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Modern
Weekly
April 29, 2006
About
an Old Art School Punk
Interview/words:
Jian Cui
Photo: Liu Yiwei
Pictures:
Left:
the non-political reading of Zhu Wei: the Beijinger who was born in 1966
just made it thewaves
of the Cultural Revolution, he says that it is so difficult to divorce
himself from politics, after all it’s the history of all Chinese. Zhu
Wei joined the army in 1982, and had become a traditional Chinese ink
and color painter ever since. After being released from military service
in the early 90s he studied art in the Beijing Film Academy, and founded
his own studio near the Peking University soon after graduation. Zhu
Wei’s art categories include ink and color, print, and sculpture, the
series <Utopia> is his magnum opus. In April 2006, the artist who
had been "selling" his paintings only at overseas, because of
some historical reasons, finally opened his first solo exhibition in
Mainland China in Beijing’s Red Gate Gallery. Zhu Wei says this is
owing to a promise he made 12 years ago...
Right:
Utopia No.46, 2004, 120´120cm,
ink and color on paper, signed Zhu Wei, with five seals of
the artist.
The
Heavenly Maiden No.12, 2003, 65´65cm,
ink and color on paper, signed Zhu Wei, with twelve seals of the artist.
Sketch
No.1, color draft, 2001, 93´77cm,
ink and color on paper, signed Zhu Wei, with eight seals of the artist.
At
the very beginning of the interview, I asked Zhu Wei what kind of person
he was? He said: "I am a Beijinger, I’m one of those most common
Beijingers." The answer is too punk, I think.
Zhu
Wei is an absolute artist, his personality, his works, and his first
shaking your hands, all draw your entire attention on him. For the years
there have been few stories on him in the domestic media, all because of
an indenture he signed to "sell himself" more than a decade
ago. "At the time the gallery I signed to was the most professional
and normal one I’ve ever seen. But there was one problem, which the
foreigners didn’t expect that so quickly China had developed a market
of its own, therefore, they never promoted me in my own country. As a
Chinese artist, I was so disappointed." Whereupon after the
contract had terminated last year, Zhu Wei staged this show in such a
short time.
As a matter of fact Zhu Wei knew Brian, the boss of the Red Gate Gallery, from long ago, when Brian was keen to represent Zhu Wei, but lacked business strength. Now Zhu Wei is back to a free artist, naturally it’s time to realize his words of a dozen years. After struggled in the international market for over 10 years, Zhu Wei has a hell lot of understanding of how great the Chinese traditional painting is. There was an American art evaluator said that his painting was more like an installation work, because the complex mounting art an ink and color painting requires. Despite that the Japanese has invented a mounting machine with which a painting can be mounted in five minutes, Zhu Wei sticks with the most traditional handcraft. "It takes at least two days for a mounting master to do the job." The forty-year-old is a very traditional man, he even makes painting papers by himself. Though the procedures are confidential, if you examine them carefully, you can still find out the arcanum. For instance in his Utopia series, the meticulous flower basket drew on Li Song’s brushstrokes, combined the Song Dynasty techniques with the modern symbol - face. This is a connotative way of expression that only the Chinese has.
It is written in Jacques Attali’s <Noise: The Political Economy of Music>: "art, before commercial exchanges, had already created political order, because it was a subordinate form of sacrifice." Zhu Wei’s description of such topic is rather simple. He says being in a political environment, he only paints but doesn’t criticize. All of the stuff about him a political artist is from the outside world, he himself is only an "old Beijing punk who can paint." About those images in his works, Zhu Wei says they’re all simulacrum, and from the materials he photographs ordinarily. "The figures appear in my paintings must be most common Chinese people, what I see in my real life is also images of people in the bottom. So I paint what I see, they don’t have smiles. As an artist, if I could only paint peace and prosperity, I would feel my career was insignificant."
Q: How does having served in the army influence you?
A: 10 years in the army, I think being a soldier, compare with other professions, the biggest influence on me is that I’m happy for the freedom I have now at any minute. Because I can do whatever I want without having to ask for a leave, and I can sleep at when I want to sleep.
Q: If you started a rock band, what role would you want to play?
A: For sure I would be the one who shows his face most, because only the most eye-catching role will have a future.
Q: Do you watch the CCTV Prime Time News everyday?
A: I do. Actually my life style is rather quiet, I think I can’t have any so-called "artist" behavior. I’m practicing self-control, those random and improvisational acts aren’t allowed. Because if I wanted to be a romantic and vagarious artist, if passion suddenly came in the middle of the night, then how could other people sleep? So one need to learn to control his mood, and be rational.
Q: Ink and color or print, which one more likely makes you in?
A: Ink and color. It is mainly because this antiquated art carries a lot of heritage and connotation, so it’s more difficult, since there are many frames restrain you, you must devote yourself into it.
Q: Now what would you paint for?
A: Frankly, I don’t have much passion anymore. The latest driven force is the possibility of staging shows on the Mainland, and I feel I can finally show my friends with my works. Before they all didn’t know what I was, in their impressions I was just a charlatan. Now finally I can prove myself.
《周末画报》2006年4月29 日刊
一个会画画的北京老朋克
采访/撰文：健崔 摄影：刘一纬
图片说明：
左图：朱伟的非政治阅读：生于1966年的北京人朱伟赶上了文革最后的风波，他说把自己脱离于政治之外是很难的，毕竟这是所有中国人的历史。朱伟1982年参军，之后一直在军中画传统水墨画。在上世纪90年代初退役后，他进入北京电影学院学习美术，毕业后在北大附近建立了工作室，一直进行艺术创作。朱伟所涉及的范围包括了水墨画、版画和雕塑，他的《乌托邦》系列成为代表作。2006年4月，由于历史原因一直在海外"卖画"的他终于在北京红门画廊布置了自己第一个国内个展，朱伟说这是为了一个12年前的约定......
右图：乌托邦46号 2004年 120cm X 120cm 水墨设色纸本，朱伟签名，艺术家印章5枚
天女散花12号 2003年 65cm X 65cm 水墨设色纸本，朱伟签名，艺术家印章12枚
无题1号.彩色稿 2001年 93cm X 77cm 水墨设色纸本，朱伟签名，艺术家印章8枚
采访的开始，我问朱伟是一个什么样的人?他说："我是一个北京人，我就是一个最常见的北京人。"我认为，这个回答太朋克了。
朱伟是一位绝对的艺术家，他的性格、作品以及和你的第一次握手，都可以让人把所有注意力都集中在他身上。这些年，国内对他的报道屈指可数，这都是因为在十几年前的一纸"卖身契"。"当时签我的那家画廊是我见过最专业和正规的，但是有一个问题，老外们没有预料到中国如此飞速地有了自己的市场，他们不来这边做宣传，作为一个中国画家，我对此很失望。"于是在去年结束了合同之后，朱伟便如此匆匆地办了这样一个展览。
其实朱伟早就认识红门画廊的老板Brown，当时Brown很想和他合作，但是实力不济。如今朱伟重获自由之身，自然要回来履行12年前的诺言。在国际上闯荡了十多年，朱伟深感中国传统绘画的伟大。曾经有一位美国艺术评价家说他的画更像是一个装置作品，那是因为水墨画的复杂装裱工艺。虽然现在日本人发明了5分钟立等可取的装裱机，但是朱伟还是使用最传统的手工工艺。"一个老师傅裱画，最少要两天时间。"今年正好40岁的朱伟是一个很传统的人，他甚至亲手加工画纸，虽然步骤保密，但是如果细心观察，你就会发现其中的奥妙。比如在《乌托邦》系列中，工笔花篮借鉴了李嵩的画法，把宋代的技法和现代的符号——脸结合在一起，这是一种中国人才有的含蓄的表达方式。
贾克.阿达利在《噪音：音乐的政治经济学》中写到："艺术品在所有商业交易之先，就已经创造了政治秩序，因为它是牺牲的一种次要形式。"朱伟对于此类话题的描述很简单，他说自己身在政治环境中，但画而不论，一切关于他是一个政治画家的说法都来自外界，他说自己只是一个"会画画的北京老朋克"。而那些出现在他怍品中的形象，朱伟说全是编造的，他们来自平时的拍摄素材。"我的作品中出现的必须是最普通的中国人，我平时看到的也都是底层人民的形象，所以我画的必然是这些人，他们没有笑容。如果我作为艺术家，要画那些歌舞升平的场面，我觉得我的职业意义也就没有了。"
Q：参军对你个人有什么影响？
A：入伍10年，我觉得做军人和其它行业相比，最大的影响是可以为今天每时每刻的自由而高兴。因为我终于可以做什么事都不用请假，也可以在想睡觉的时候再睡觉。
Q：如果你组一个摇滚乐队，你会选择什么角色？
A：我肯定是去那个最露脸的，因为只有最抢眼的角色才能混出来。
Q：你平时会看新闻联播吗？
A：看。其实我的生活方式是非常平静的，我想我不能有任何所谓"艺术家"的行为。我在练习控制自己，那些随意的、即兴的举动是不允许的。因为我要是想做一个浪漫又异想天开艺术家，如果在半夜来激情了，那周围的人还怎么睡觉呀，所以要学会控制情绪，多做理性的行为。
Q：水墨画和版画，哪种创作能让你更有一种入境的感觉？
A：水墨画。主要是这种古老的艺术有很多传承的内涵，于是它的难度很高，因为有很多框架在约束你，你必须走进去。
Q：现在你会为了什么而画画？
A：说实话，没什么激情了。最近的动力是可以在国内做展览，我觉得我终于可以给朋友们看看我的作品了，以前他们都不知道我是干嘛，印象里我就是一个混子，现在总算可以证明了。
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