策划主办：北京高地画廊
策展人：冯博一
展 期：2008年11月1日至12月1日
开幕酒会：2008年11月1日星期六下午4：00-6：00
开放时间：星期二至星期日下午11:00至下午19:00(星期一休息)
北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路2号(798艺术区北门向南60米)
北京8502#信箱转高地画廊 PC：100015
电话：010-64377177
传真：010-84599777
E-mail：gallery@vip.sina.com
网址：www.gaodigallery.com
Sponsor: Gaodi Gallery
Curator: Feng Boyi
Exhibition Date: 1st Nov.—1st Dec.,2008
Opening Party: 16:00-18:00, 1st Nov.,2008
Opening Hours: 11:00-19:00 (Tuesday-Sunday, Monday by appointment only) No.2 Jiuxianqiao Road,Chaoyang District, Beijing ,P.R.China
Tel: 010-64377177
Fax: 010-84599777
E-mail: gallery@vip.sina.com
Website: www.gaodigallery.com
确定的信念与不确定的张望——关于张旭东的油画艺术
冯博一
最早认识旭东还是在1995年。当时，旭东在中国美术馆举办个展，我去参加开幕式及学术研讨会。接着，我们与冷林一起张罗“现实•今天•明天”现代艺术展在北京国际艺苑美术馆的展览和拍卖，他又是应邀的参展艺术家。现在看那时的场景照片，尽管只是十几年的光景，却真有恍若隔世之感。因为中国的变化太大，尤其当代艺术变化之剧烈，令人实在难以得到足够的安全感而心绪浮燥，甚至惶惑！有的时候，我们难以相信这种改变，但又要被迫接受自己的身份与客观环境新的对应关系之中。按社会进化论的观点，似乎我们在发展，一天更比一天好；但文化艺术却并不是按社会进化论来演绎。是耶？非耶？感慨而以。
上世纪90年代，旭东的油画艺术有着表现主义的意味。其创作的主题多为厌恶都市的喧嚣，或暴露生存状态的混乱、堕落和罪恶，充满了隐逸的伤感情绪或是对“普遍的人性”的宣扬。他那时的艺术特点是不重视细节的描写，只追求强有力地表现主观精神和内心激情，强调表现自我感受，而导致对客观形态的夸张、变形乃至怪诞处理的手法，以此来发泄内心的苦闷与压抑。后来，旭东给我的感觉有些“另类”与“边缘”，但他的这种边缘的另类不是如上世纪90年代初期一些艺术家的那种被迫的边缘，而是一种自愿放弃或主动地选择。他偏居辽宁的葫芦岛，心无旁鹜地潜心画画。一路下来，其画风已是发生了很大的变化。他近些年的创作，画面构成愈来愈趋向单纯、简洁，色调清晰、凝重；复数般、整齐划一的人物形象更营造了这种视觉上的纯粹感；而裸体的，略显比例不甚协调的人物造形，仿佛如精灵一般，都睁大着有些惊恐与疑虑的双眼注视着莫名的且喧嚣的现实世界。在我看来，身体动作并不像语言那样，是不具有很好的信息储存功能的。他把身体变成了即时性消费，就像很多时尚的消费品一样。那么，它应该是单纯的，而不是复杂的；浅显的，而不是艰深的；简洁的，而不是冗长的。同时，还可以看出他在延续了他以往表现主义绘画的怪诞脉络，凭附出人生荒诞性的现实处境。我理解旭东作品的荒诞性在于，荒诞不存在于具体的生活中，荒诞是由于他对于现实生活的自省和自觉所产生的一种形而上学的痛苦，甚至病态的感受。也就是说，他作品的荒诞感产生于对平庸无聊、安稳闲适的日常生活的怀疑、追问与表达，从而有意将其思考诉诸这样一种荒诞的、非理性的形式给予表现。荒谬的形式显示了存在的本质，这使得旭东图像的魅力既虚泛又残酷，既荒诞不经又直指现实，既无序又紧张。也使观者尽管不能获得整体上的轻松和愉悦，但是，当我们沉潜于每一幅看似荒谬的场景内部，沉浸于每一幅类似于愕异的目光之中，我们又可以非常鲜活地感受到人性的乖张，生存的悖谬，以及语境中洋溢出来的创作主体对历史、对现实的质疑态度。
我不知道是何种原因导致了他的这种生存状态的选择，以及创作上的变化。但不过这也许反而成就了他艺术的纯粹。因为远离现实的江湖，使他的艺术保留了真情的细末微节，凸现了作品自身的神秘性。因而观者能够在他的作品中感受到一种致力于创作本身的沉静。他已经将自己调整到一个自由创作者的位置上，一种比较纯粹的心态与表达。比如，他作品中的具体场景完全是虚构出来的。它们只有真实的背景外表，而情节本身对这种真实又进行了颠覆，解构了虚幻的梦境。这既是我们社会变迁过程的现实冲突与矛盾的真实写照，又预示了社会转型后的迷茫困惑与危机四伏，也表现了蝼蚁般人群的集体无意识的焦虑。初看这些排列有序的裸体的小人小物，仿佛与其所摄取的场景有着一种关联，仔细观察却发现他或她们与这些空间环境并不存在着叙事和情节的因果联系。在他所设定的没有逻辑的场域内，现实中这样的行为举止似乎是不可能发生的，有一种不真实的存在和熟悉的陌生感。真实、含混与神秘之间的错位凸现了作品本身的荒诞性，介于现实与虚构之间荒诞，又强化了虚构性因素。旭东绘画的叙事性呈现了“现实的另一面”，这是经过艺术构思和形象处理后的叙述，虽然包含虚构的成分，但拥有一种完整性，它基于历史和现实，同时又具有综合超越现实的魅力。
这是我解读旭东艺术创作的一种视角。作为同代人，我认同并看他们不同于50年代和70年代，更不同于已闪亮登场的80后。看他们的进出、徘徊，他们的坚守，眼见他们的挣扎、忿懑、无奈，他们的本土之心，知晓他们的道德信念的次次冲撞失意和于现实间不能如70、80年代人的游刃有余，知道他们的大界限，还有知其不可为或者知其可为而不为的那一种只有60年代人才知的准则。旭东给我的强烈感觉或可贵东西是坚持，坚持并不孤独。尽管他不抢眼，没有艺术市场的所谓锐气，或者用来邀宠的激烈，但总有一些东西在里面，默默地抵达或抵抗。长久以来，这个抵达或抵抗不那么扬声高叫，不那么容易哗众，却仍然有人听到，也许这是他执拗的理由之一。60年代出生的人已经承受了这一份不独个人的困惑，他们在自觉地终结某种东西，通过所谓的艺术创作，他们在追问。也许潜在内心的心理隐秘只是开始，总有一个向着的世外，也许未必是桃源，却有一个极为开放的空间。在现实的内外仍有理想可存放的地方，那就是承担社会责任的义务和作为一名艺术家的敏感与尖锐。
The first time I met Zhang Xudong was in 1995. By then, I went for the opening ceremony and academic seminar of his solo exhibition being held at the National Art Museum of China. After that, Leng Lin and us organized the modern art show called Reality•Present•Tomorrow at Beijing International Art Gallery, and he was one of the invited artists. Only ten more years past, looking back at the scene photos then seems as though it never existed. It’s all due to the huge transformation of China, especially in the field of art, in which’s so hard to gain enough feeling of security that everyone has been edgy and even confounded. Sometimes, it’s difficult for us to believe such change but, still, we have to accept the new relation between the objective environment and us. In accordance with the viewpoint of social evolution that we have been developing better day after day, but culture and art do not interpret life accordingly. Does it? Or, does not? Sign……
In 1990s last century, Xudong’s work had the touch of Expressionism. What was in his painting were mostly subjected by tiring of the noise of the metropolis, of chaos and corruption and sin of the survival condition with full of hidden sentimental emotion which could be marked as publicizing the common human nature. His work then were not much focused on details but seeking on manifesting instinctive mind and inner passion, emphasizing express the feeling of oneself so as to let out one’s mental anguish and depression by using a form of exaggerating, being out of shape and weirdness. Afterwards, I had a feeling of him that he was bit of exception and being a brinkman, in which he was not forced to be as other artists in the early 90s but willing to give up or forwardly choose to be. He resides in Huludao at Liaoning with great concentration on painting. He varied his way of artistic technique as time went by. His creation in recent year, the composition of it has been becoming mere and brief, and the measure of hue are quite distinct and dignified; more precise physiques and aligned in the picture, the figures build an unalloyed harmony in vision; the naked and slightly lack of proportion characters with big and doubtful eyes looking at this hectic world are alike fairy. To my point of view, body movement does not as same as language for it has no information saving function. He takes individual as an immediacy consumption as same as many of fashionable consumer goods. In that way, it shall be artless but complicated, be plain but abstruse and be compact but redundant. Simultaneously, one still can see the thread of Expressionism of his past which attached to the reality. It is comprehensive for me about the absurdity of his work, in which does not exist in real life though the contemplation of his own thoughts, feelings and sensations make him felt painful, in other words, the rediculousness in his work comes from doubting, questioning and expressing about mediocre and boring, or steady and comfortable daily life. Such form of display shows the essence of existence as to bring up the both virtual and cruel, preposterous and realistic, and random and strained into his painting. Despite audience can not receive the feeling of light and joy, they still can feel lively about human perverseness, the paradoxical state in existence and the questioning manner toward history and reality through his work.
I have no idea what causes his choice of such living state and the change of achievement. But it may help him to fulfill his aesthetic pursue. To be far from actuality is to enable his work retain in heartful details, and this is where mystique of the painting itself are being raised. So that people can be able to sense the quietness in his creation. He has already adjusted himself into the position of free creator and expressing in the state of his whole. For example, the scenes in his work are all fictional, though the stories themselves completely changed the reality and deconstructed the visional dream. It is a true reflection of what is in our social improvement. It indicates the perplexing and crisis-ridden situation after society transformation and also implies the automatic anxiety of crowd. At first view of these lined up and naked small figures in his painting as if there’s connection between them and the pictured scene, but in fact they have nothing in between. In his created and lack of logic scenario the behaviour of which almost impossible to be happened, it has a kind of unreal existence and familiar strangeness. The misplacement of being real, vague and mystery demonstrate the work itself is beyond belief so it strengthened the factor of fiction. The narrative of Xudong’s drawing shows the other side of reality which is after aesthetic conception and image-manipulation. Though it is surreal that has the integrity based on the past and present, meanwhile it goes beyond reality.
This is my personal angle of view in Xudong’s artistic creation. As the same generation, I reckon that they are different to those whom born in 50s, 70s and even farer from 80s. I understand their to and fro with lingering thought, their holdout, struggle, resentment and helplessness; and knowing, with their localized mind they are not highly competent with the crash and frustration between moral belief and reality; even more, the standard or norm only fully accepted by the group people of 60s and by knowing their boundaries of doing or not doing. What is the sorely impression I have on Xudong is his persistency as he is aware of that to persist doesn't mean to be alone. Though he is yet not eye-catching and has no fire and dash pertaining to art market, there’s still something in him – to achieve or to resist in silence with no regret for, in the end, it can be appreciated by others. People born in 60s have already borne too much bewilderedness of their age and, through their artistic creation, they are questioning, in which it may be secretly hidden inside of them, in spite of that, there still a place is open to their ideal, and that is to fulfill their social responsibilities and, as an artist, to have a keen sense of penetrating mind towards the world.
【编辑：霍春常】
