2007年《舞台角色》100X80CM 被美国人士收藏
去年，在一个展览上看到郝俪的系列油画，我仿佛又被拉回到了30多年前在河北农村接受劳动改造的情景。封闭的环境，贫脊的土地，淳厚的民风，苦涩的生活。贫穷的物质生活，匮乏的精神需求，那儿的民众世世代代就在那片土地上无怨无悔地生养生息着。每当我回江苏老家探亲，看到改革开放后的江苏农村日新月异地创造着富裕的奇迹时，我就十分惦记曾生活过3、4年的河北农村那片干渴的黄土地。我的房东李队长家：那位星夜老坐在门坎上抽烟想心事的老大爷、成天进进出出忙碌的大妈、他们又怎么样了？郝俪的画似乎让我感觉到了他们的存在：在《三月八日在路上》和《希望》中，不就是那爽朗能干的小媳妇秀珍抱着豆豆出门去了；在《四个孩子》，我看到了那个光腚乐开了怀傻笑的豆豆；在《路遥遥，情聊聊》中让我想起村里几对常闹别扭的夫妇；而她的《小胖》、《花中花》中的花季少女，与我那时所接触到的农村女娃一样有着美丽的憧憬，所不一样的是走出了贫困以后的这代女娃，她们更充满自信地去追求自已的幸福……为什么郝俪的画会给我这么真实、亲切的感受呢？在她的画中，没有一种城市人对乡村人举高临下的俯视，没有那种对弱势群体"他者"的同情、怜悯或调侃、戏谑。在她的画中有身临其境的真实，她们的欢乐、迷惘、困惑、青春期的躁动，对美好的憧憬……在她们的身后都似有一个个鲜活动人故事。她那温暖的黄土地色调；那种大胆地把人物切入画面具胀满感的构图；那不求透视空间的平面构成；赋以线条的立体造型；和那凝聚着情感的琐碎郁结的笔触都有一种天然去雕饰的朴实，不讲究成法原创的野性。不管是肖像式的自画像，还是小姐妹群体，或是嬉戏的小娃娃，其身上都透着朴质、淳厚庄稼人的本真。她的画中人没有水乡女的清丽妖娆，没有东北女的粗犷豪放，有的是与黄土地摸打滚爬渗入骨髓的淳朴和厚实，不知为什么我确信郝俪一定是河北人。
近日，我们才有机会相互认识。果然，她是从河北一个小山村走出来的女青年。这位70后出生的女娃，在人生的旅程中出现过几次重大的抉择，都因她那朴素、执着的自尊、自强、自信，那种追求独立的女性精神，使她跨越一道一道的沟坎而成就为一位优秀的艺术家。初中毕业时，面临人生第一次选择，她拒绝走老一辈为15、6岁女娃选个好人家嫁出去的人生路。她毅然走出大山，虽不知路在哪里，但义无反顾地开始了"寻梦"的旅程。先到省城石家庄打工挣钱独立生活。她好幻想，也喜欢画画，在画中诉说自已的苦乐。碰巧有机遇到了八一电影厂一位美术师家半工半读。四年后她终于走进了梦寐以求的中央美术学院进修油画专业。在北漂苦读、苦熬的日子里，生计无着，举目无亲，食无饱腹，居无定所，她是如此的孤独无助，一个青春少女所面对的将是怎样的艰难和挑战！作为城市的边缘人，她又面临着人生第二次选择，在商品社会中，如果为了解决生活困境，凭她的条件，很容易找到一位有钱人结婚成家。已进入婚龄的郝俪同样渴望爱情，也有过两次刻骨铭心的恋爱，都因对方要求她做全职太太而放弃了。在今天，历史已进入了21世纪，而以男权为中心的传统思想却仍在压抑着女性的人生自由，忽视女性的人生价值。为什么女人一出嫁就成为夫家的私有财产，成为"花瓶"？郝俪如果放弃了画画，还有郝俪的人生价值吗？在情爱与艺术之间，她选择了后者。面对种种诱惑，她守住了自己的作为独立女人的尊严。画画已是她的生命形式，惟有画画，她感到了自己的存在，感到自己生活的意义。画画也是她倾诉的忠实伙伴，她的画几乎都是她自己的生活、情感的真实呈现，在画中我们看到一个孤独的灵魂，在沉思中内省，所流露出的迷惘和无奈，在被《情网》纠缠着的女人，她那欲进不能，欲罢不忍的彷徨与《恍惚的女人》、《从梦中醒来的女人》《走出惊恐的女人》无不道出了被情所折磨的女人，承受着心如乱麻理还乱的困惑，这些画是她蘸着泪水书写出的一幅幅内心的独白。
在新作《人生舞台》、《面具舞台》、《戏中戏》、《角色人生》或《舞台背后》系列中，郝俪的画有了变化，也许经历了太多的折磨，面对太多的不如意，她有种看破红尘的冷峻，戏如人生，人生如戏，她对人生从懵懂到有了透彻的认识。她不再沉缅于对山村生活的童贞时期的追忆《远去的歌》、《小胖那一天…》或《花开时节》来温暖自己孤寂的心灵，也跨越了失去爱情留在心底的伤痕，她从封闭的自我独白式的绘画天地走出来，直面人生，关注自身以外的世界。如果说她以前的画，是一种"本色演员"的独自吟唱；那么，07年后的新作，她跨越"自我"，进入"超我"的"性格演员"去从事各类题材"角色"的自由表现的放声高歌了。目前，她的作品，不仅不断参加国内外的展览，还被国内外一些专业藏家看好。日前，好莱坞著名导演罗伯特-民可夫，这位风行世界《狮子王》《功夫之王》的导演，对郝俪的画特别青睐，他请郝俪画了两幅他与夫人的肖像，郝俪创造性地把肖像与他导演的动画片情节组合在一起，这别构奇妙的意韵，让这位大导演乐得手舞足蹈。
郝俪的成功是个奇迹，她以自强、自信的独立精神，完成了从一个乡村人向城市人身份的转换，完成了一个村姑向一个艺术家身份的转换。我相信，成功永远属于不向命运屈服的强者！
著名策展人、批评家：陶咏白/文
2008.7.24.名佳花园
Song of Life
---A Comment on Paintings Created by Hao Li
By: Tao Yongbai
Last year when I first saw a series of painting works created by Hao Li, It seems that I was drawn immediately back to a village in Hebei Province over 30 years ago then I was accepting reeducation through labor under the special political background. But villagers there never complained for close environment, poor land, simple folkway and bitter life, even extreme lacks both in spirit and material. They were just living there generation by generation. Every time when I was back to my hometown in Jiangsu Province to visit my relatives, surprised by the fortune miracle created in changing rural areas of Jiangsu Province after reform and opening up, I always cared about the poor land in the village in Hebei Province where I had lived for 3-4 years. How about is the family of my host Li, a head of production team? How about is the old host who was always sitting on the doorsill and contemplating? How about the aged hostess who never had a rest? I saw them in some paintings of Hao Li: "On the Road on Mar. 8" and "Hope" let me remember the scene that Xiuzhen, an open, capable, young woman, went out with Doudou, her little baby; from "Four Kids", I remembered the giggly Doudou with open-seat pants; the figures of "Long Road Ahead, Chatting in Love" just liked several couples in the village that often misunderstood each other; the girls in "Fat Kid" and "Flower among Flowers" had beautiful dream just like the rural girls I met, but it is different that this generation of rural girls pursue for their happy lives with more confidences. Why did the paintings of Hao Li give me so true and familiar impact? As an artist, she never made light of these rural people from a view angle of superior city woman, nor gave these vulnerable group pity or irony. From her works, you can "see" many true girls or women, happy, puzzled, troubled, unsteady and full of dream. Every painting Should have a vivid story. The warm tone of yellow land, the rich composition stuffed bold figures, the plane ignoring perspective, the solid sculpt emphasizing line and the exquisite style full of emotions all show a simple nature and an original wildness without any limit of academism. No matter self-portrait, or girl group, or playing kid, all project the true nature of peasants. Without beautiful and fascinating charms featuring water-town girls, or wildness and boldness found in women in Northeast area, just a thorough simplicity and plainness from farmlands penetrates in her works. I had an intuition: Hao Li came from Hebei Province.
Up to the immediate present we knew each other by chance. As expected she is a young female artist born in 1970s from a village in Hebei Province. She had faced several life alternatives and conquered endless challenges with modern female spirits full of persistence, independence, confidence, now she has become an outstanding artist. After graduated from a junior high school, she faced the first choice in her life and refused to be a teenage wife that had been deemed as a good way for a rural girl by elders. Later, she left the mountain area and pursued for dream, though she didn't know where the way would go at that time. She found a job in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province at first. Meanwhile, she was dreaming, painting and expressing her feelings by art. By chance she met an artist of Bayi Audio and whereby learned from him within off hours. After four years, she finally realized one of dreams and studying oil painting art in China Central Academy of Fine Arts. In the days struggling in Beijing, without any economic support, without any relative she could rely on, without a stable life environment, a young girl would face so many hardship and difficulties. Living in the marginal of the city, she faced the second choice in her life. In the money society, if she just wanted to resolve the embarrassment of life, it was easy for her to married a rich man, the rather that she had been a young woman eager for love. She had experienced two unforgettable loves but she had to give up them for the refuses to just be a housewife. Today some traditional thoughts still oppress the freedom of women and ignore the value of them even in 21 century. There were two questions: why a married woman must be as a private property, a "vase"? Who is Hao Li if Hao Li gives up painting? Between love and art she chose the later, facing various seductions she stood on her dignity as a modern woman. Today painting has become her whole life, only painting can she feel her existence; and painting has been her loyal friend, hearing her dream, revealing her life and love. In her works we can see a lonely soul, contemplating, introspecting, puzzled and vulnerable. The woman in "Love Net" that was trapped between the devil and the deep sea as well as the women in "Dreamlike Woman", "Woman Awake from Dream" and "Woman out of Horror" were all tortured and puzzled by love. All these works were her monologs form the inside.
In her new series "Life Stage", "Mask & Stage", "Play within Play", "Role & Life" and "Back of Stage", she adopted different styles from before. Maybe she experienced too many tortures and frustrations, therefore she sees through the vanity of the world that just likes a play. She has an ignorant girl but now she is a rational artist having correct understanding on life. She never warms her heart by looking back rural life and her childhood that was described in "Past Song", "The Day of Fat Kid", or "Flower Season"; she has walked out of the distress of past love and turned to a wider life and external world from a narrow personal world. Her old works should be regarded as monologs of a "natural actress", but her works after 2007 should be viewed as various self-surmount performances of a "character actress" involving different themes. Recently her works frequently were exhibited at home and broad and collected by many international collectors. Roger Allers, famous Hollywood's director, who has directed well-known "Lion King" and "King of Material Arts", favored the Hao Li's paintings very much, and asked Hao Li to create two portraits of him and his wife. Hao Li creatively combined the portraits with some scenes of animation firms directed by him and the special composition make this big man excited with a flourish.
The success of Hao Li is a miracle. With independence and confidence, she finished a transform from a rural girl to a city artist. I believe fortune favors the bold.
Written in Mingjia Garden on Jul.24, 2008
