國內美術界的人們對劉永剛也許並不都熟識，但提起他的一幅油畫作品，我相信許多人都有深刻印象，那就是《北薩拉的牧羊女》。《北薩拉的牧羊女》創作于1987年，接連在幾個重要展覽中露面，給大家留下很深刻印象。在八十年代後期的中國畫壇，從鄉土生活中汲取繪畫題材和靈感蔚為風氣，也確實出現了不少精彩作品。那些作品大都以質樸、寧靜、內斂的格調取勝。劉永剛的《北薩拉的牧羊女》卻不是這一類作品，它是以表現性的形式處理引人注目，表現性的裝飾手法描寫草原樸厚而絢麗的青春。在紅、黑、白、綠構成的草地、羊群、少女和牧欄之中，我們感受到古老文化和古老土地永不衰竭的生命活力。正是這一點，劉永剛的這幅畫在當時眾多立意新穎的油畫作品中獨具風采。
上世紀90年初期，劉永剛去德國進修，紐倫堡美術學院的教育和德國當代藝術家的交流，激發了他從文化思考入手的藝術創新。從1993年的《魚》系列，1994年的《十字》系列，到1999-2006年的《愛擁》系列抽象繪畫和《站立的文字》組雕，顯示了他對本土文化的深入思考和他對當代造型藝術手法的融會貫通。《魚》系列是他對具象繪畫基本形、色結構研究的成果。他運用光暗、色彩和構圖因素，賦予單純的魚頭、魚尾、魚的局部以紀念碑式的莊嚴。這一研究對他以後的藝術顯然有很大的啟發——以單純構建宏大。緊接著就是《十字》系列，十字顯然比魚更加單純，但它又比魚含有更多文化和精神因素——“十字”就是人體，“十字”就是先知受難的十字架，“十字”就是由災難與輝煌鉸接而成的人類歷史……由此進入文字形式意義的探索，是順理成章的進展。那一批以“愛擁”為題的抽象繪畫，我覺得是後來《站立的文字》的醞釀或者創作衝動的余緒。
《站立的文字》是他以漢字為創作資源的雕刻作品，這是由上百座石質雕刻構成的大型作品。正如作品的標題所示，作品的立意來自古老的文字。是漢字和八思巴字（1244年，西藏佛教薩斯迦派喇嘛八思巴被忽必烈封為國師，1269年奉旨創制元代朝廷使用的文字，被稱為八思巴字，這種文字多留存于元代印璽、碑文中）給了藝術家啟示，古老的文字成為他的創作資源，他從古老文字的字形感受到特殊的視覺感染力。
從傳統文化的角度説，書法當然是漢字藝術的本源。書法對漢字的利用是綜合性的利用，既有單個的字的意象，也有字和字的組合關係，行氣、筆勢、氣韻，還有各種字體，這是非常豐富而且非常了不起的藝術。20世紀以來，中國和外國的許多藝術家不約而同地從書法取得繪畫靈感。
70年代後期，台灣曾有好幾位畫家以類似的想法作畫。最有代表性的當推陳正雄和李錫奇，他們把傳統書法置放到抽象繪畫中，其思路是把具有流利運動感草書與現代色域構成結合起來，給硬邊的色塊對比空間，引入書法線條的律動，添加某種活力。許多海外藏家喜歡這類作品，在私人寓所、公共廳堂往往有這樣的作品作為裝飾。藝術家們覺得這是在東方發展抽象藝術的新途徑。不久前中國美術館舉辦田偉抽象畫展，田偉也是美國華裔人畫家，他的思路跟有些台灣畫家一樣，把中西文字作為一種裝飾性的元素，但他又探索中西文字的形式同一性。他用厚涂的顏色和書法運筆去處理字符的方式與當年台灣畫家不同，當年台灣畫家在彩色平面上處理筆觸由明到暗，由暗到明的微妙變化，田偉以誇張的厚涂肌理處理文字符號。把黑色的極其單純的字符與非常鮮艷的顏色組合起來，把拼音文字當作象形文字“書寫”。這一點顯然是前此文字藝術的進一步發展。
20世紀末期，徐冰、谷文達等中國藝術家在他們的後現代藝術作品中反覆使用漢字，現在國內有不少畫家將書法意興融入繪畫，或者反過來將繪畫形式納入書法。祁海平、李向明都以書入畫，祁海平以書法的氤氳、氣勢入畫，李向明是用草書的韻律和節奏“搞活”抽象繪畫，邱振中、曾來德等人則是以畫意作書法。應該承認，當代中國藝術家在運用和發展中國文字從事藝術創造方面，在作品的氣度和文化氣氛上，比海內外前輩更深入一層，他們對文化的情趣和文化氣質理解得更到位。書法理論家邱振中認為，現代書法與傳統書法不同特點之一是由“字的藝術”轉為“線的藝術”，由文字到書法，再到書寫，是書法審美的階段性發展。
劉永剛的特殊性恰好在於回歸文字本體，他所關注的是漢字的基本結構，單個漢字筆劃的搭配和結合，文字結構給人視覺上和精神上的啟示和聯想。這應該是屬於漢字本源的，最本質性的一種形式特徵，是由博返約，沿波討源的藝術行為。《愛擁》的基本形式構成來自單個（或者兩個）文字的筆劃結構，我覺得主要是來自大小篆的結構——單純而遒勁的線穿插交接，收攬吐納而又均衡穩定。劉永剛獨取其中相擁相攬的意興，闡發人與人之間由吸引、信任、依戀而臻于生命的永恒。由於書寫工具和書寫材料的性質，中國文字的線條天然有流動、遒勁、圓潤之美，這種美在紙、絹為載體的書法作品裏，得到充分的發揮。但對於硬質材料的雕刻作品，如果突出這種性格，作品將偏柔而失之癱軟。如何處理文字線條的“性格”，顯然與一般書法筆意有完全不同的要求。劉永剛採取的辦法是凸現線結構的方正剛健，他把每一筆劃（線）做成有棱有角的立方體，特別是線上的起頭處，他強調了平整而倔強的矩形立面。這一處理賦予《愛擁》剛健的骨氣和活力。在整體虛實安排上，除了抓住空隙，讓字形內外空間得以溝通之外，他還巧妙地抓住古文字上緊下松，上部穿插交接，下部舒展開放的規律，賦予文字站立人體的意象。當人們在朝陽或者夕照中仰觀風雲映襯的“愛擁”，心頭將蕩起多少撫今追昔的波瀾！
我所關注的是完成的作品如何安置，以什麼方式陳設？像劉永剛的《愛擁》這樣的雕塑，放到不同的環境裏絕對會有不同的感情氣氛，給人不同的感受。可以設想，把它們放在熱鬧的城市廣場，放到廢墟，或者放在荒漠上，像內蒙的被破壞的草場上，或者放到綠草如蔭，有花草有流水的地方……作品不變，但是安置環境變了，給人的聯想和感受絕對不一樣。
不論是在國外或者在國內，安置他的作品的時候需要很好地推敲、試探和比較。《愛擁》的每一個都有氣魄，相當精緻，下了很大功夫，究竟是單獨放好，還是成片排列起來好，這將是一個需要推敲的問題。有一些雕塑單獨放起來比好多集中起來更好，大量作品的排列有可能使觀眾忽略個體、局部的儀態和形式感染力。當然，集中起來有集中起來的氣勢，我相信作品的創造者會為它們的存在形式和環境找到理想的方案。
偉大的藝術創造都具有連結歷史與未來、自然與人文的精神，埃及金字塔、復活節島的石雕和中國的長城都具有這樣的特質。劉永剛以文字為資源的這一組石雕以紀念碑式的昂然氣度樹立在蒼茫大地，將極大地補充近現代中國雕塑所缺乏的文化份量與形式力度。使人聯想起那些偉大的藝術創造。
2007年 春分
水天中先生中國藝術研究院研究員，前美術研究所所長，著名美術批評家
Liu Yonggang’s Paintings and Sculptures
Shui Tianzhong
Mr. Shui Tianzhong, Researcher of Chinese Academy of Art, former director of Graduate School of Fine Arts, renowned critic of fine arts
All artists in China may not be familiar with Liu Yonggang, but the mention of one of his oil paintings will ring a bell—Shepherdess of Northern Sala. Painted in 1987, it was shown at several important exhibitions, and left us with a deep impression. In the late 1980s it was a fashion to find subjects and inspiration in the rural life, and many good works appeared as the result of that. Most of them struck us with their reserved simplicity and serenity, but Shepherdess of Northern Sala was not of that kind. What was fascinating about it was the expressionist depiction of the simple yet splendid youth of the prairie. The meadow in red, black and white, the sheep flock, and girl and the paddock conveyed the inexhaustible vitality of an old culture on an old land. That was why the painting distinguished itself from so many innovative works.
In the early 1990s Liu went to Germany as a student. His education at Nuremburg Art Academy and exchanges with contemporary German artists inspired his artistic innovation, which started with reflections on culture. His works—the Fish series in 1993 and the Cross series in 1994, the Embrace of Love series in 1999-2006, and the group sculpture named Spatial Calligraphy—indicate his in-depth thinking of his native culture and his masterly use of contemporary techniques of the plastic art. The Fish series was the result of his study of the basic shape-color structure of concrete painting. The use of light and darkness, colors and compositional elements lends a monument-like solemnity to the simple head, tail and other parts of the fish. Obviously, that had a great influence on his later works, in which he tried to construct grandness with simplicity. The Fish series was closely followed by the Cross series. The cross, apparently still simpler than the fish, carries deeper cultural and spiritual meanings. It stands for the human body, the cross on which Jesus was crucified, and the history of mankind that contains disasters and glories. To move on to the exploration of the formal meaning of the written language was a natural step to take. In my opinion, the series of abstract paintings named Embrace of Love were created in preparation for Spatial Calligraphy or as the result of remaining creative drive.
Spatial Calligraphy, a large work consisting of about a hundred stone sculptures, was created by using Chinese characters as a creative resource. As indicated by the title, the idea came from ancient written languages. He was inspired by Chinese characters and Basiba (in 1244, Basiba, hierarch of Sasijia Cult of Tibetan Buddhism, was made Imperial Advisor by Kublai Khan. In 1296, by imperial orders, he created a written language for the imperial court of the Yuan Dynasty. Known as Basiba, the language is found on Yuan seal and steles), sensing a special visual effect from their forms.
In terms of the traditional culture, calligraphy is of course the origin of the artistic rendering of Chinese characters. The use of characters in calligraphy is comprehensive, stressing not only the images of individual characters, but also the relationship between them, the use of the brush to convey power and charm, and varied calligraphic styles. Since the beginning of the 20th century, many artists, both Chinese and foreign, have got inspiration for painting from calligraphy.
In late 1970s, several painters in Taiwan worked with similar ideas, the most representative being Chen Zhengxiong and Li Xiqi. They incorporated traditional calligraphy into abstract painting. The idea was to combine the running hand style, with its flowing sense of movement, with the modern color composition. The harsh contrast between colors could be made livelier by the introduction of the dynamic lines of calligraphy. Their works were favored by many overseas collectors, who used them to decorate their houses or public places. The artists thought it a new approach to developing abstract art in the East. A short time ago NAMOC held the exhibition of abstract paintings by Tian Wei, an American Chinese painter. Like some Taiwan painters, he used Chinese and western languages as a decorative element. But in addition to that, he explored the common ground in form between Chinese and western written languages. He rendered written signs with thick colors and calligraphic use of the brush. That was not what those Taiwan painters did, who treated the nuances between lightness and darkness of strokes on colored planes. But Tian Wei processed the signs with the texture of exaggeratedly thick layers of colors. He combined simple, black signs with brilliant colors, writing alphabetic words as if they were hieroglyphic characters. That was obviously a step further.
In the late 20th century, such Chinese artists as Xu Bing and Gu Wenda won worldwide reputation with the frequent use of Chinese characters in their works of postmodernism. Many painters in China are introducing calligraphic styles into painting, or vise versa. For instance, Qi Haiping incorporated the harmony and vigor of calligraphy, while Li Xiangming ‘enlivened’ abstract painting with the rhythm of the running hand style. Qiu Zhenzhong and Zeng Laide did the opposite, bringing calligraphy closer to painting. It should be acknowledged that contemporary Chinese artists outshine their progenitors in the use and development of Chinese characters for artistic creation, in the appearance and cultural atmosphere of their works, and in their understanding of cultural taste and temperament. According to calligraphic theorist Qiu Zhenzhong, one of the differences between modern calligraphy and traditional calligraphy is the change from ‘the art of characters’ to ‘the art of lines’. Calligraphic aesthetics developed in three stages, from characters to calligraphy, and then to writing.
What is special about Liu Yonggang is that he returned to the written language itself, focusing on the basic structures of characters, the juxtaposition of individual strokes, and the visual and spiritual associations of those structures. Those are formal features that are closest to the origin and essence of Chinese characters. Liu’s efforts to return to simplicity and to trace the origin are worth paying attention to and studying.
The basic formal structure of Embrace of Love is based on the composition of the strokes of one or two characters. I find it mainly based on the structures of dazhuan and xiaozhuan—the crossing and connecting of simple, vigorous lines that embrace each other and maintain perfect balance. Liu used the idea of embracing to expound people’s attraction, trust, love and procreation. Because of the writing tools and writing materials, the lines of Chinese characters are by nature endowed with a flowing, vigorous and mellow beauty. That kind of beauty could be fully conveyed in calligraphic works written on paper or silk. But if it was stressed in a sculpture using hard material, it would cause the latter to appear weak and floppy. Obviously, the ‘nature’ of the lines of characters should be different from that in calligraphy.
Liu’s solution was to give prominence to the strength of lines. He made each stroke (line) a geometric form with sharp corners and edges, with the start of each line having a strikingly flat, stubborn-looking rectangular surface. That gave Embrace of Love vigor and vitality. As for the general composition, apart from using spaces to connect the inside and outside of the signs, his skillful use of the compositional feature of ancient characters, with crossing, dense strokes in the upper part and a more spacious lower part, makes them look like standing human figures. Viewers may experience a surging sense of history when they look up to it against a backdrop of the sky at dawn or dusk.
I am interested in how the work will be displayed. A sculpture like Liu’s Embrace of Love will produce different atmospheres and effects in different surroundings. We may think about where to put it—a busy square in a city, a ruins, a desert, a spoiled pasture in Inner Mongolia, a place with lush grass, flowers and flowing water, and so on. The same work will definitely produce different feelings and associations when put in different places.
Whether at home or abroad, where and how to place Embrace of Love need careful thinking, trying and comparison. Each one of the sculptures is imposing and exquisite, indicating great efforts. To put them separately or to arrange them in rows is a question to think over. To choose the latter may eclipse the form and power of individual works, though it may produce a general imposing effect. I believe that the author will find an ideal answer.
All great artistic creations are capable of linking history to future, and nature to culture. This is true of the pyramids, the sculptures on Easter Island, and the Great Wall. Liu Yonggang’s written-language-based group sculpture, standing erect with monument-like pride, will go a long way to add cultural weight and formal power to Chinese sculpture, and remind us of those great creations.
Spring equinox, 2007