Context and Logic The Art Career of Zhu Wei

He Guiyan

Ⅰ

In the field of contemporary Chinese ink painting, Zhu Wei plays an important role with his works involve a in a variety of themes, which not only have a clear developmental trajectory and artistic language, but also reflect the change and breakthrough of contemporary Chinese ink painting and traditional Chinese Gongbi after 1989. For example, his works subverted and deconstructed the painting paradigm and aesthetic taste of traditional ink painting; in the post- 89 art movement and in the 1990s when Chinese contemporary painting were transforming. Zhu Wei's understanding of reality and current affairs and presentation of people's living condition and spiritual life expanded the depth and scope of contemporary Gongbi, and his emphasis of visual effects, aesthetic taste and image narrative brought new possibility to the development of contemporary Gongbi and ink painting. Zhu Wei's dialogue with the tradition, his knowledge of the tradition, and his quest of contemporary transformation of art language can be found in his works created after 2000. In his opinion, Chinese contemporary ink painting and Gongbi should develop in two ways: first, artists should get rid of the influence of Western art and create new and original art language and rhetoric on the basis of tradition and art history; second, artists should concern themselves with reality, culture and aesthetics, and keep up with social changes. In fact, in the past three decades, Zhu Wei, with intervention or alienation, was always thinking about the relationship between history and reality, traditional and contemporary society, system and individual, culture and language. Sometimes he was ambitious, and sometimes he was hesitated and suspicious. Of course, these problems have various facets, but due to the changes of history and social context, these problems cannot be resolved in any singular action by any artist. And these problems enable us to see the painting trajectory and inner logic of the artist.

Zhu Wei began his creation in the middle and late 1980s. At the beginning, he consciously integrated personal creation into the art history where the contemporary ink painting placed itself. Briefly, since the reform and opening-up of China, the development of contemporary ink isn't just an artistic issue, but also a social, cultural and even ideological one. Especially in the early 1980s, under the influence of the reflection of Cultural Revolution, modernized revolution, and Western modern and postmodern culture, contemporary ink painting bore an important cultural mission— to reverse and alienate socialist realism, to reject and deconstruct traditional ink painting, and to accept and absorb Western modern art and post-modern art language. These artistic and cultural demands are not separated but interwoven.

In the early stage of his artistic creation, Zhu Wei faces three transforming forces of contemporary ink painting in the 1980s. The first is to pursue the construction of modernity— the modern transformation of theme, language, aesthetic taste and painting paradigm and then endow them with contemporary cultural connotation. This wave of changes took place in the mid-1980s. The second is subversion and deconstruction. At first sight, this artistic thought was influenced by Dadaism and postmodern deconstructionist thought, but its inner power came from the "anti-traditionalist" trend in the 1980s. In fact, these enlightenment thoughts basically reached a consensus on "anti- traditionalist" in the 1980s. The consensus formed a concerted effort that derived into a distinctive sense of rebellion in the field of ink painting: to completely abandon the painting paradigm and artistic flavour of traditional ink painting and explore its new possibilities with an attitude of experimentation and deconstruction. The third tendency is "new literati painting", which emphasizes personal taste, sense of humor, satire and parody to digest the depth of history and reality, resulting in a strong sense of civility. "New literati painting" neither overcame its own cultural limitations nor developed into a constructive artistic force. But its deliberate gesture, including satire and parody, had an impact on cynical realism in the early 1990s.

In the Imitating Zhu Da series, viewers can unveil Zhu Wei's thoughts and responses on the changes of contemporary ink painting in the 1980s. Although he was a student at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Art, he had been thinking about the inevitable fission of traditional ink painting in contemporary cultural context and expressed his ideas in personalized ways. In this series, Zhu Wei gave up the traditional taste and liberated the noumenon, making his works more inclined to a modern expression. His emphasis on the plane means the rejection of the narrative function of traditional ink painting, which paved the way for the change of his paintings in the 1990s. In fact, in Western modern artistic logic or the context of contemporary Chinese painting, one method of the construction of modern art language, is the return to language and plane. Only the liberated and independent language can resist the narrative function undertaken by ink painting in its past traditions and the ideological discourse behind the concrete language system. As can be seen from the works in this period, Zhu Wei was more in favour of the subversion and reconstruction of ink painting. At the same time, those narratives formed by the daily discourse embodied the artist's nonchalance and ridicule attitude rather than consider the visual composition of the painting. Is this a response to "new literati painting"?

After 1990, methodology to reconcile with the relationship between personal painting and tradition from the perspective of language, form and narrative and how to explore the possibility and tension between them formed an important development clue of Zhu Wei's art career. For example, in the different types of works such as Beijing Story Colorful Sketch series (1991), Racing Horse on a Rainy Night series (1997), Great Water (2000) and China Diary series (2001), Zhu Wei not only absorbed elements in traditional Chinese murals and Gongbi paintings, but also drew from the languages and schemas of Han Huang, Guo Xi, Ma Yuan, Zhu Da and many other masters. For these languages and schemas, the purpose of the artist is neither imitating nor borrowing. Instead, these languages and schemas formed a visual representation, or a hint that showed the relationship with the visual mechanism and viewing habit of the traditional painting. In New Positions of the Brocade Battle series (1994), The Story of Sister Zhao (1994) and other works, there was a correlation with the "model play" of the Cultural Revolution in the respect of visual expression, which formed an intercontextuality to the works. If there was a relationship with the old tradition in Racing Horse on a Rainy Night and Great Water, then what was shown in The Story of Sister Zhao was a "new tradition", that is, the artist deconstructed the "encoded" visual and image resources which have ideological meanings after the founding of new China; he then re-encoded them and presented them in a new structure and narrative discourse. Of course, for Zhu Wei, the ultimate goal of the intersection with the tradition was still the personal expression in the context formed between the ancient and the modern, the tradition and the present, history and reality. From this point of view, Zhu Wei's painting is always narrative. The most representative work is New Pictures of the Strikingly Bizarre series created in 1994. Although the image and schema are born out of the tradition, but the story is about current things related to reality.

Ⅱ

"I've been working on ink painting for 30 years and my painting techniques and painting materials are closely related to traditional Chinese painting. But my paintings are focusing on contemporary subjects. So I've never thought that traditional painting and contemporary painting can be separated. I pursue the policy of making the past serve the present", Zhu Wei once said in an interview.["Zhu Wei: We Can Only Learn Painting Techniques and the Use of Materials but not Spirit", Song Rui ]

Chinese contemporary art, including contemporary ink painting, has been focusing on the transformation of art language since 1980. And many artists have contributed a lot to this attempt. Indeed, artists have different ideas on the formation of art language and inner logic. For that matter, some artists focus on traditional Chinese art; some focus on the inner logic of art history; some focus on Western modern and post-modern art; some focus on the methodology of art creation. Zhu Wei uses traditional ways to construct the inner logic of his art language, even though he is influenced by deconstructing the nature of works. The paradox is that in the value system of Chinese contemporary art, the contemporary construction of language gives way to the narrative of the society. On the one hand, Chinese contemporary art needs to complete the linguistic turn, that is, in the discourse of "aesthetic modernity", form its own idioms and rhetoric to build a language system which is different from that of Europe and the United States. On the other hand, since 1980, the narrative of the society has become the dominant direction in the wave of "reflection of the Cultural Revolution", "emancipating the mind" and "cultural enlightenment". Thus, aesthetic narrative and sociological narrative are always in the state of game and encouragement, which was fully embodied in the seesaw struggle and confrontation between the purification of language and the need of the times for the soul in the mid-1980s. Of course, the inner reason is that Chinese contemporary art lacks a linear and self-disciplined modernist system that relies on the development of language, and it is based on the context of art history. Due to the innate deficiency, it is impossible to complete the construction of contemporary art system relying solely on language changes or "aesthetic avant-garde". In other words, sociological narrative or "cultural avant-garde" still dominated the value appeal of contemporary art. This feature was reflected most vividly by "political pop" and "cynical realism" in the early 1990s.

Zhu Wei starts to intentionally add sociological expressions to his works such as Comrades Caption (1993), The Story of Beijing (1993) and Sweet Life series (1994) in his 1993-1994 compositions. In Comrades Caption, the objective presentation of the soldier is completely upended while in The Story of Beijing and Sweet Life, "contemporary subjects" are closely represented in a calm way. In fact, the changes in social and cultural circumstances and artistic context in the early 1990s also indicated the changes in the creation of Chinese contemporary art. China undoubtedly became the focus of Europe and the United States after experiencing the changes from 1989 to 1992, especially in the context of the fall of Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In the field of art, the Modern Art Exhibition in 1989 marked the decline of the modern fine arts, because when the early cultural criticism could not find the answer in reality, it naturally meant the decline of the grand and lofty modernist narrative which is full of enlightenment ideas. At that time, it was not by accident that in Zhu Wei's paintings featured soldiers, intellectuals and Chairman Mao, but his creation was always at a certain distance from the wave of "political pop". This sense of distance, on the one hand, was reflected in the expression of the image. "Political pop" mostly used the image processing methods of juxtaposition and borrowing and paid attention to the differences and conflicts between different images in politics, culture, consumption, visual expression and other semantic categories. Zhu Wei would not directly borrow or copy the existing image but would pay more attention to personal and original image expression. On the other hand, it was reflected in the different meaning appeals of the works. "Political Pop" concentrated on Chairman Mao and most involved the figures and various types of images in the period of Cultural Revolution, but Zhu Wei's works involved more intellectuals, soldiers, or ordinary people. For the artist, the image was not the goal since he was more concerned about these people with different classes and identities as well as the change in living conditions or personal values in the rapid social changes in the 1990s. From this perspective, "Political Pop" is closer to the Western post-modern art, such as "New Dada", while Zhu Wei's paintings, despite the humor and satire, diffused a strong taste of realism.

Of course, it was not that Zhu Wei relied on the interpretation of society, but the artist could not avoid social changes and reality in China. For the contemporary art in the 1990s, the criticism of the language alone cannot fully grasp the pulse of the society in that era: it will appear weak in objective reality. In Descended from the Red Flag (1994), Sweet Life (1994), The Square series (1996) and other works, there is no doubt that the images and expressions related to rock and roll, pop culture, and urban consumerism constructed a context of era, but Zhu Wei's expression on the reality was not a "mirror"; on the contrary, in the humorous atmosphere hid a profound and critical perspective. For example, the carnival of rock and roll shows aphasia; the consumer society brings alienation despite the longing of people; the "Square" is lofty but erodes personality. Obviously, Zhu Wei was always a calm observer of the changes the Chinese society. Sometimes, he was also like an "outsider" as he always kept a certain distance from the reality and society and was always vigilant against popular values. In the middle of the 1990s, Zhu Wei finished one of his most important painting—China•China (1997). It depicts Deng Xiaoping, the father of the reform and opening-up policy and one of the founders of China's socialist construction, who has an enormous influence on contemporary China. From this work we can see his reflection on Chinese society.

If one should study Zhu Wei's repertoire of works created after the 1990s, one would fine that the themes would naturally converge into a huge contemporary Chinese social landscape. They point to reality and the spirit with grand and fragmented expression. But the main theme is still the representation of the actual and spiritual situation of people. Utopia series is Zhu Wei's representative work after 2000. In those paintings, conventioneers, though bored, listen respectfully but they have no right to declare their opinions. They are outsiders if they cannot vote. "Utopia" shows a special social class, who are familiar with a political discourse and accustomed to uniform, collective life, and certain rule, but they are categorized and disciplined without personality. If Utopia is a miniature of the Chinese people's political life, then in Box, Sweet Life and other works, audiences saw another secularized survival landscape—micro, daily life which is full of desire. About these works, Zhu Wei said, "I painted my own world and my own experience, and as long as you open your eyes to look at any street in Beijing, read the newspaper, or watch TV, you will find it." In fact, the absurd of the reality and the awkwardness of survival perfectly fit Zhu Wei's painting style which compromises exaggeration, joking and uncoordinated shape.

Ⅲ

After 2000, in a very natural phenomenon, contemporary art began to bid farewell to the trend and movement; much like the time when an artistic trend followed one another that is observed since the 1980s, forming a linear developmental track in artistic movement. This essentially means that the contemporary art since the 1980s, especially the kind of contemporary art (or modern art) that was grandly narrated and had a prerequisite of language in the period of modern fine arts and the kind of cynicism-appealed contemporary art that satirized politics in the 1990s, gradually lost the dependent cultural context and avant-garde. Especially in the irreversible tide of globalization, with the increase in international art exchange and the gradual maturity of the biennial exhibition mechanism, Chinese artists began to face a new problem, that is, what's the characteristics of rhetoric and expression of Chinese contemporary art compared to Western modern and contemporary art and whether Chinese contemporary art have its own idiom, language and pedigree. In addition to the anxiety from the language, Chinese contemporary art needs to eradicate the creative strategies dominated by western standards and postcolonial taste since 1990 and explore new ways for contemporary art.

After the Utopia series, Zhu Wei stops painting for several years. He is, in his own words, very anxious. "I think that ink painting, in its process of development, must stick with tradition, otherwise it will not be ink painting sooner or later", Zhu Wei once said in an interview. In his opinion, "I've been working on ink painting for years and I think I should make some breakthrough. But at last I haven't done anything so meaningful. Then I think there must be some problems with contemporary art—I'm not the only artist who is not creative. Chinese contemporary art is only in the exploration stage. Our main task is to stay active." The work Curtain series in 2008 marked an important transformation of Zhu Wei's creation, which on the one hand was the correction of the previous sociological narrative method and on the other hand was the turn of language, that is, return to the tradition, to look for a new personalized expression.

From the perspective of cultural ecology, the tradition should be "four in one", which is reflected in the implements aspect of physical form, body aspect of practice and communication, institutional aspect of ethics and norm, as well as spiritual aspect of aesthetics and temperament. In Zhu Wei's view, the return to the tradition and learning from the tradition means that the artist should really mine the connotation and spirit behind the traditional schema, language, and style, and build new idiom and rhetoric under the guidance of new ideas and methods. The Curtain series reduced the use of ink and more relied on fine brushwork. The so-called turn of language is showed by dispelling the concrete content so as to get rid of the sociological discourse brought by the image, and in the process of the continuous purification of language, form became purer and simpler, relying on the line to intensify the abstract expression. Of course, what Zhu Wei pursued was not the abstraction in the sense of Western modernism. Western painting in the early stage of modernism emphasizes "meaningful form", and in the heyday stresses the personal and original abstract schema full of elite consciousness. That is to say, the abstract schemas are completely selfdisciplined, and they have nothing to do with nature and reality. However, in the Chinese painting world, the abstraction of the form is essentially the process that the creation subjects go toward the nature and understand objects. And different from the west, the subject and the object are not split nor in binary opposition, but on the contrary, they show the cognitive way of subject's pursuit of reason and insight into the nature. Dating back to the tradition, the "investigate things" and "acquire knowledge" in the Northern Song Dynasty deeply reflected the wisdom of such philosophy and art. In Zhu Wei's art career, his dialogue with the tradition, his learning from the tradition, and his seeking of contemporary transformation of language can be found in his earlier works, including Great Water series created in 2000.

His The Ink and Wash Research Lectures series continued the previous creative idea, but he injected image elements. Image is actually an important source of the significance generation of the work. As can be seen, Zhu Wei was still very tangled on form and content, language and meaning. The root of the problem, as previously stated, existed as early as the mid-1980s when "purify language" and "big soul" confronted. In other words, in the Chinese contemporary art pedigree without modernist tradition, only the concept expression of language is unable to complete the construction of the mansion of meaning. So, in The Ink and Wash Research Lectures series, it is not difficult to understand why Zhu Wei tried to seek for a balance between the form and image, language and meaning. In this series, there are three types of images, of which the most clear is the figure and rockery. In Zhu's paintings, the figures are generally dull, at a loss and they are very similar to each other from their faces to their gestures. It is clear that this is a group of people without personality. The source of these figures is not clear, but from their dress and look, they come from a same social class. Zhu Wei did not clearly explain whether they are the intellectuals or belong to the middle-class. For these works, the artist once said, "Over the past two or three decades, Chinese people's living environment has changed a lot. Many people have experienced jazz, bar, loan, mortgage and the like, but in fact, there is no relief in the ambition, and people have become tired, no longer passionate like the past. It seems that we are all enduring this state. So what I painted is just the state of enduring." Rockery in the sense of image will not be accompanied by clear social information, so, compared with the works of figure, it can more highlight the expressive force of language.

Since 2013, "new ink painting" and "new Gongbi" have been the integral part of Chinese contemporary art movement. But there is no clear definition of "new". However, there must be a frame of reference. It is traditional ink painting and traditional Gongbi. Actually, on mentioning traditional ink painting and traditional Gongbi, we not only refer to art form, art language, but also artistic and cultural system which is already complete after hundreds years' development. From this perspective, "new" things should be considered in the context of art history. How to create "new" art? Whether through language, rhetoric and methodology of art creation or through media, aesthetics and theme? Zhu Wei doesn't care whether his works are "new Gongbi" or "new ink painting". He keeps current art trend at a distance. As for the inner logic of art language, he is seeking for a way to stick with tradition without being fettered by tradition. He wants to make a breakthrough no matter how small it is.

In his work The Ink and Wash Research Lectures, he tried to paint on newspapers but still used the traditional ink-based rendering technique. The newspaper itself carried a variety of information, which was hidden or significant after rendering, so it was integrated into the meaning system of the work. Similarly, rockery can be seen as a symbol of Chinese traditional culture, but in the The Ink and Wash Research Lectures, it is the object of gaze. Rockery, together with the bright red curtain, clearly and directly transmits the unique Chinese visual tastes and cultural characteristics. Because in this series of works, the red curtain, as the carrier of abstract form, is both visual and full of ideology and can also bear the unconscious visual and cultural psychology of contemporary Chinese collective. From this point of view, regardless of figure or rockery, when they appear before the red curtain, the two images and visual meanings are in a state of confrontation. But for Zhu Wei, this image narrative is not important. What is important is that through his paintings people can feel the cultural and aesthetic experience of contemporary Chinese people.

July, 2017

Wangjing Dongyuan

He Guiyan, famous art critic and curator. Graduated from CAFA with a Doctor's degree, he is the professor and director of Art Theory Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.

情景与逻辑：朱伟的绘画历程

何桂彦

I

在中国当代水墨领域，朱伟是一个重要的艺术个案，其作品涉猎多个主题，不仅有清晰的发展脉络与语言轨迹，而且，透过其作品，可以从一个侧面，反映中国当代水墨与工笔绘画，尤其是后89之后的变革与突破。譬如，在1980年代的水墨变革中，艺术家对传统水墨创作范式与审美趣味的颠覆与解构在当时是令人瞩目的；在后89年艺术思潮与1990年代，中国当代绘画创作转向的背景下，朱伟对现实的关注，对鲜活的文化现场的把握，以及对当代人生存境遇与精神状态的表现，不仅拓展了当代工笔绘画介入现实的深度与广度，而且，在视觉表达、审美趣味，尤其是对图像叙事的强调，为当代工笔与水墨艺术的发展带来了新的可能性。2000年以来，朱伟始终坚持与传统对话，以传统为师，在传统中寻求语言的当代转换。在他看来，中国当代水墨与工笔画的出路，一方面，在于尊重传统，重视既有的艺术史上下文，摆脱西方艺术话语带来的影响，建立新的、具有原创性的艺术语汇与修辞方式；另一方面，仍然要重视与现实的关联，要反映和体现当代社会的变迁，及其内在的文化与审美诉求。事实上，在过去三十多年的创作历程中，朱伟始终在历史与现实、传统与当代、系统与个人、文化与语言之间思考，或介入，或疏离，既踌躇满志，也有过彷徨、质疑。当然，这些问题有不同的面向，考虑到历史与社会情景的变迁，对于任何一位艺术家来说，都不是一蹴而就就能解决的。但是，它们的意义，在于形成了一个语境，让我们不仅能看到艺术家个人的绘画线索，而且，发现其内在的艺术逻辑。

朱伟的创作起步于1980年代中后期，从一开始，艺术家就有意识的将个人的创作融入当代水墨所置身的艺术史情景中。简要地看，改革开放以来，当代水墨的发展从一开始就不单纯是一个艺术形态问题，而是一个涉及社会学、文化学，甚至是意识形态的问题。尤其是在1980年代初反思文革，现代化变革，以及西方现代与后现代文化的冲击下，当代水墨的起步与发展便承担着重要的文化使命——对社会主义现实主义的反拨与疏离，对传统水墨的拒绝与解构，对西方现代艺术和后现代艺术语言的接纳与吸收，而且，这些不同的艺术与文化诉求并不是泾渭分明，反而是始终交织在一起的。

     在早期的艺术创作阶段，朱伟就面对1980年代三种当代水墨的变革力量。第一种类型是追求“现代性”的建构，在绘画主题、笔墨语言、审美趣味、创作范式等方面予以现代转换，并赋予“当代性”的文化内涵。这股现代水墨的变革浪潮在1980年代中期曾掀起过一个高潮。第二种方向是走颠覆与解构的道路。表面看，这种艺术思想受到了西方“达达”，以及后现代解构主义思想的影响，但内在的力量，还源于1980年代的“反传统”。在整个1980年代的多种启蒙话语中，在“反传统”方面，基本达成了共识。共识形成了一股合力，在水墨领域，同样衍化成一种鲜明的反叛意识，就是彻底抛弃传统水墨的创作程式与艺术趣味，以实验、解构的态度，探索水墨的新的可能性。第三种倾向是“新文人画”。强调个人的笔墨趣味，以幽默、调侃、戏拟的态度去消解历史与文化的深度，有浓郁的市井气息。“新文人画”仍然有自身的文化局限性，并没有发展成一种具有建设性的艺术力量，但那种故作姿态、刻意的，包括调侃与戏拟的态度，对1990年代初的“玩世现实主义”却产生了影响。

《仿八大》系列是真正的开始，标识着朱伟对1980年代当代水墨变革的诸多问题的回应。虽然当时他还是解放军艺术学院的一名在校学生，但已经以个人化的表达，思考传统水墨在当代文化语境中不可避免的裂变。在这一系列作品中，朱伟对传统笔墨趣味的放弃，从而解放了本体，使其更倾向于一种现代主义意义上的构成。对平面的重视，意味着对传统水墨叙事功能的拒绝，也为1990年代个人的绘画创作走向图像的表达铺平了道路。实际上，不管是西方的现代艺术逻辑，还是在中国当代绘画的语境中，语言的现代性建构的一个重要维度，是回归语言，回归平面。只有解放语言，让其保持独立，才能抵御水墨在过去很长一段历史时期里所负载的叙事功能，抛弃具象语言体系背后裹挟的意识形态话语。通过这一时期的作品，可以看到，朱伟内心更为认同的是，颠覆与重建的水墨当代化之路。同时，那些以日常话语所形成的文字叙述，与其说是考虑画面的视觉构成，毋宁说体现的是艺术家的一种虚无与调侃的态度。笔墨的嬉戏，是否又是对“新文人画”的回应？

如何从语言、形式、叙事性等角度，处理个人绘画与传统之间的关系，探索其间的可能与张力，形成了朱伟绘画1990年代以来一条重要的发展线索。譬如在《北京故事粉本》系列（1991）、《雨夜跑马图》系列（1997）、《大水》（2000）、《中国日记》系列（2001）等多个类型的作品中，艺术家不仅在中国传统的壁画、工笔重彩中吸取养料，而且在语汇与图式上，可以看到韩滉、郭熙、马远、朱耷等诸多大师的身影。对于这些语言、图式，艺术家的目的既不是模仿，也不是后现代意义上的挪用，相反，它们所形成的是一种视觉表征，抑或说是一种提示，表明与传统绘画的视觉机制与观看习惯之间的联系。在《新编花营锦阵》系列（1994）、《赵姐之故事》（1994）等作品中，作品与文革“样板戏”之间在视觉表达上也有着一种关联，形成了互文性。如果说在《雨夜跑马图》、《大水》等作品中，朱伟表现出的是与“老传统”的联系，那么《赵姐之故事》呈现的就是一个“新传统”。亦即是说，艺术家将新中国建立以来，绘画与视觉艺术中那些经过“编码”，赋予了意识形态，并具有中国印记的视觉与图像资源进行拆解，予以重新编码，使其在新的形式结构与叙事话语中呈现出来。当然，就朱伟来说，与传统的交集，最终的目的，仍然是在古与今、传统与当下、历史与现实等形成的情景中进行个人化的表述。从这个角度讲，朱伟的绘画是绕不开叙事性的，最具代表性的作品是1994年创作的《新二刻拍案惊奇》系列。虽然图像与图式仍脱胎于传统，但故事的内容却是当下的，与现实相关的。

II

朱伟在一次访谈中，曾这样描述自己的创作理念，“我画水墨快三十年，使用的材料、技法全部从传统来，和传统有密切的联系。我一直没有脱离开传统，但我描绘的是当下发生的人和事，是正在进行时，也就是人们常说的当代题材。所以我一直没觉得传统和当代是隔离的，古为今用是我画水墨画的理念和创作脉络。”[1]

中国的当代艺术，当然包括当代水墨，从1980年代以来就致力于语言的现代转换，而且，许多艺术家在语言的探索方面做了大量的贡献。从语言的生成与内在逻辑考虑，不同艺术家有不同的路径：有的从传统出发，有的重视艺术史自身的内在逻辑，有的在西方现代或后现代艺术中寻找资源，有的则重视创作的方法论。毫无疑问，朱伟是从传统出发去构建语言的内在逻辑的，尽管一开始就充斥着解构意识。但是，悖论在于，在中国当代艺术的价值体系中，语言的当代性建构远远让位于社会学的叙事。一方面，中国当代艺术需要完成语言学的转向，即在“审美现代性”的话语下，形成自身的语汇与修辞，构建一个有别于欧美的语言体系。另一方面，从1980年代以来，在“反思文革”“解放思想”“文化启蒙”的浪潮中，社会学的叙事成为了主导性的意义方向。尽管美学叙事与社会学叙事都是当代艺术需要解决的问题，但二者始终处于博弈、砥砺的状态。这在1980年代中期，“纯化语言”与“时代需要大灵魂”的拉锯与对抗中体现得尤其突出。更内在的原因，在于中国当代艺术缺乏一个依托语言的发展，以线性的、自律的、立足于艺术史上下文的现代主义体系。正是先天性的不足，导致仅仅依靠语言的变革，或者“美学前卫”无法完成当代艺术意义系统的建构。换言之，社会学叙事，或者“文化前卫”仍将主导当代艺术的价值诉求。这一特点，在1990年代初，以“政治波普”与“玩世现实主义”身上体现得淋漓尽致。

1993年创作的《上尉同志》《北京故事》，1994年的《甜蜜生活》系列，标志着朱伟的作品开始有意识地注入社会学话语。《上尉同志》颠覆了主题性绘画中的军人形象，而《北京故事》《甜蜜生活》则以冷静的、近距离的方式表现朱伟所说的“当下发生的人和事”。事实上，1990年代初，伴随着社会文化情景与艺术语境的转变，也预示着中国当代艺术创作的转向。在经历了1989-1992年的变革，尤其是置身于柏林强的倒塌与苏联解体的国际背景下，中国无疑成为了欧美关注的焦点。就艺术领域而言，1989年的“现代艺术展”标识着“新潮美术”的式微，因为当早期的文化批判无法在现实中找到答案时，自然也意味着此前那种宏大、崇高、充满启蒙意识的现代主义叙事方式的没落。在那一阶段的作品中，朱伟笔下出现了军人、知识分子、毛主席等形象，这并非偶然，但是，其创作始终与“政治波普”所掀起的浪潮保持着一定的距离。这种距离感，一方面体现在图像的表达上。“政治波普”大多采用并置与挪用的方法，重视不同图像之间，在政治、文化、消费、视觉表达等意义范畴形成的差异与冲突；在朱伟的作品中，艺术家不会直接去挪用、复制既有的图像，反而会更重视个人化的、原创性的图像表达。另一方面体现为作品意义诉求的不同。“政治波普”集中在毛主席身上，所涉猎的也大多是“文革”时期的人物与各类图像，但在朱伟的作品中，表现得比较多的是知识分子、军人、或者普通的大众。对于艺术家来说，图像并不是目的，因为他更关注的是，在1990年代急剧的社会变迁中，这些不同阶层、不同身份的人，他们的生存境遇，抑或说个人价值观所发生的变化。从这个角度讲，“政治波普”更接近于西方的“新达达”，而朱伟的绘画，尽管带着幽默与调侃，弥散出的却是浓郁的现实主义意味。

当然，并不是朱伟要倚重社会学的阐释，而是，社会的变迁、鲜活的现实、中国的文化现场令艺术家无法回避。对于1990年代的当代艺术创作，倘若仅仅立足于语言的批判，根本无法把握那个时代的脉动，在现实面前，也会显得孱弱无力。在《红旗下的蛋》（1994）、《甜蜜的生活》（1994）、《广场》系列（1996）等作品中，毫无疑问，与摇滚乐、流行文化、都市消费主义相关的图像与表达为画面构筑了一个时代语境，但是，朱伟对现实的表现却不是“镜像”式的，相反，在诙谐、幽默的氛围中，隐藏着一种深邃与批判的视角。譬如，摇滚乐的话语狂欢，流露出的反而是一种失语；消费社会尽管让人向往，但带来的却是异化；“广场”虽然崇高，但吞噬的却是个性。显然，对当时中国社会呈现出的变化，朱伟始终是一个冷静的观察者。有的时候，又像一个“他者”，因为，他与身边的现实、社会总有一定的距离，对流行的价值观始终保持着警醒。1990年代中期，朱伟有一件重要的作品，名字叫《中国·中国》（1997）。作为中国改革开放的缔造者与新时期社会主义建设的总设计师，邓小平对于当代中国的意义无意是巨大的。这件作品的出现，再一次的反映出，艺术家对当时中国社会境遇的思考。

如果将朱伟1990年代以来的作品集结起来，就会发现，其涉猎的多个题材，自然会汇聚成当代中国的一幅巨大的社会图景。它既指向现实，也反映精神；既有宏大叙事，也有微观的、碎片化的表达。但最为核心之处，仍然是对人——对人的现实处境、精神境遇的言说。《乌托邦》系列是朱伟2000年以来的代表性作品。画面中的与会者尽管百无聊赖，但又必须洗耳恭听；虽然有举手这个环节，但他们却像是局外人。“乌托邦”表现了一个特殊的社会阶层，他们熟悉特定的政治话语，习惯整齐划一，习惯集体生活，习惯某种规则，但是，他们却是类型化的、无个性的、被规训的。如果说《乌托邦》表现的是中国人政治生活的一个缩影，那么在《盒子》《甜蜜的生活》等作品中，观众看到的则是另一种世俗化的生存景观——微观的、日常的、欲望化的生活。对于这批作品，朱伟曾谈道，“我画我自己的世界，我自己的经历，你只要睁眼看看北京的任何一条街，看看报纸，看看电视，就会发现我画的全都是那儿的东西。”事实上，现实的荒诞、生存的别扭与朱伟的绘画风格，即那种夸张的形式，戏谑的手法、不协调的形状是完美契合的。

III

2000年以后，一个非常典型的现象是当代艺术开始告别潮流，告别运动，不再像1980年代以来，一个艺术思潮接着另一个思潮，一个现象接着另一个现象，由此形成线性的发展轨迹。这实质也意味着，1980年代以来，尤其是“新潮美术”时期那种宏大叙事的、语言为先决条件的当代艺术（或者说现代艺术），1990年代那种反讽政治，以犬儒主义为诉求的当代艺术，逐渐失去了自身依存的文化语境和前卫性。尤其是在不可扭转的全球化的浪潮中，伴随着国际艺术交流的增多，加之双年展机制的逐渐成熟，中国艺术家开始面对一个新的问题，即中国当代艺术是否有自己的语汇和语言，和西方现当代艺术比较起来，它的修辞和表述又有什么特点？它有自己的发展谱系吗？除了来自语言方面的焦虑，中国当代艺术需要从1990年以来，那种由西方标准和“后殖民”趣味所支配的创作策略中摆脱出来，探索当代艺术新的意义生成方式。

完成《乌托邦》系列之后，朱伟有几年的时间没有创作新的作品，用他自己的话说，处于一种焦虑的状态。在一次访谈中，他谈道，“这些年画画一直在想的一个问题是水墨画一定得照顾中国两年多年来的传统，只是一个劲儿的往前走就不是水墨了。”在他看来，“我一直觉得水墨画是一个课题，这个课题对我来说是这样的：既然画了水墨，就应该有所突破。但是老觉得画了半天没有太令人激动的贡献。所以我经常老是质疑当代艺术，不是我一个人没有新意，中国当代艺术还是应该以探索为主……保持生命力。”2008年的《帷幕系列》标识着朱伟创作一个重要的转变，一方面是对此前的社会学叙事方法的矫正；另一方面是实现语言的转向，即重新回到传统，寻找一种新的个人化的表达方法。

倘若从文化生态学的角度考虑，传统应是“四位一体”的，它体现在物理形态的器物层面，体现在实践与交往的身体层面，体现在伦理与规范的制度层面，体现在审美与气质的精神层面。在朱伟看来，回归传统，从传统中汲取养料，艺术家应该真正去挖掘传统的图式、语言、风格背后积淀的内涵与精神，在新的观念与方法的指导下，构建新的语汇与修辞。《帷幕系列》减少了水墨的表现性，更多的是倚重工笔重彩的方法。所谓语言的转向，不仅表现为消解了具象性的内容，摆脱了因图像所带来的社会学话语，而且，在不断纯化语言的过程中，形式至纯至减，以线为依托，强化了抽象性的表达。当然，朱伟所追求的，并不是西方现代主义意义上的抽象。西方绘画在早期现代主义阶段，强调的是“有意味的形式”，在鼎盛时期，推崇的是一种个人的、原创的、充满精英意识的抽象图式。亦即是说，抽象的图式完全是自律的，它们与自然、与现实没有任何联系。但是，在中国人的绘画世界里，形式的抽象化，实质是创作主体走向自然、理解客体的过程，与西方不同的是，主体与客体不是分裂的，更不是二元对立，相反，它所体现的是主体追求理性、洞悉自然的本质的一种认知方式。倘若追溯传统，北宋以降，“格物”与“致知”就深切的反映了这种哲学与艺术的智慧。在朱伟个人创作的发展轨迹中，与传统对话，以传统为师，在传统中寻求语言的当代转换，较早的作品也包括2000年创作的《大水》系列。

《水墨研究课徒》系列延续了先前的创作思路，但艺术家又重新为画面注入图像因素。图像实质就是作品意义生成的一个重要来源。看得出，就形式与内容、语言与意义，究竟谁孰轻孰重，朱伟仍然十分纠结。而问题的根源，诚如前文所言，早在1980年代中期“纯化语言”与“大灵魂”的砥砺与对抗中就始终存在了。换言之，在缺乏一个现代主义传统的中国当代艺术谱系中，仅仅依靠语言的观念表达，是无法完成意义这个大厦的建构的。所以，在《水墨研究课徒》系列中，就不难理解，朱伟为什么要在形式与图像，语言与意义之间寻求平衡。在这批作品中，大致出现过三类图像，其中，最为明确的是人物和假山石。在艺术家的笔下，人物普遍目光呆滞，茫然若失，从神情到姿态，都十分相似，很显然，这是一批没有个性特征的人。虽然我们并不知道，这些人物的图像学来源，但从他们的穿着、神情上看，是属于一个社会阶层的。到底是知识分子，还是中产阶级，朱伟并没有明确的交代。对于这批作品，艺术家曾谈道，“我觉得过去了二三十年，中国人的生存环境有了很大变化，每个人身边都多了点儿爵士乐、酒吧，贷款，按揭什么的，但是其实并没有在抱负里解脱出来，人们都变得疲惫了，不像当年那么有激情，也没有当年的爆发力，似乎大家都在忍受这种状态，所以我画的就是一个忍耐的状态。”因为假山石在图像学的意义上不会附带明确的社会信息，所以，与人物类的作品比较，反而更能凸显语言自身的表现力。

2013年以来，中国艺术界曾掀起一波“新水墨”“新工笔”的浪潮。但是，究竟怎么体现这个“新”，艺术界并没有给予明确的界定。不过，既然谈“新水墨”“新工笔”，话语逻辑的背后，必然存在着一个参照系，即传统水墨、传统工笔。事实上，传统水墨，或传统的工笔，不仅仅包括形式与语言，而且涉及整个艺术生态和文化系统。这个系统经过一千多年的发展，已经十分完备。所以，从这个角度讲，所谓的“新”一定要有艺术史的上下文关系，但“新”到底又以何种方式体现出来呢？是语言、修辞方式之新？创作方法论、媒介观念之新？观看方式、审美趣味之新？或者作品的现实指向与文化内涵之新？朱伟对自己的作品是否是“新工笔”或“新水墨”一点也不在意。对于当下的艺术潮流，他也始终保持一定的距离。不过，就语言的内在逻辑方面，他仍然坚持从传统中去寻找，但又不能落入传统的窠臼。哪怕仅仅只是从一个微小的地方入手，如渲染、用色、用纸、造型等，他都希望有所突破。譬如在《水墨研究课徒》中，他尝试在报纸上进行创作，但仍然采用传统的以墨色为底的渲染手法。由于报纸自身负载着各种信息，渲染之后，或隐或显，自然将信息融入到作品的意义系统中。同样，假山石既可以看作是中国传统文化的一个符号，但在《水墨研究课徒》中，它却是一个凝视的对象。与大红色的帷幕一道，鲜明而直接地传递出中国独有的视觉经验与文化经验。因为，在这一系列作品中，红色帷幕——既是视觉的，也充斥着意识形态；既是抽象的形式的载体，也可以负载着当代中国集体无意识的视觉文化心理。从这个角度讲，不管是人物，还是假山上，当它们出现在红色帷幕之前，两种图像、两种视觉意义，就处于一种对抗状态。但对于朱伟来说，重要的不是这种图像叙事的方法，而是，通过这一系列作品，能让人感受到属于当代中国人的文化与审美经验。

2017年7月于望京东园

注释：

[1]  《朱伟：精神不能继承，继承的是技法和材料》，载于99艺术网：宋睿采访朱伟。