar poster is a combination of
Early trademarks, advertisement and calendar
It reflects the development of Shanghai
Ranging from fancy imported products to everyday household supplies
Covering almost every product you could think of back then
The existing calendar posters have modern
Fashionable women as the theme
They have oriental beauties painted on them
No man would hate that
And women would dress like the calendar girls
In the old days
Shanghai saw more than just traditional beauties
This is not a picture that catches your eye right away
But the woman's posture attracts me
It's a woman getting ready in the morning
With a lot of personality, even a bit ostentatious
To match with the pictures, I picked over thirty Qipao
The dresses reflect the fashion of that time
You will see the liberation of woman extended to not just their feet
But the curves of their body
I started collecting embroidery partly due to my great-grandmother
It was about the time I was 7 or 8 years old
I saw my great-grandmother bask in the sun in the afternoon
Napping under the roof
She adored fragrant flowers like gardenia
We'd pick it up for her and she'd wear it in her hair
She always stayed there quietly with her foot-bound
She was happy when we gave her flowers, she'd smell them
When she was no longer with us, my grandmother organized her stuff
She had embroidered wedding dress and small shoes 34 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,240 The beautiful embroidery were handmade by her
I found that I'd never really seen them
So I brought them into my collection while they should have been burnt for the deceased
I had too many interests
Anything beautiful attracted me
And it's the same for me till today
Overtime I've collected a few original posters
And I got the chance to meet some old artists
They are the last generation of calendar poster painters
These paintings appear to be graceful and unrestrained
You may assume it's casual to paint one like this
How long it takes you to create such a painting
At least half a year
The paintings cost a fortune
The price was about three to five hundred silver dollars
While movies stars then made one hundred dollars a month
When you do commercials, people basically think you are cheap
You don't have the bone of an artist
I synthesize with their environment as I am also questioned
Is what we make art?
Or just mass entertainment?
Through all these years
I've devoted full-heartedly to every single song I made
Holding the exhibition is not about packaging myself as an artist
Or a collector
I intend to invite thinking
I first came to Shanghai in 1996
To shoot the MV for a song of mine "Yong Qing"
Shanghai was totally stunning
People may think I'm nostalgic
But in fact the old stuff is still seen and attracts attention
Because it's timeless, time doesn't wash off its glory