Artist Zhu Wei             Indigenous Art is at risk

Picture on p.69:

above: Vernal Equinox No.3; Left: New Pictures of the Strikingly Bizarre No.2; right: Woodblock No18

"According to the aftermath today, the art from contemporary China is falling behind.  You cannot distinguish its motivation and starting point because it is just a copy of Western art.  When others have come with originality and become the “first”, can you still be the “second”?  Eventually, it is just a copy, trying hard to follow. "

Southern People Weekly Reporter Li Zong Tao, reported from Beijing

When talking about his solo exhibition from 23 November to 6 December in Hong Kong, Zhu Wei was not thrilled because it was another example about “Who is manipulating Chinese contemporary art”. 

Zhu Wei’s studio is located at Pingod area, right next to Today Art Museum.  From his studio, I (the reporter) could see Zhu’s famous portrait of Deng Xiaoping which has appeared on Time magazine, and the Diary of the Sleepwalker which was inspired by Tian Gong Kai Wu/ Heavenly Creation, and etc. Ever since the beginning of his career, the artist has been using xuan paper and brush to paint the fine-brush paintings (gong-bi hua). 

“If art has lost its attraction, the problem lies on the artist.  From the aspect of technique, modern artists cannot beat their predecessors because there are too much temptation and distraction; too little time for immersion and practice.  In terms of content, artists today do not return to the essence of mankind and hence, lose the ability of employing the power of humanity to paint.”  Works from Bada Shenren, Shi Tao, Gong Xian which exude an attitude of rebellion and retreat are thus, the long-term meditating source for the artist.   

Learning from Bada Shenren

Bada is Zhu Wei’s favorite artist.  No matter it is for his composition or emotion, Bada influences Zhu Wei a great deal, such as Bada’s signature fish eye created by a big white circle and an ink dot within.  In Bada’s “Fish and duck hand scroll” (1689) and Zhu Wei’s “Beijing Story” (1993), they both reflect the “bai yan” (literally translated as white eye -- Chinese word for despite) among the crowd and the fish.  Perhaps it is natural for the fish to look up, or at one side, or stare at the outer area, so that they could find their direction.  Yet, how about human being?  Situated in an ever-changing world full of disasters, fear, dangers… the future is unknown and life is uncertain.  All the emotions: powerlessness and hopelessness, anger, dullness, and helplessness are all the reasons for a person to despise.         

In “Square 9”, there is an inscription of the lyrics by the Rock singer-- Cui Jian on the position where a conventional inscription used to be placed in a traditional ink painting.  Once named as a punk painter himself, Zhu Wei has a close relationship with rock music and independent films.  In 1995, he painted a 19 meters stage curtain for Cui Jian and his band to go on a tour.    

The final painting in the well-known Utopia series is about 7x8m, which is the largest ink painting today.   

Earlier on, the artist has painted a monochromatic painting, but thought it was not good enough.  It was until 2 years later that he transformed it into a sculpture.  “The result was excellent.  I did not make sculpture for the sake of it, but since the original idea was unsolvable in 2-D, I tried 3-D instead.”  This set of two forward-inclining chunky figures dressed in Zongshen suit is in fact the “China China”  that the IBM company has bought with an enormous amount from Zhu Wei’s solo show in New York during 2003. 

Having experienced trends like  “Post 89”, “Political Pop”, “Cynical realism”, “Bopi”, contemporary art shows weariness due to the lack of nutrition from local elements.  Sophisticated artists are also beginning to avoid these vulgar labels.   

After years of painting, is there an improvement?  “It takes one’s effort to master ink painting and I feel my skill has matured.” answered Zhu Wei.

When is your best condition in painting? “When I am innocent and fearless.” the artist replied.  

Critics are annoying

“Critics now, dare not touch on ink paintings.  To them, it seems unreasonable to put it together with contemporary art.  They think ink is nothing contemporary!  So, they cannot comment; no comment on ink painting means it is not included in the game.  This is so unfair.” 

“Critics are supposed to have an alerting function to the creation of art.  But it is a trend for people to take the convenient path by making easy statement now.  It is as if when someone grows a boil on his forehead and you do not warn him when you see it.  But only until that the boil is about to fester, then you say ‘Oh no!  Your boil is about to fester—you really got to be cautious… ha ha ha…’ What good does it do?” 

When auction houses simply “cough” a little nowadays, galleries and wealthy businessmen all quickly shift to oil paintings.  Opportunistic investors who have a keen eye would evaluate an artwork by its medium first.  If it happens to be an oil painting, they would recognize its value.  But if the work is a piece of ink and color on xuan paper, they would just shake their head.  “That is to say it is only after the Westerners have approved your work, then you could be popular.”  And so Zhu Wei admitted, “I do not have one painting that has such ‘selling point’.”  And so he missed the old times when people overthrew landlords; when people searched for a title deed and rolls of ink paintings out of someone’s house. 

Recently, the enrollment of the Academy of Art also indicates the decadence of ink painting.  Whilst the quota for traditional ink painting only allows 3-4 students but the application is still so few, hundreds of people pack into the oil painting department.  Zhu Wei said “ I used to only feel that my art was mistaken because of its technique, but now, I feel the whole medium is becoming inferior.  Ink painting is getting less attention and it seems that we are admitting to ourselves that our indigenous elements are less superior.  In this case, are we not hindering ourselves?”  

Zhu Wei said that he valued an artist who has the ability to provide a direction for others to move forward.  “According to the aftermath today, the art from contemporary China is falling behind.  You cannot distinguish its motivation and starting point because it is just a copy of Western art.  When others have come with originality and become the “first”, can you still be the “second”?  Eventually, it is just a copy, trying hard to follow.” 

From his eyes, Chinese contemporary art history seems to be a succession of movements embracing foreign art.  “Those who are truly benefit from this process are limited but most will simply compromise. Eventually, the forms of indigenous art will soon disappear.  Among all kinds of exhibitions where Western art plays as the mainstream, the fact that Chinese contemporary art exists as an entertainment still remains unchanged.”  

朱伟　本土艺术很危险      

"从结果来看，中国现在的艺术是落后的，你无法判断它的动机和出发点，因为都是西方艺术的翻版。别人做出“一”，你能做出“二”吗？最后只是翻版，硬着头皮接轨" 

本刊记者 李宗陶 发自北京  

说起11月23日－12月6日在香港的个展，朱伟没精打采，因为它是“谁在操纵中国当代艺术”的又一例明证。 

朱伟的工作室在今日美术馆旁的苹果社区。在那里，记者看到著名的上过美国《时代》周刊的邓小平画像（1997），以及取材于《天工开物》以线为主的《梦游手记二十五号》（1998），等等。他一直用宣纸和毛笔，画工笔画。 

“如果艺术失去吸引力，问题出在艺术家身上。从技术上讲，现代画家的技术不如古人，因为诱惑多，太分心，浸淫、把玩得少；从内容上讲，今天的艺术家没有回到人，不能以人格的力量来作画。”八大山人、石涛、龚贤画中流露的叛逆又隐退的姿态，都是他长期默诵于心的精神源头。 

向八大山人学习 

八大是朱伟最喜欢的画家，无论其构图还是情感，都对他产生过很深的影响，譬如大白圈中那一点墨的鱼眼睛。比较八大的《鱼鸭图卷》（1689）和朱伟的《北京故事》（1993），能明显发现人群和鱼群持同样的“白眼”——向上看，向一边看，向眼角外看——鱼大约天生如此，好认路往前游；人呢？处在变动剧烈的世界，灾难、恐惧、危险……前途，一无所知；命运，毫无把握。无可奈何，无名怒火，无精打采，无依无助……所有这些情绪，均可付诸一个白眼。 

《广场九号》，在水墨画本该题款的位置上，是摇滚歌手崔健的歌词。朱伟曾被称为朋克画家，他跟摇滚乐、地下电影都曾亲近。1995年，他为崔健乐队画了一块19米的幕布，乐队带着去巡演。 

著名的《乌托邦》系列的最后一张，约7米×8米，是迄今最大的一张中国水墨画。 

早年他画过一张单色画，觉得不好看。过了两年多，改成雕塑，“效果真的很好。我不是为做雕塑而做，而是这个主意平面解决不了，才用三维。”那两个倾斜站着的中山装小胖子，就是2003年朱伟纽约个展上被 IBM公司高价买走的《中国 中国》。 

经历了“后八九”、“政治波普”、“玩世现实主义”、“泼皮”等等潮流，当代艺术因缺乏本土因素的滋养尽显疲态，成熟的艺术家开始尽量回避这些越来越群氓的标签。 

画了这么多年，有进步吗？“水墨画需要功夫，我自觉功力见长。”朱伟说。 

状态最好是什么时候？“无知无畏的时候。”  

批评家很讨厌 

“现在，批评家对当代水墨画的态度是不敢碰。水墨跟当代搁一块儿，怎么着都别扭。在他们看来，水墨本身就不当代!所以他们没法说，不说，谁说不带谁玩。这是很不公平的。 

“本该对艺术创作起到警醒作用的批评家们，现在流行的是顺坡下驴，说便宜话。比方你头上长包时他不说，非得等到流脓了，他才说，‘哎呀，这包化脓了，你得注意啊，哈哈哈。’这有什么用？” 

现在，拍卖行一咳嗽，画廊和富商全奔油画去。有眼力的炒家面对一幅作品，先看材料，画布上的油彩，认；宣纸上的彩墨，摇头。“也就是说，惟有西方人认可，你才能红。”于是朱伟也认了：“我没有一幅画有卖相。”于是他怀念起那个打倒地主老财、从人家里抄出地契账本以及一卷一卷一轴一轴水墨画的年代。 

近年美院的招生指标也可见水墨衰落之一斑。每年传统水墨专业只招3－4人，报考的没几个，而油画专业几百人挤得打破头。朱伟说：“我原先只在技术上委屈，现在我在整体上都自卑，水墨画越来越势单力薄，这等于咱们自己说，本土的确是不灵，这不是自己把自己给耽误了么？” 

朱伟说他更看重一个艺术家提供线索的能力，就是说他能让其他人接着往下走。 

“从结果来看，中国现在的艺术是落后的，你无法判断它的动机和出发点，因为都是西方艺术的翻版。中国现在追这个追那个，没明白人家是怎么想的，那都是瞎追，别人做出‘一’，你能做出‘二’吗？最后只是翻版，硬着头皮接轨。” 

在他眼里，中国当代艺术史仿佛是一个又一个拥抱国外艺术的运动史，“真正通过运动受益的人总是少数，大部分人会妥协，本土艺术样式则会消失。在以西方艺术为主流的各种展览中，中国当代艺术作为一个乐子而存在的处境，并没有改变。”