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The
Strait Times
Friday,
October 20, 2000
Silent
Protest - Blank faces that can say so much
Photos
Illustrations:
Left
above: PURBLE BREATH FROM THE EAST No.3: (ink and colour on paper) A
giant sleeps, while the ordinary man awaits his awakening.
Left:
GREAT WATER NO.1: (above, ink and colour on paper) In this painting the
sea is empty, a metaphor for the human world. It also suggests a
contemporary interpretation of a traditional landscape.
Middle:
SOUTH SEA NO.4:( ink and colour on paper) A fish swimming in air; nature
as a metaphor for reality.
Right:
SUNFLOWERS NO.50: (ink and colour on paper) Faces here are likened to
flowers which turn themselves constantly to face the sun. The background
flowers take us back to the traditional paintings from which Zhu’s
technique has evolved.
Soulless
eyes cast towards the sky, Zhu Wei's recurrent figures are modern
terracotta warriors tinged with enigma, irony and humour
ZHU
WEI DIARY, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Until Oct 29
By
SIANE . JAY
YOU
would expect the work of one of China's leading contemporary artists to
dynamic. Zhu Wei's work certainly that, but it is astonishingly personal
young man who was born on the eve of the Cultural Revolution in 1966,
and who grew up in a country where the individual second to the needs of
the group.
This
collection of paintings and lithographs are indeed, as the title of the
show suggests, a diary, a visual narrative that takes the place of
verbal protest.
The
artist chooses to remain silent on what he thinks and feels and it is
for the viewer to read the thoughts and messages contained within Zhu's
imagery.
He
observes and records in his paintings what he sees, reflections of his
inner thoughts.
As
one gazes upon the figures which are repeated over and over again in so
many of his works, the sameness and solidity, and perhaps a hint of
soul-less-ness, is hinted at in their stance, suggesting that they are
every man and no man. They might almost be the artist himself. He,
however, remains silent on this issue, as silent and solid as the
figures he portrays.
Many
of these "soulless" figures have their eyes raised to the sky.
Does this symbolise that there is hope as the artist claims? Or do they
simply avert their eyes to avoid facing reality?
The
opaque, almost invisible quality of these generalised portrayals of the
Chinese people suggests an invisible quality, a subconscious suggestion
that they might just as wall not be there.
This
implied quality is belied by the imaginative use of traditional
techniques. The firm use of outlining asserts their existence, and the
background texture that evokes old silk surfaces, shows through their
fleshless faces. But it also creates dimension, lifting the figures off
the traditional flat plane of the painting's surface.
By
so doing, Zhu gives existence and meaning to the lives of the faceless
masses. He proclaims through his work that they do have an existence.
Having
given substance to the lives of the people he portrays, the artist has
taken is work a step further. He now create fibreglass sculptures,
often monumental in scale, giving further substance to the people he
celebrates in his paintings.
He
places them in modern dress, but he draws his imagery from ancient
sources to make his point about modern Chinese history; they are the
modern terracotta army, their faces gazing upwards.
Except they have no faces to know what it is they see.
Zhu's
work is extraordinary, and stands out starkly against so much of the
vacuous, meaningless contemporary work that is now so often peddled from
China to the West. If his paintings do imply a certain anger at the way
things are, it is always tinged with irony and humour, and if he does
make a political observation, he does it with a modicum of courtesy.
He
retains a sense of pride in being Chinese, and sees the inherent beauty
that lies just below the surface. After all, how could one enjoy his
paintings, or want to read his diary if he did not?
新加坡《海峡时报》2000年10月20日，星期五
图片说明：
左上：《紫气东来3号》（水墨设色纸本）。一个巨人睡着了，一个凡人在等待他的清醒。
左：《大水1号》（水墨设色纸本）。海是空的，象征着人类世界，也是对传统风景的当代诠释。
中：《南海4号》（水墨设色纸本）。在空气中游泳的鱼，自然是对现实的隐喻。
右：《向日葵50号》（水墨设色纸本）。这儿的脸就像向日葵般追随太阳。背景中的花把我们带回到孕育出朱伟的技法的传统绘画中。
无表情的面孔述说的故事
作者SIANE
. JAY
无神的眼睛盯着天空，朱伟最近的作品像秦俑般，充满了不可思议、讽刺和幽默
你也许正在期待中国顶尖的当代艺术家的激动人心的作品。朱伟的作品无疑属于此列。这个令人不可思议的年轻人出生在文化大革命期间的1966年，成长在一个视集体重于个人的国家中。
展出的绘画和石版画确如展览名称所示，是一个日记，然而视觉的叙述却取代了言语的阐述。
艺术家对自己的想法和感觉保持沉默，当观者尝试阅读朱伟创作的形象中隐含的思想和信息时，他把选择权留给了观众。
他观察并记录了他所看到的、思考的。
当人们看到在他的作品中被不断重复的形象时，那种千篇一律性和坚固性，也许正象征着空虚，他们的姿态，表明了他们是每个人，也不是任何一个人。他们也许是艺术家本人。而他，对这个话题仍保持沉默，正如他描绘的肖像一样，沉默、坚固。
许多这些“空虚的”形象把视线投向天空，这是否表示艺术家主张的希望？或者，他们只是转移视线，逃避现实？
这种不确定性，几乎可以说是看不见的品质，如这些没有特征的中国人的肖像下意识里所暗示的，这些人也许并不在那里。
作品蕴含的品质被传统技法加以创造的应用而凸显。对线条的强调显示了他们的存在，背景中的纹理唤醒了我们对古老绢画的记忆，纹理穿透人们消瘦的脸庞。但是，立体感仍然存在，人物形象从传统绘画的平面中凸现出来。
如此一来，朱伟赋予没有脸孔的大众以存在感与意义。他透过他的作品宣布他们是存在的。
除了通过肖像给人的生命以存在感以外，艺术家又更进了一步，现在他开始创作玻璃钢雕塑，有不朽的体格，给画作中他关注的人更多的实在性。
他让他们穿上现代服装，但他们的形象源于中国古代，展示艺术家对现代中国历史的观点；他们是现代的秦俑，他们脸朝向上方，只不过他们根本就没有面孔来知道他们到底在看什么。
朱伟的作品是卓越非凡的，与其他许多现在从中国贩卖到西方的空虚、无意义的当代作品恰恰相反。假如他的画作的确有暗示某种程度的愤怒的话，那也是讽刺和幽默的，假如他有某种程度的考量的话，他还带着一点点的礼貌。
他保留着作为中国人的骄傲，看到了表象之下的内在美。毕竟，如果不是这样的话，人们怎么会喜欢他的画，或者阅读他的日记呢？
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