From Imagery to Abstraction:
An Exhibition by Invitation of Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting
Contemporary Chinese oil painting is characterised by a rich and varied milieu from which a plethora of ideas and a great diversity of styles and schools have emerged. From these, a multitude of directions has developed. As we are unable to present the entire scenario of contemporary Chinese oil painting in one exhibition, we have selected a theme which has enabled us to draw out one of the threads in the history of contemporary Chinese oil painting.
Contemporary Chinese oil painting can trace its roots to the end of the 1970’s; when the national “reform and open” policy propelled Chinese art into an era of unprecedented growth. During this time, the oil painters emerged as forerunners. Indeed, almost every wave of new thought in contemporary Chinese art has the realm of oil painting as its point of origin. Almost half of the history of contemporary Chinese art is about oil art. In the development of contemporary Chinese art, oil painting has been in the forefront as the “head wave”, while oil artists have always been the driving force for change. Even during the time of “New Wave Art”, when paintings were not the focus, oil artists played an active and crucial role.
The dominance of oil painting is indicative of a consciousness, an awareness among oil artists of the close relationship between oil painting and contemporary Chinese art, including all the issues and obstacles the former faces. Every movement in oil painting has predicted what is to come in contemporary Chinese art. It began at the end of the seventies with “Scar Art” and “Rustic Art”, and went on to the “Aesthetic Movement” that leaned towards the poetic and lyrical. Then there were the “85 Movement”, “In Search of Roots” and “Purifying the Language.” The development of contemporary Chinese oil painting can be encapsulated in the Classical Realism, Cynical Realism and Political Pop movements; and in its movement from expressions of imagery to explorations of abstractionism.
In terms of its foundation, oil painting had been imported from the West only a century earlier, and was barely holding its own in comparison with the long, deep roots of Chinese ink painting. However, by virtue of its youth, it exudes vitality, sensitivity, and drive. While in many important international exhibitions, framed works have been largely displaced by large-scale installation art, in China, oil painting has just entered its peak. In the twenty-over years since the end of the seventies, every step of its development has been crucially linked to the development of contemporary Chinese art.
In general, contemporary Chinese oil painting comprises three components:
1. Classicism and Realism;
2. Representationalism and Pop; and
3. Imagery and Abstractionism.
An overview of this composition reveals how Chinese oil painting continually evolves through a dialogue with reality that involves not only the pondering and reflection of current concerns, but also issues faced by Chinese oil painting.
If attentiveness to, and concern for, the current reality provides the basis for artistic exploration, then the attainment of self-definition plays a crucial role in the disciplined growth of Chinese oil painting. Within this domain is a forceful group of middle-aged artists who can boast strong academic achievements in their resumes. They are unrelenting in propelling Chinese oil painting towards Sinicisation. Armed with unflinching academic convictions, they have sought to distance themselves from the mainstream art promoted and sanctioned by the government. At the same time, they have resisted being swept under by the overwhelming wave of commercialism in art.
This “From Imagery to Abstraction: An Exhibition by Invitation of Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting” exhibition uses the “imagery –- abstractionism” component for thematic focus. For many years, representational styles and realism have been the mainstay of Chinese oil painting. Before the eighties, the government, staunchly guided by ideological policies, had demanded that art shoulder the responsibility of propaganda. Revolutionary realism was highly promoted. There was no way for abstract art to realistically or objectively reflect life, and so from its tender beginnings, it had always assumed the stance of being antagonistic to officially sanctioned art. This had resulted in abstract art standing apart as being culturally adversarial. However, abstract art has evolved into a new form of artistic expression. It has also attained maturity gradually in the nineties, producing a crop of excellent abstract artists.
Our objective in establishing “From Imagery to Abstraction” as the theme for this exhibition is to relate how contemporary Chinese oil painting has evolved from the representational to various types of “imagery – abstraction”, and the transformation and changes between the various forms of expression that have ensued. In traditional Chinese painting, theories abound, with many observations on and about forms. They include “the form that exists outside the form”; “a conception that arises beyond the form”; and “the supreme form has no form.” “The form that exists outside the form” means that a painting has departed from the “likeliness” that is representational; it has attained a form that cannot be grasped by the visual sense, and in fact is a type of “abstraction.” From the idea of the “form outside the form”, we extrapolate the idea of the “form within the form.” The idea of “form outside the form” refers to those “forms” which, departing from formal representation, border on the abstract and yet do not overstep the boundary to become abstract. This is what we call “idea-form” or “imagery.”
Many works of contemporary Chinese oil painting fall within a lingering zone that oscillates between the representational and the abstract. These paintings display the unique characteristics of contemporary Chinese oil painting, from their concern with representation, to the “idea-form” that is intimately associated with abstraction; from the abstractionism that draws on symbolic representation, to pure abstract works. The repertoire presented by the artists we have invited is emblematic of various points along the route that we are exploring.
Thirteen artists were invited to participate in this exhibition. In terms of age, these are representative artists who were born in the 40’s up to the 70’s. In terms of artistic accomplishment, they are influential pioneers, accomplished middle-aged artists as well as young artists who are beginning to make their mark. The heterogeneity represented by them is deliberate. In this way, we hope to be able to showcase more comprehensively the artistic vein of “idea-form” to the Southeast Asian art world and art collectors. The individual styles and artistic tendencies of each artist are made more apparent by comparison and contrast with each other. From them, we may also discern the overall quality of contemporary Chinese oil painting as it develops along the particular axis from “idea-form” to abstraction.
For works that have evolved from being representational to renditions that are more in the vein of imagery expression, we may look to the paintings of Jing Shijian, Xu Xiaoyan, Zhang Liping, Yu Ming and Zhao Wenhua. In principle, their art has not abandoned the figurative depiction of subject matter, yet it is not an objective one. They have incorporated elements of subjectivity into their creations. For instance, the “Travellers Three” series by Jing Shijian are realistic, and yet not of reality. They comprise a sequence in time that narrates literati sentiments towards landscape, and concurrently waxes poetic on the misty landscapes. Xu Xiaoyan’s “Blooming” series express the imagery of Life a-blooming that is experienced through her observations of the splayed leaves of a wilting Chinese cabbage. Through the attention devoted to realizing her image, Xu marvels at and exalts the life-cycles of Nature.
Zhang Liping’s expressionistic use of colour reveals poignantly to us his passion for life, and not just a zeal for natural landscape. On the other hand, Yu Ming attempts to portray a landscape “of depth.” And so in his landscapes, he assiduously presents a “peace and quiet” that is far and distant from the city chaos, but his is a sense of “peace and quiet” with an energy force field that is unsettling.
In his “City Image” series, Zhao Wenhua juxtaposes representational and non-representational images to express his concern for how modern city life is being lived. The artist has created nearly forty works on this one theme, examining a subject of current significance: China’s urbanization and its impact. With their focus on an issue that has global relevance, the series have elicited high praise from the chairman of the Florence Biennial (Biennale Internazionale Dell’arte Contemporanea).
Shang Yang’s art is hard to classify as a whole. But we can say that fundamentally, his works since the nineties have been rooted in “idea-form.” In the late eighties, after he completed the “Yellow Earth Sentiments” series, his art ventured for a short time into the abstract realm. Examples of works produced during this brief phase can be seen in the “States” series. However, his wide-ranging and complex reach has not allowed him to remain in a state so clearly delineated. From “Big Scenery” to “Project Dong Qichang”, his art has aimed to achieve two things: first, to reach deep into the pulse of traditional culture; and second, to search for novel concepts and new expressions that can more intimately communicate his ideas.
While the works of Liu Hui and Ning Dandan / Ning Binbin are no longer tethered to the idea-form, they are also not pure expressions of the abstract. They exist in a state suspended between abstraction and imagery. But pinning the state down is not important; what is essential is the experiences of life that the art is built upon. It is “the most primal and heartfelt impressions that we attain when we expose our purest, most innocent hearts to our world” (Ning Dandan/ Ning Binbin); it is “discovering a sense of the earth” in one’s “field and garden” (Liu Hui). As they have created their works based on life and life experiences, we can easily sense the “sounds and rhythms” of Nature (Ning Dandan/ Ning Binbin) and feel the “sun, earth, wind, water and sky” (Liu Hui) through these near-abstract paintings.
Li Lei’s paintings may be categorized as pure abstract art. But upon examination of the sources of his inspiration, we find similarities between Li and the three artists above. We may not sense the imagery of nature in his works, but we can experience the vibration of Nature. This is because his works, like Ning’s and Liu’s, originate from “how one feels about the Universe”; they stem from how one “senses and melds with the rhythm of the Universe” (Li Lei).
The works of the remaining four artists in this exhibition—Wang Huaiqing, Su Xiaobo, Zhou Changjiang, and Li Xiangming—all fall within the category of pure abstract art. They all position themselves towards seeking out the characteristics of abstract art that have been Sinicised. They all endeavour to anchor their works in the meaning of art itself. In their early artistic phases, these four artists were engaged in producing representational art, and after evolving into their abstract phase, have sought to root their individual art by drawing upon traditional cultural resources, thus welding a profound intrinsic relationship between their art and traditional culture.
Since the nineties, traditional wood-architectural construction and wood-construction furniture have not only provided insights and inspiration for Wang Huaiqing, they have also become the master vocabulary on which his art is built and constructed. In these subsequent years, Wang’s paintings have experimented with the construction and deconstruction of elements that are genetic markers of traditional Chinese culture. In the age-old structure of pillars and beams that cross and support horizontally and vertically, Wang has perceived an ancient cultural spirit of his people. This sentiment is further verified in the evidence of his works, where he attempts to reach beyond two-dimensional space. In striving for an aesthetic dimension that is purely Chinese, Wang has even abandoned the advantage of the possibilities of colour offered by oil painting, and chosen instead to focus on black, a precise colour reminiscent of Chinese ink.
The paintings of Su Xiaobo and Wang Huaiqing show similar characteristics of rationality and nonchalance. To judge from their use of symbols and imagery, Su proves to be more purist in his pursuit of the two-dimensional. I have said before that he is a rare Chinese artist who is truly able to penetrate western abstract art from a linguistic level and yet, in the thorough grasp of western art, to hold still the pulse of the Chinese spirit. When I look at his paintings, so western in appearance, I do not perceive cultural messages from the West; instead, I see expression brought to fruition through Chinese sensitivity. Su demonstrates a profound sense of history and cultural sensibility through his pure artistic language and use of raw lacquer, a traditional material used by Chinese artisans. In his paintings which describe nothing specific, we are able to fathom the memory of a people; the vicissitudes experienced by a nation; the pursuit of history, and the nostalgia for an ancient culture.
Among his peers, Zhou Changjiang was one of the earliest artists to venture into abstract art. His abstract art series “Complementary”, won a silver award at a national exhibition in the United States in the late eighties. In the past twenty years, he has continued to extend his exploration of this theme, endeavouring to “make a marriage” of the western style with “local culture”. He has earnestly sought to “reflect upon my cultural background after studying modern western painting” and “amidst the transfiguration of traditional aesthetic values.” Zhou desires deeply to create his “own image of modern art.”
Since the eighties, the art of Li Xiangming has naturally evolved and made the transitions from representational realism to renditions of imagery to abstractionism. But to him, what has been of significance is not the change in methodology, but the evolution of an internal sense of aesthetics. For him, this is also a sublimation of the quality of art. Li’s works have become increasingly simple and concise; more and more, they emphasize the unique “language” of the materials themselves. Three factors have come together to channel Li’s art in the direction of Sinicisation and localization: cultural symbols from traditional sources; local dialects and linguistic expressions; and personal experiences of survival.
Jia Fangzhou
Chinese Art Critic
象内象外–中国当代油画邀请展
中国油画的当代面貌丰富多彩，不同的观念、不同的风格流派，呈现出一种多元多向的发展态势。在有限的展览规模中我们无法全面地呈现这种整体格局，因此，本次展览只侧重于某一学术层面，只从某一条线索上展开我们的描述。
中国当代油画的发展始于七十年代末，改革开放的国策使中国当代艺术进入一个前所未有的发展阶段。在这个阶段油画家空前活跃，当代艺术中每一个新思潮的出现，几乎都首先来自油画领域，一部中国当代美术史，几乎被油画占去一半，也就是说，在中国当代艺术的发展过程中，油画始终处在一种“主流”地位，油画家始终是构成这种发展的主导力量，即使在不以画种为界的“新潮美术”中，油画家也是首当其冲，成为最活跃的因素。
这种情况说明，中国油画在其发展过程中自觉意识到，其自身课题与中国当代艺术普遍面临的问题直接相关。因此，在油画领域出现的每一种倾向，也便同时预示着中国当代艺术的发展趋向。从七十年代末的“伤痕”与“乡土”思潮，到倾向诗意抒情的“唯美风”；从“85新潮”到“寻根热”与“纯化语言风”；从古典写实风到玩世现实主义与政治波普，从意象表现到抽象探索，共同构成了中国当代油画发展的主要线索。
论传统根基，油画从西方舶来不过一个世纪，远不能与水墨画相比，但也唯其年轻，才显示出它的生命力，显示出它的敏感与锐气，虽然在许多重要的国际展事中，架上绘画已被大量的装置作品所取代，但在中国，油画却让人觉得正在步人它的“盛期”，在自七十年代末以来的二十几年中，它所走过的每一步，都构成中国当代美术发展中不可缺少的重要环节。
中国当代油画的格局大体由三个板块构成：一，古典与写实；二，具象与波普；三，意象与抽象。这一格局说明，中国油画是在自身命题与当代课题的双向关照中不断前行。 如果说以关注当下现实为契机的当代课题的展开，是一种具有当代意义的转化，那么，自身命题的完成则是中国油画在自律发展的方向上不可缺少的环节。在这个领域，聚集着中国油画的一支重要力量，它的核心是一批有学术建树的中年辈艺术家。他们坚持不懈于中国油画的本土化探索，以坚定不移的学术立场，一方面与官方的主流艺术拉开距离，一方面排拒着商业大潮的冲击。
“象内象外——中国当代油画邀请展”，正是在“意象—抽象”这条脉络上展开我们的学术命题。在过去许多年中，具象与写实在中国油画中一直处在主导性的地位，80年代以前，由于意识形态影响，官方要求艺术要承担宣传的使命，倡导的是革命现实主义。而抽象艺术不能真实客观地反映生活，因此它在发展的初期一直是以一种与官方艺术相对抗的姿态出现，具有鲜明的文化针对性。它作为艺术演进中的一个新形态，在90年代逐渐走向成熟，并且产生了一批优秀的抽象艺术家。
以“象内象外”作为本次展览的主题，意在描述中国当代油画从具象进到“意象—抽象”阶段的几种不同形态以及它们之间的转化。中国古代画论中有“象外之象”、“境生象外”、“大象无形”之说，所谓“象外之象”，意即离开了具象之“象”，无法直接用视觉把握的“象”，实际上就是一种“抽象”之境。依此我们从“象外”延伸到 “象内”，意即那些接近抽象但还未越过抽象边界的“象”，也即我们所称谓的“意象”。中国当代油画处于意象——抽象临界状态的作品很多，从具象到接近抽象的 “意象”，从保留形象符号的抽象到纯抽象，这正是中国当代油画在形态上所具有一个特征。我们邀请参展的艺术家正处是在这条脉络上的几个不同点位。
“象内象外”展共邀请13位中国油画家。从出生的年代看，从40年代到70年代几个年龄段的艺术家都有；从艺术成就看，他们中既有影响很大的领军式的人物，也有卓有成就的中年艺术家，还有崭露头角的青年艺术家。这样一种组合方式，是想在这条艺术脉络上尽可能比较全面地给东南亚艺术界和收藏界介绍中国当代油画家各自不同的个人风貌和艺术倾向，同时也可从意象到抽象这个艺术坐标上，看到中国当代油画发展的整体水准。
在从具象转向意象性表现的层面上，我们可以从井士剑、徐晓燕、张立平、余明、赵文华的作品中得到印证。他们的艺术基本上没有放弃对客体的描绘，但又不是写实主义的客观再现，他们在作品中融入了更多主观的因素。如井士剑所描绘的《三人行》江湖系列，既是现实的，又是非现实的，既是在时间序列中展开的山水人文情怀，又是在茫茫山色中对诗意的呼唤；徐晓燕的《怒放》系列则是在白菜叶片的绽放中感受到了“开花”的生命意象，从而表达对自然生命的生长过程的惊叹和礼赞；张立平的表现主义色彩让我们更多地看到的是画家的生命激情而非面对纯粹的自然景色；而余明则试图表现一种“有深度”的风景，于是他在他的风景中竭力表达一种远离都市的“宁静”，宁静到有些令人不安的程度。赵文华的《城市影像》系列更是在具象与非具象的措置中表达他对现代都市生存方式的忧虑。画家所以用近40幅连作来表现这一主题，是因为今日中国的都市化进程是一个具有当代意义的话题，同时也是一个全球性的话题。所以佛罗伦萨双年展主席对他的这一系列作品给予很高的评价。
就整体看，尚扬的艺术是难以归类的，但90年代以来的作品基本上是在意象的层面上展开。从80年代后期告别“黄土情怀”，他的艺术曾一度在抽象领域做短期逗留（如《状态》系列），但他广阔而错综的思绪使他无法停留在那种纯粹的状态里，从《大风景》到《董其昌计划》，他的艺术一方面延伸到传统文化的根脉之中，一方面又在寻找一种更切近他的思路的新观念和新表达方式。
刘辉、宁丹丹/宁彬彬的作品已经游离意象，但又不是纯粹的抽象。在形态上应是介于意象与抽象之间。其实形态本身并不重要，重要的是艺术所籍助的生命感悟，是“用最单纯的心灵去体悟自己所生存的环境”（ 宁丹丹/宁彬彬），是在自己的“田园”中“找到大地的感觉”（刘辉）。正是这个原因，我们才能在他们近于抽象的作品中依然感受到“自然的声响与节奏”（ 宁丹丹/宁彬彬），感受到“阳光、大地、风水和天空”（刘辉）。
李磊的作品可以归入纯抽象的范畴，但从他创作灵感的源头看，他与上述三位艺术家有相同之处。我们虽然不能从他的作品中感受到自然的意象，却能感受到自然的气息。因为他的作品同样来自于“内心对宇宙万物的感受”，来自于对宇宙生命的气息的“判断与契合”（李磊）。
展览中其余4位——王怀庆、苏笑柏、周长江、李向明的作品都在纯抽象的范围之内。他们的共同取向是，都在寻求抽象艺术的本土化特征，都在艺术本体的意义上展开他们的工作。他们早期都从事过具象艺术创作，进入抽象阶段后又都能从传统文化资源中寻找自己艺术的出发点，从而使他们的艺术与传统文化保持着深刻的内在联系。
王怀庆从90年代起，就在传统的木结构建筑和木结构家具中获得启示与灵感，并从中找到支撑自己艺术的母语。在此后的十几年中，他一直在画面上对这些具有传统文化基因的形式因素进行结构主义或解构主义的“试验”，因为他从那些横穿竖插的隼卯结构中感受到支撑一个民族的古老文化精神的存在，他的作品从平面向空间的延伸，更加证明了这点。他甚至不惜放弃油画在色彩上的优势，而以一种以墨色为主的极简的色彩，为的是寻求一种纯属于中国的艺术趣味。
在理性、冷静这一层面，苏笑柏与王怀庆有相同之处，但从借用符号和意象的角度看，苏笑柏是一位更纯粹的平面艺术家。我曾说过，他是真正在语言层面进入西方抽象艺术的不可多得的一位中国艺术家，也是在对西方艺术的充分理解中，仍然能在精神层面延续中国文脉的一位艺术家。他的那些貌似很西方的作品所给予我的并不是西方的文化内涵，而是从中国的文脉中延伸而来的一种成果。他运用大漆这种传统材料和纯绘画语言所传达出的是一种厚重的历史感和文化感，我们从那些什么也没有描绘的画面上读出的是一个族群的记忆、一个民族的阅历与沧桑，是一种对历史的回望和文化的怀旧情绪。
在同辈人中，周长江是从事抽象艺术创作最早的艺术家之一，他以“互补”为主题的抽象作品，早在80年代末就曾在全国美展中获得银奖。20年来，他一直在延伸着这一主题，并且力求将这一西方的样式“与本土文化联姻”，力求在“研究了西方现代绘画后反现自身文化背景”， 力求在传统审美价值的现代转型中，创造出“自己的现代艺术形象”（周长江）。
李向明的艺术从80年代以来，也自然经历了一个由具象写实向意象表现再到抽象的过度和衍化过程。但对他而言，重要的不是艺术样式的转换，而是一种内在的审美趣味的转化，同时也是一种艺术品质的升华。他的作品愈来愈倾向于单纯、简约，愈来愈倾向于材料本身的语言特质。来自传统的文化符号和来自民间的“泥言土语”，加以他自身的生存体验，都促成了他的艺术朝着本土化方向发展。
贾方舟
中国美术评论家
