Dreaming of an Expedition to the West

Hi Art, July 2007

A crosstalk riff by Guo Degang runs as follow: “Someone spends 200 yuan on a piglet. The piglet is healthy enough to eat and drink if you feed it water and beans. To your surprise, the piglet dies after being thrown over a wall.”  

China’s gang of contemporary artists born in the 1960s has almost entirely been thrown out of the country. Some were thrown out by foreign painting merchants, some by foreign exhibition planners, some by foreign cultural cheats, and some by themselves. Even those with slow responses were thrown out.  

When we started out, there was just one gallery in Wangfujing and several in the Azure Stone Workshop, all of which were state owned and mainly sold picture frames and nails. Shop assistants would nibble away at sunflower seeds from behind the counter. The only major gallery was the National Museum of Art, where retired senior cadres would practice qigong, and shunned artistic exploration. In an art scene like this, one can easily guess the living condition of artists.  

In 1992, a former People’s University student Brian Wallace opened the Red Gate Gallery. It was the only place that conforms to the standards of a gallery, and still operates today. Indeed, the Red Gate celebrated its 15th anniversary last month, with a big crowd of celebrities and much ceremony.  

Brian reminisced what it was like opening the gallery. At that time, the group of artists thrown out of the country had already set up their own spaces. Banners such as “Post-89”, “Political Pop Art”, and “Cynical Realism” were prominently displayed. The group had not died, and some had even yielded fruit. The news of the new gallery spread like the steam from a bamboo steamer of dumplings spreads across surface.   

Chinese people became very conservative during the reform and opening, and became reluctant to accept new or exotic things. People felt, however, that they could accept things that came from overseas. Even those who were too old to adapt to foreign ways came back to each you how to eat Chinese bread with preserved vegetables. At first, everyone thought that this was how foreigners behaved, and thought that copying this behavior was the right thing to do. Soon, though, as time lapsed, people realized that it was in fact abnormal.  

In fact, culture is the last card a state can play if it wants to distinguish itself from the others, especially in an era of global and regional economic integration. Culture cannot and must not be integrated with others, otherwise it would become dull and boring.  

The popularity of contemporary Chinese art in foreign countries is really a way to supplement the Western scene. It is evidence that the game rules are set down by Westerners, especially given the popularity and influence of the Western tradition of oil painting in contemporary Chinese art. .

Over the last couple of decades, those artists from 1985 and 1989 who engaged conscientiously in art and had a sense of cultural responsibility felt increasingly depressed. Dreams of glory were shattered. Just as when we pounded pizza dough in a kitchen at someone’s house, we would be complimented on the great cooking skills of the Chinese. Should you suggest making a Chinese pancake instead, the visitors would become sulky and irritated in a flash.  

In a sense, culture is a dream shared by everyone of one nation or nationality. The dream, sometimes, is intangible, and sometimes attaches itself to human beings of all forms and shapes. You are either lying or squatting while dreaming, but you must feel comfortable in yourself before being able to move others.

I will not make any comment on those who were thrown out of the nation and painted a dream in oils. For those who have made the grade by cheating foreigners with Chinese water and wash paintings are still dreaming. For Xu Bing and Gu Wenda in the 1950s, Wei Dong and me in the 1960s, we see that none came up in the 1970s and 1980s.   

Zhu Wei

Thursday June 21, 2007

西征梦

《Hi艺术》2007年7月号

郭德纲相声：“说花二百块钱买一小猪，??喝水嘎叭嘎叭吃豆，隔墙扔出去，吱的一声，你猜怎么着——死了。”中国当代艺术六十年代出生的这一拨当年差不多都被扔出去过：有的是被外国画商看上扔出去的；有的是被国外策展人选中扔出去的；有的是被外国文化混子忽悠着扔出去的；有的是心一横自己把自己扔出去的。连反应慢的也差不多都出去了。当时国内真没有画廊，王府井好像有一个，琉璃厂有几个，都是国营的，主要买画框和钉子，售货员隔着柜台嗑瓜子玩儿；当时国内真没有美术馆，就一个中国美术馆，那是离休老干部发功的地方，离艺术探索真的远点儿。艺术家的生存状况可想而知。国内第一家真正意义上说符合画廊标准、现在提起来也不丢人的，直到92年才由当时在人大留学的澳大利亚人布朗开了一个，就是现在的红门画廊。上个月红门画廊隆重庆祝成立十五周年，众星云集，布朗回忆说当年开画廊还是受到我和另外两位艺术家的影响。我们听得直发愣。 

布朗画廊开业的时候，被扔出去的这拨艺术家们已经各就各位了。“后八九”、“政治波普”、“玩世现实主义”等等乱七八糟的旗号已经打出来了，有的现在还有影响力。这拨哥们不仅没有死，有的还开了花、结了果，消息还传回国内。就像是在墙这边蒸了锅馒头，热气隔墙又飘了回去。中国人现在因为改革开放弄得都很谦虚，对国外来的东西很愿意吸收，给酒就喝、给饼子就吃、给电影就看，就连比我们老的在外面混不动的，也都回来指指点点：你这样不好，那样不对，窝头得这样吃，榨菜得那样咽。大家伙儿以为国外也是这样，信了，有的还照着改。时间长了才发现不对劲。 

文化其实是一个国家区别于另外一个国家，或一个民族区别于另外一个民族的最后一张王牌，特别是现在全球经济一体化、区域经济一体化的时代。唯独文化是不能一体化的，不然大家吃饱喝足后看一样的东西还真没什么劲。中国当代艺术之所以在国外受欢迎，其实更多意义上是对西方艺术的一种补充，是对西方人制定的游戏规则的一种验证，再一次说明诞生于西方的油画，它的普及性有多么强，影响力有多么大。这是西方人在中国做的一场梦，不是我们的东西真好。中国本身的文化和生存价值，并没有被认可，也没传播出去。几十年下来，不管前卫、后卫，“85”还是“89”，认真做艺术的、有点儿文化使命感的，心中多少还是有点失落，不管嘴上多硬，他们的梦其实是破灭了。就像我们到别人家去做客，你用自己带来的面粉和鸡蛋，用人家的锅碗瓢勺做了个披萨，人家吃着一致说好，夸你了不起，说中国人的手艺还真不错，Great！你说我再给你们摊个煎饼，众人当时就把脸拉下来了。 

文化其实是一个国家或一个民族大家一起做的梦。这个梦有的时候看不见摸不着，有的时候又通过种种形式附体。这个梦，无论是你躺着做，还是蹲着做，首先自己得觉着舒服，心领神会，然后才能感动别人。 

当年被扔出去的这拨、拿油画做梦的，我就不再说了，拿中国水墨画出去蒙老外、混得不错、并且还在做梦的，五十年代有徐冰、谷文达，六十年代有我和魏东，七十和八十年代的，没有。

 ——朱伟

2007年6月21日星期四