Wechat official account platan-art, October 19, 2024

Zhu Wei: Contemporary Ink Painting Needs To Make Concessions, And Only Then Can We Talk About Progress.

Original by Platan-Art

Born in 1966, Zhu Wei was fortunate enough to escape the 'Three Years of Difficulties' twice over half a century. During the era of widespread famine, he narrowly missed the worst of it by being born a few years later; amid the rampant plague, the price of transoceanic tickets soared to 130,000 yuan, forcing him to stay abroad and observe the absurdities and farces unfolding in the Simplified Chinese world with a detached eye. The former, like a rough stone, polished and shaped him into the well-known ink artist he is today, while the latter, served as a reflection, mading him reexamine life, culture, and creation.

"Many things, you don't think about them until you're getting old." This line from Xu Haofeng's film The Master is spoken by an old martial arts master who, after taking a new apprentice to watch a ballet performance, reflects sincerely that if traditional martial arts—treated as a mystical treasure—aren’t modernized, once the Westerners have perfected sports science and technology, the descendants will inevitably be beaten in the ring. After the COVID-19 pandemic, looking back on the past, Zhu Wei now holds a similar view towards the Chinese traditional ink painting that helped him rise to fame in the last century.

"Whether an artwork can become a classic depends on the extent of breakthroughs in content, technique, and medium. As for ink painting, if it wants to go further, in simple terms, for the genre to be widely accepted and popularized around the world, it needs to make compromises in these three areas with contemporary society."

In the era of blogs, Zhu Wei was quite active. An article titled "If He Doesn't Support Artists, Then He Is Not A Gentleman" topped art media Hi Art website’s click rate ranking for three consecutive years. He wrote extensively, including long and short essays, and those published in this art media alone could be compiled into a book. As a member of the post-'89 generation, his other interviews and essays are countless. Art critics have even said that although he lives in seclusion in the city, he still possesses the grace and spirit of a scholar. In recent years, as mobile internet bandwidth expanded, Zhu Wei became more low-key. Today, the profile picture he provides for art catalog publishers is still an old photo from over a decade ago.

At his age, whether it’s oil painting, installations, or video art—whether trendy, fashionable, or emerging—he believes that no matter how far the conversation goes, it always comes back to the same question: Does contemporary art have any real connection to contemporary life? "Contemporary ink painting is not merely ink painting created by people who are living in the present, but ink painting created by artists with a contemporary consciousness, who use their work to express their thoughts."

"The concept of contemporary art also needs to be corrected. When we talk about contemporary art, we often focus on how it is critical, exposes social realities, and highlights dark sides, etc. This is actually a top-down perspective, the result of a shift in viewpoint. Contemporary art is not just about criticism; it’s not that extreme. As an artist, being one of the most ordinary grassroots people, it’s enough to objectively depict what is seen—real and unassumingly, without preconceived assumptions." This reflects his observation on contemporary art both in China and abroad, and it also encapsulates the main motivation behind his recent change in creative practice.

In the discourse of scholar Alfreda Murck, Zhu Wei is famous for frequently using traditional Chinese painting themes to reflect Chinese society and life since the early 1980s, at the start of the Reform and Opening-up. He both explains the ethnic identity represented by Chinese characters, and does not forget to express his thoughts on the structure and reshaping of those fiery revolutionary years. According to Confucian culture and the deeply painful and thoroughly reformed logic of Neo-Confucianism, ink painting was supposed to be used by scholars to cultivate moral clarity, and revolutionary figures were meant to stand firm in their positions. However, this artist, with a personality somewhat reminiscent of Wang Shuo, took a counter-traditional approach, bypassing both and leaving them no way out.

However, the fluctuations in the global economic order, and the changing media environment in the Simplified Chinese world, the revolutionary fervor that once led to breakthroughs in art has now dissipated. The passionate youth who once held a red cloth and played the trumpet in the square have been replaced by a more fashion-conscious generation, who would rather indulge in white upper-class lifestyles at Charleston balls. What was once visible in newspapers, magazines, and even talk shows—social critique—is now only found in the form of various homophonic slang invented by young people on social media to avoid censorship. Using a fake egg can't make a real cake. "Without context, there’s no need to repeat old jokes. Contemporary art, which has lost its relevance, easily devolves into mere seeking out the unusual."

Now, he hopes to capture the common denominator of most cultural backgrounds, or at least, the most universally shared aspect of the human cognitive landscape. He wants to evoke a vague memory in the minds of most viewers, something that might flash through their minds from Wikipedia, news headlines, or the pages of classic art books. Beyond that, "I don't even care much about color. If I pay too much attention to everything, in the end, I still ended up painting ink in a meticulous style." The stark visual change reflects his attempt to diminish the Eastern attributes of ink painting, striving to give it a breadth of image expression comparable to other art forms.

"Oil painting was invented by the Dutch, and fortunately, it wasn’t called 'Dutch painting' or 'Netherland painting,' or it would have seriously hindered its spread and continuation. At the time, various European nations were fighting for their linguistic and cultural independence, and if it were seen as something distinctly Dutch, people's pride would have been immediately triggered, making it hard to popularize in Europe. Ink painting was once called 'Chinese painting,' which introduced an exotic feeling right from the name. For those who didn’t understand it, the cost of understanding was high. Renaming it 'ink painting' only lowered the barrier in name, but its cultural essence still has a gap with the world. The discussions initiated by Wu Guanzhong on 'brush and ink equals zero,' and Li Xiaoshan's 'closed-loop' theory both raised reflections and warnings on this issue."

In 2020, nearly 228 million people worldwide spoke Bengali as their mother tongue, while the number of German speakers was only 75 million. Yet, the comprehensive global influence of German, in various international fields, is undeniably far greater than that of Bengali. Ink painting, in theory, is a shared artistic heritage of 1.4 billion people, yet the cultural values and ideas that support it do not necessarily hold a dominant place in human civilization. Moreover, from as early as ancient Greece, the West have long had prejudices against the East, believing that the formation and development of Eastern societies were inseparable from despotism and water management, and therefore fundamentally different from the Western concepts of equality and rights.

Both "Loyalty and Devotion to the Country" and the "Spirit of Chivalry" have been passed down parallelly for thousands of years. Explaining the difference between "The ambition to feast on the flesh of barbarian invaders"("壮志饥餐胡虏肉", written by Yue Fei, is a war poem for a lost homeland.) and the Aztec ritual of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica is still a considerable challenge. "Cultural differences caused by civilization"—if people don’t understand, they’ll simply stop watching. If they do understand, it might lead to discomfort or even resentment. Letting go of nationalistic obsessions can actually help viewers focus on the core language of ink painting, giving them a reason to appreciate it."

Bringing the out-of-focus photographic painting styles of Bacon and Richter into ink painting further extends Zhu Wei’s "subversive path", as discussed by art critic He Guiyan. The use of blurred imagery allows the work to generate a certain commonality, and the pursuit of meticulous brushwork is no longer the goal. As he himself confesses, this attempt is indeed quite similar to the dilemma faced by painters after the invention of the camera. The blurred use of anti-photography created a new path for German artists, and through the blending of tones, it helped this Chinese artist overturn the table of the original "New Literati Painting".

After thousands of years of accumulation, there are always parts of it that are deeply rooted and difficult to shake. Having invented the technique of aging xuan paper, he admits that the development of ink painting, for a long period of time, was still constrained by the limitations of mounting techniques. "A skilled mounting master can bring a nearly shattered ink painting back to life. If they have a few more tricks up their sleeve, they can even add a few strokes to complete the final touch. If you can’t get an appointment with them, no matter how well the painting is done, it’s only about 60-70% finished. This shows that ink painting still has limitations compared to oil painting, which does not face this issue."

The unshakable "stability" of paper as a medium further highlights the urgent need for "change" in concept and technique. "Otherwise, ink painting will eventually become like cricket in the sports world. The champions, runners-up, and third place are all Indian, passing the baton among themselves, while people from other ethnicities couldn't care less. Reaching this point is not something to be proud of; it just means you’ve been abandoned by the world."

Whenever the future of ink painting is discussed, Zhu Wei always makes a point of citing Persian miniature painting as a comparison. This is because the two share striking similarities: their long history, strong national cultural identity, and complex artistic techniques. He is not sure how the leaders of the Iranian Artists' Association are working, so it is difficult to use Persian miniature painting as a model for reference or conclusions. However, the more open domestic environment, and the growing attention to ink painting, lead him to believe that, before any qualitative transformation occurs, there is still a large space for quantitative change to be filled. "Having been engaged in ink painting creation for many years, I consider myself more as a defender, inheritor, and explorer of traditional painting."

二零二四年十月十九日 微信公众号青桐

朱伟：当代水墨需要让步，再谈进步

青桐Platan原创

生于1966年，相隔半个多世纪，朱伟有幸先后躲过了两次“三年困难时期”。饥饿岁月，靠投胎晚几年只赶上尾声。瘟疫横行，单价涨到13万的跨洋机票，让他不得不滞留异国他乡，冷眼旁观简体中文世界上演的种种滑稽与荒诞。前者形若糙石，磨砺出如今业内广为人知的水墨画家。后者状若倒影，让他重新审视了生活、文化与创作。

“许多事，不老想不起来”，徐浩峰电影《师父》里这句台词，发自一位老盟主带新拳师看完芭蕾舞表演的由衷感慨，说传统武术当成宝贝的玄学若不改进，等西洋人把体育科技研究通顺，子孙后辈上擂台早晚挨打。新冠疫情过后，回首往事，朱伟对助他在上世纪成名的中国传统水墨画，如今也大体秉承类似看法。

“艺术作品能否成为经典，不外乎看内容、技法和媒介存在多大突破。而水墨画想要走得更远，说白了就是作为一个画种被世界接纳广泛普及，需要从这三方面向当代社会做出妥协”。

博客时代，朱伟还算活跃。一篇《没有君子不养艺人》曾连霸“Hi艺术”网站点击率榜首三年之久。仅在该合作机构发表的长短评论，总量便可汇编成册。作为“后八九”一代过来人，其它访谈随笔更是不计其数。以至有艺评家说他虽隐居都市，仍不乏文人风骨。反倒是进入移动端4、5个G带宽的年头，他愈发低调了起来。如今他发布给画册出版方的简历头像，还是十几年前的旧照。

到了这个岁数，无论油画、装置、影像，紧俏、时髦、新兴与否，在他看来，不管聊出多远，都能归结回同一个问题。那就是当代艺术作品在内容上与当代生活，究竟有没有关系。“当代水墨不是当下活着的人画的水墨，而是具有当代意识的水墨画家通过创作表达思考”。

“当代艺术的概念也需要更正，我们往往一聊起当代艺术来就是它如何具有批判性，揭露社会现实，阴暗面等等，其实是一种居高临下的视角，是换位思考的结果。当代艺术不是只具备批判性，没有那么极端。艺术家作为最普通草根百姓中的一员，只要客观的描绘所看到的，真实的，不事先假设的就够了。”这是他对今天国内外当代艺术领域的通识观察，也是近年来转变创作实践的主要动机。

在学者姜斐德论述中，朱伟之所以著名，在于他经常使用中国古代传统绘画题材，来反映自改革开放伊始80年代初以来的中国社会与生活。既阐释方块字民族身份特征，又不忘抒发对火红岁月的结构与重塑。依照儒家文化以及被痛彻心扉、大力改造过的新儒家文化逻辑惯性，水墨画本该让斯文人用以格物明志，刻画革命人物理应乖乖站稳立场。而这位略带王朔性格的画家当年所为，即是从反传统角度抄了二者后路。

然而全球化经济秩序波动与简体中文舆论环境的不断演化，如今早就冲散了彼时颠覆激情所形成的突破力量。曾经红布蒙眼在广场上吹小号的热血青年，被替换成在查尔斯顿舞会体验白人生活的轻奢一代。以往可以在报纸、杂志甚至访谈节目看到听到参与到的社会批判，现在只剩青年人在社交软件为规避审查发明的各路谐音俚语。假鸡蛋做不出真蛋糕，“缺乏语境，就没必要重复老段子。失去当代性的当代艺术，很容易沦为猎奇。”

现在他更希望描摹出大多数文化背景的公约数，或起码是人类认知景观最普世共通的一面。让多数观者脑海里能闪回在维基百科、新闻头条或是名著画册某种依稀记忆。除此之外，“甚至连色彩我都不太在意。处处留心，到最后还是把水墨画成了工笔”。前后迥异的视觉变化，直接反映了他试图弱化水墨画东方属性，使其拥有与其他画种对等图像表现广度的努力。

“油画是荷兰人发明的，幸亏没叫’荷兰画’或者’尼德兰画’，不然肯定严重阻碍它的传播延续。当时欧洲各民族都在为争取自己的语言文化独立奋斗，一听是你们地道老荷兰的东西，人家自尊心立马就上来了，在欧洲都别想普及。水墨以前冠名’中国画’，首先从名称就抛出个异域概念，对不了解它的人来讲理解成本很高。改称’水墨画’这个名字只是听起来降低了门槛，而它背后的文化气质仍旧与世界存在隔阂。吴冠中发起的“笔墨等于零”的讨论，李小山的“闭环”说都对此提出了思考和预警。”

2020年全球有差不多2.28亿人母语为孟加拉语，同期德语母语人口仅7500万，但后者在国际各个领域的综合影响力，无疑与前者已是云泥之别。水墨画理论上来说是属于14亿人的共同艺术遗产，然而背后支撑它的文化价值理念却未必占据人类文明主导。况且早在古希腊时期，西方对东方的认知就存在专制主义偏见，认为东方社会的形成和发展与治水密不可分，因而与西方平等及权利的理念认知完全不同。

“精忠报国”与“骑士精神”各自平行传承了上千年，每当要给对方解释明白“壮志饥餐胡虏肉”与中美洲阿兹特克食人祭祀风俗的区别，仍旧是不小的挑战。“文明造成的差异，人家看不懂，大不了不看了。看懂了，踩雷，对你产生反感，更完蛋。所以放下一些民族性执念，反而更有助于观者直接把注意力投送到水墨画基本语言上，同时相当于给了对方一个静下心来欣赏你的理由”。

将培根与里希特风格的虚焦照相绘画带入水墨，进一步延伸了朱伟在艺术批评家何桂彦论述中“颠覆道路”的范围。模糊的图像可以使作品产生某种共性，严谨细致的笔划，已不再是追求。依他自白所言，如此尝试，实在与照相机发明后画家们的走投无路颇有几分相似。反摄影的模糊运用给德国画家另辟蹊径，从晕染中重塑造型帮这位中国从艺者掀了原先“新文人画”的桌子。

上千年积淀总有树大根深，难以撼动的部分。独创熟宣纸做旧手法至今，他坦言水墨画发展在相当长的一段时间内仍然离不开装裱工艺的制约。“好的装裱师能让一幅行将支离破碎的水墨作品起死回生，如果人家再会那么几招，添上几笔还能画龙点睛。跟人家约不上时间，画得再好只能算完工六七成。光看这一点，我想水墨就起码比油画多了一处发展潜力上的短板。”

纸材地位不可撼动的“稳”，更反衬出立意与技法所需“变”的迫切。“不然水墨画早晚变成体育界的板球。冠亚季军都是印度裔互相击鼓传花，人家其他族裔根本懒得了解。发展到这一步并不值得骄傲，只能说明你被世界抛弃了。”

每当稍谈起水墨画的未来，朱伟总不忘引述波斯细密画作类比。只因两者悠久的存在历史，强烈的民族文化属性以及复杂的绘画工艺，实在过于相似。不清楚伊朗美协相关领导怎样开展工作，也就不太能以细密画为样本进行参照论断。然而国内更加开放的环境与水墨画愈受关注的积极势头，使他相信这一切在发生质变之前，还有很大的量变空间等待填补。“投身水墨画创作多年，其实我更是传统绘画的捍卫者、继承者和探索者。”