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The Williams Record, the independent student newspaper of Williams College, April 14th 2010
Chinese artists trace social legacies across eras
Category: Arts
By Jenny Tang - Staff Writer
Published April 14, 2010
“From the beginning, I have been trying to show how to modernize the past,” says artist Zhu Wei the description of his work on the museum wall. Contemporary Chinese art is ineluctably rooted in political and ideological considerations - national identity and the Chinese state are inherently intertwined. In such a closely scrutinized Chinese society, then, what cultural role can the artist play? In Tradition and Transition: Recent Chinese Art from the Collection, the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) showcases recently donated work of 11 contemporary Chinese artists who have creatively re-imagined their country’s artistic canon. The artists represented here consider how traditional Chinese art can remain relevant in a rapidly changing culture, while also acknowledging many of its limitations.
Tradition and Transition is organized without a specific timeline or narrative; there is no overarching theme that these artists are meant to exemplify. Organized by Elizabeth Gallerani, coordinator of Mellon Academic Programs, along with Rong Zhao and Patrick Rhine, art history graduate students at the College, this exhibition astutely shies away from imposing a comprehensive vision of contemporary Chinese art or its style. The 11 artists represent a vast range of ages and birthplaces. The oldest was born in 1902; the youngest in 1977. These artists come from urban centers like Beijing and Shanghai as well as small towns like Maopo village in the Guangdong province. With this exhibit, the curators demonstrate how a geographically and generationally varied group of artists can grapple with the same political and social issues and artistic legacy.
The notion of history is very prescient in Tradition and Transition. The curators begin with a basic historical context, but in other respects, allow the work and the individuality of each artist’s experience to speak for themselves. In one way or another, all the artists here have drawn influence from the Cultural Revolution, begun in 1966 by Chairman Mao Zedong, which forced millions to move from urban to rural areas for “re-education.” The Revolution condemned traditional art as feudal and foreign art as bourgeois, and the state replaced them with Soviet-inspired social realism. In 1976, the death of Mao brought the rise of Deng Xiaoping, who radically changed China’s economic policies and allowed a freer, hybrid style of art that combined Western and traditional Chinese influences.
Zhu Wei’s “China Diary, No. 52” (2001), is based on a famous Chinese animal painting from the Tang dynasty, Han Huang’s “Five Oxen.” Wei uses xuan paper (a soft-textured paper often used for calligraphy) and fine brush technique from traditional ink painting, a choice he explains on a plaque appearing next to his work: “I have always tried to use traditional Chinese elements because we have thousands of years of history.” “China Diary” preserves the expressive, almost human eyes of the original oxen, but has recreated it on a much vaster scale. It is almost as if Wei is asking us to take a closer, magnified look at Chinese history. Wei’s painting preserves and echoes many elements of the original. Two oxen are painted on top of an abstracted background, indicating no specific time or place. The brushstrokes are linear rather than painterly, and the color palette of warm yellows, browns and reds are reminiscent of the original. However, the reimagining of this painting has taken on a new significance in the 21st century - how are we supposed to define contemporary Chinese culture in a time of such change? In a country where the largest cultural forces are the state and businesses, how is a contemporary Chinese artist meant to fit into a conception of Chinese society? With “China Diary,” Wei asserts that the artist is a cultural historian of sorts. Art can truly “re-educate” by bringing history into a modern world.
Qui Deshu’s “Fissuring-Genesis” series from 1996 similarly plays with traditional formats and mediums. In the exhibit’s description of his work, Deshu describes how he uses innovative techniques together with the traditional medium of xuan paper. In 1982, he noticed a cracked slab of stone while walking, finding it “crudely charming and natural, and quite calm.” He began to notice similar cracks, from the smallest cells to the composition of the earth. Carrying this idea into his artistic practice, Deshu began “fissuring,” which consists of applying paint to xuan paper and then tearing it to expose the canvas underneath. Fissuring allows Deshu to explore traditional ink painting by completely transforming compositional elements. The passive medium of the paper becomes an expressive tool.
In Deshu’s “Fissuring-Genesis-Landscape, No. 5,” the ripped paper shows a blue-painted canvas underneath. The rectangular, vertical format and abstracted marble-like forms are reminiscent of traditional landscape scrolls, with looming mountains in the background and a miniscule lone human in the foreground. Here however, there is no human presence. The canvas and paper - the medium itself - are the visual elements. In addition to fissuring, Deshu has played with the texture of the paper, rubbing it away in some parts to create a mottled, half-destroyed effect, as if he is erasing the very medium that his art is dependent on. Deshu demonstrates how physically vulnerable this traditional medium can be, but the piece as a whole does not appear vulnerable at all. Rather, the canvas is suggestive of a raw force streaking across its face - it is not the destruction of tradition, but rather the birth of a new artistic force. It is only by deconstructing this traditional medium that he has been able to create something stronger and more resilient.
Throughout the exhibition, there remains a sense of tension between the inescapable influence of Chinese history and a striving for artistic independence. If anything, it shows the incredible scrutiny that these artists worked under - it is impossible to be a Chinese artist in a social and political vacuum. The wall labels give miniature biographies of each artist, emphasizing the individual’s experience and career while also illuminating unintended overlaps between their experiences: controversies with the artistic community, innovation versus tradition and Western versus Eastern influences. All are works of incredible technical proficiency, resonant in cultural and political meaning.
Original Article：record.williams.edu
美国威廉姆斯大学学报《威廉姆斯学报》2010年4月14日刊
中国艺术家跨时代的社会传承
Jenny Tang 撰文
“从一开始，我就致力于传统的当代化，”博物馆的墙上标示着艺术家朱伟的这段话。民族认同感和中国政府从本质上就盘根错节，当代中国艺术也不可避免地根植于政治和意识形态。在对中国社会做出这般审视之后，那么，艺术家在其中能充当怎样的文化角色？在《传统与转型——近期馆藏中国艺术品展》中，威廉姆斯大学美术馆（WCMA）展出了藏家近期捐赠的11位当代中国艺术家的作品。这些艺术家们都具有创造性地重新构筑了自己国家的艺术经典，同时也代表着一种忧患：在中国文化剧变的当下，如何在传承传统艺术的同时，也充分意识到传统的诸多局限性。
《传统与转型》是一个没有特定时限和阐释的展览；艺术家们没有意图呈现一个统领一切的主题。展览在由Elizabeth Gallerani主办，梅隆（Mellon）学术项目组协办，并在艺术史毕业生赵荣（音译）和Patrick Rhine的协助下，敏锐地回避了对中国当代艺术及风格大而全的概括。11位艺术家的年龄和出生地各个不同，最年长的出生于1902年，最年轻的出生于1977年。他们有些来自于如北京上海这样的大都市，有些则来自于如广东省Maopo村这样的小村子。通过这次展览策展人证明了，不论籍贯和年龄上存在多大的差异，这些艺术家都把握着同一种政治和社会问题，继承着同一门艺术上的遗产。
历史这个概念在《传统与转型》中非常具有引导性。策展人由基本的历史背景开始，但在其它方面，则让每件作品和每位艺术家的经验自己说话。尽管方式不同，所有的艺术家都曾受到过文化大革命的影响。毛泽东主席1966年发动了文化大革命，迫使数百万计的人们从城市到乡村接受“再教育”。文革谴责传统艺术为封建遗毒，外国艺术则为资产阶级糟粕，继而以源自苏联的社会现实主义取而代之。1976年，毛泽东去世，邓小平崛起，邓迅速改变了中国的经济政策，也允许一种更为自由的、结合了西方和传统中国影响的混合式艺术风格的存在。
朱伟的《中国日记五十二号》（2001）以唐代画家韩?的名作《五牛图》为基础，用传统工笔技法绘制于宣纸（一种书法中常用的软质纸张）之上。作品旁的标示牌写着画家作此选择的原因：“我一直尝试使用中国的传统元素，因为我们有着数千年的历史。”《中国日记》保留了原画上具有表现力的、近似于人眼的牛眼，但是新作的尺寸比原画大得多，仿佛画家在要求我们更贴近地审视一部放大了的中国历史。朱伟的新作保留呼应了原作的许多元素，两头牛画在抽象背景之上，没有时间或地点的线索，笔触与其说是涂画，不如说是线描，色调上温暖的黄色、棕色和红色也使人想到原画。然而，这幅摹本在21世纪却有了新的意义——在如此剧变的时代，我们如何来定义当代中国文化？在一个最强大的文化力量来自于政府和商业的国度，一个当代中国艺术家如何在中国社会这个概念中立足？朱伟用《中国日记》断言，艺术家可以称得上是文化史学家，艺术通过把传统引入现代社会，能够真正意义上地进行“再教育”。
仇德树的《龟裂－创世纪》系列始于1996年，同样也是运用了传统模式和传统媒介。在展品描述中仇德树解释了他是如何应用新技法和传统宣纸的。1982年在一次散步中，他注意到石头的裂纹，“具有原始的魅力，相当自然而静谧”。他开始留意类似的裂纹，从最细微的细胞到地球的构成。仇德树将这个主意进行实践，开始了“龟裂”系列，也就是先在宣纸上作画，继而撕裂宣纸，暴露出纸下的帆布。在龟裂系列中，通过这样彻底颠覆性的元素构成，仇德树做出了对传统水墨画的探索。这里作为消极媒介的纸张成为了表达工具。
在仇德树的《龟裂－创世纪－山水五号》中，宣纸绽裂的缝隙下露出了蓝色的帆布，挂轴式的竖方画面和大理石花纹般的纹路则摹仿了传统山水卷轴。传统山水背景往往是远山淡影，前景是渺小而孤独的人，此件作品却没有人出现，帆布与宣纸——也就是媒介本身——成了视觉要素。除了龟裂，仇德树还利用纸张的纹理，揉坏某些部分，从而创造出一种斑驳的半损毁效果，似乎抹杀媒介本身就是他的创作意图。仇德树论证了这种传统媒介在物理上的脆弱性，但作品本身并不脆弱。相反，帆布暗示着破蛹而出的原始力量——它不是传统的组成部分，却是一种新生艺术力量。只有通过解构宣纸这一传统媒介，他才能创造出更有力更具有适应性的东西。
整个展览呈现出一种中国历史的必然影响力和争取艺术独立性之间的紧张感。假如说这个展览表现了什么，它恰恰表现出这些艺术家们正在难以置信的监视下工作——中国艺术家是不可能存在于社会和政治真空中的。墙上的标示牌注明了每位艺术家的简历，强调个人经验和职业生涯的同时，亦呈现了他们经历中重叠的部分：与艺术界的争端，创新与传统，西方与东方。所有作品的技法都十分纯熟，同时也使人在文化和政治的意义上产生共鸣。
原文链接：record.williams.edu |
