放逐與守望

　　偶然的機會認識了顧雄和楊述，頗為投緣。顧雄和楊述是多年的好友，個性迥異卻志趣相投。二人聯合辦展的念頭醞釀已久，於是順其自然地有了此次牽手。

　　籌展期間正值金融危機席捲全球、藝術市場的狂熱進程遭遇戛然寒冬，人們在驚呼錯愕的同時更多的卻是暗自長吁：終於到了可以靜心思忖中國當代藝術未來如何健康發展的時候了！我欣喜地發現混沌的疑問似乎將在此展中找到些許豁然的光亮——儘管答案的終極仍隱含于艱辛的實踐。

　　海德格爾曾説，人類在現代社會面臨的根本的問題仍然是人格的異化。這種異化表現為人的主體的喪失，即人在大眾化、一體化、物化、機器化等方面的沉淪。的確，人生最大的慶典，莫過於內心信仰和理想大廈的落成。藝術家作為一個特殊職業的從業者，對生命本質和終極精神的渴求更甚于常人。如果説，前幾年眾神狂歡、群魔亂舞的“盛景”是年輕單純的中國當代藝術不幸的短暫異化的話，那麼，從現在開始，重新鑄造藝術的“巴別通天之塔”就成了回歸本性的正途。於是，我們主動並幸運地重現發現了這樣一批藝術家：他們同樣經歷過中國當代藝術20多年間的跌宕和風雨，同樣曾經滿懷激情的抱負和敏感的神經，但選擇了自我的放逐與精神的守望，選擇了與藝術終身為伴、卻無意以此為生（計）或流芳百世的存在方式，我們期待著與他們碰撞出新鮮的火花。顧雄、楊述可以説是這種合作的開始。

　　嚴格來説，作為朋友的顧雄和楊述除了同是重慶人、同求學于四川美術學院、同為“八五”新潮美術運動西南藝術群體中的活躍分子外，藝術經歷、志趣和風格十分獨立。顧雄，出身書香，但家境清貧，繪畫成了其逆境中堅守理想的依託。1978年考入川美，後研究生專習版畫，創作了以沈從文《邊城》為題的組畫，受到廣泛的認可，也因此獲得了進修加拿大的機會，這對當時的年輕中國藝術家來説是非常難得的機會。在班芙藝術中心獲得的世界當代藝術發展的資訊和初次接觸到的裝置藝術形式，打開了顧雄藝術創作的新天地。“八九現代藝術大展”中的《網》是其早年的成功代表作。後來，對新知識和觀念的渴望促使他毅然選擇了離開故土，遠赴溫哥華，至今近20年。其間經歷了艱辛的生活和創作實踐，發展成多媒介、多語言的藝術面貌，現為不列顛哥倫比亞大學大學終身教授。楊述，少年時特立獨行。13歲（1978年）考入川美附中，後順理成章地入學川美油畫係，研究生畢業後留校任教至今。八十年代中期，他十分活躍，但並沒有追隨盛行其時的“傷痕美術”、“鄉土美術”或參加其他前衛團體，而是聚焦“城市”命題，大肆宣泄著自己的情感塗鴉——在這一點，我不得不感喟于藝術家的超驗。“城市”是現今的流行話題，楊述從上世紀末就注意到這個與當代文化和精神問題息息相關的內容，並研究至今，其20年豐富的個人塗鴉敘述就是中國城市發展的視覺縮影。當然，1995年的荷蘭和歐洲之行、1996年的紐約聯展（《夢的分享》，同展藝術家有張曉剛、葉永青、毛旭輝、郭晉等），使這位視西方現代精神為父的藝術家受到了巨大的文化震動。他開始思考更加“形而上”的和關注繪畫本身的問題。

　　在我看來，顧雄和楊述以各自不同的方式選擇了藝術的自我放逐。前者帶著深刻的中國文化烙印蟄居西方當代世界，經受著多元文化的劇烈撞擊和交融而堅守內心的獨立，這本身就是一種藝術的生存狀態。只有遠離才能更好的認知，只有浸淫其中才有突破的意義。回溯顧雄的作品，就像他個人的視覺日記。從不知所措的移民心態，到深刻理解西方當代體制的本質，再到胸懷世界的國際化視野，他的所謂“中國身份”非常不明顯，但多元的藝術面貌中閃現著東方的詩意和智慧。楊述的放逐之旅則頗有“大隱隱于市”的味道。他在西方之行後的自述中説過：“我發現，我內心的根在西方文化，這讓我很失落，因為西方文化對我來説事實上是遙遠和陌生的，……，我覺自己像個流亡者，身在此處而心在彼地，也許命中註定就此流亡，永遠放逐自己”。我佩服他的自我反省，同時認為正是這種虛無末世的世界觀給他的藝術帶去了鮮活。看似隨波逐流地存活于現世（都市）只是表像，追尋個人的藝術信仰才是真相。

　　因此，我更願意稱他們為“藝術精神的守望者”。他們之所以與現今的“當代藝術明星”師出同時並得到了應有的認可和尊重，但卻沒有成為鎂光燈的焦點，只是因為沒有形成、或者説不願選擇“符號化”、“圖式化”的藝術表達方式。他們有非常明確的個人藝術理念和價值觀，用的是樸實的、個人化的、與自身生活和生命有關的不同語言闡述和尋找著藝術的原初意義。這樣的藝術家還有很多……

　　作家龐進在《也算散文觀》中這樣寫道：“人生只能幹一件事。……時間就那麼多，幹了這一樣，就幹不了那一樣。能集中精力幹一件事，而且是自己最想幹的事。——其他的再好事讓別人去幹吧，——這樣的人生就很幸福。”我想，這兩位年輕的老藝術家，也是這麼想的吧。

　　湯靜

　　The Catchers in Exile

　　While Gu Xiong and Yang Shu have different approaches to art, their long-standing friendship has made them kindred spirits. For one reason or another, their desire to hold a joint exhibition has been delayed for years. Until this cold winter when the whole world encountered the notorious financial crisis, I coincidentally got acquaintance with the two artists, and unexpectedly found out that now is time for them to show.

　　The current global financial crisis has cooled the burgeoning international art market for Chinese contemporary art. While the art world is, naturally, very dismayed by this development, we should bear in mind that there is an upside: it gives us time for a retrospective pause, and to formulate strategies for pushing the future development of Chinese contemporary art in the right direction. This very exhibition illuminates the current shadows over our hearts, while still pointing toward a future for Chinese contemporary art that will rely on the lasting efforts of true artists.

　　According to Heidegger, the fundamental pain that modern man suffers from is alienation, defined as the loss of his essence due to popularization, integration, materialization and the development of modern technology. In contrast, it is the existence of belief and the pursuit of ideas that lends meaning to human life. This is especially true for artists. If the recent frenzy and hysterical “spectacle” of the growing Chinese contemporary art market can be identified as an instance of temporary “alienation,” we are now back on track and rebuilding the Tower of Babel of Chinese contemporary art. Luckily enough, we have found just such a group of artists to cure this tendency toward alienation: while they were as ambitious and artistically sensitive as their peers, and experienced along with them the past two decades of tumultuous ups-and-downs in Chinese contemporary art, they choose to live lives in which art is fully integrated, not merely a means to earn a living or a reputation. We look forward to cooperating with them in the near future; and this exhibition of Gu Xiong and Yang Shu marks the start of this spirit of cooperation.

　　Although both are Chongqing-based artists, having graduated from the Sichuan Fine Art Institute and having been part of the ’85 New Wave Art Movement when it swept through southwest China, the two are otherwise dissimilar in terms of artistic experience, interests and style. Born into a poverty-stricken family of intellectuals, Gu Xiong chose painting as his path towards his dream of artistic excellence. He entered Sichuan Fine Art Institute in 1978, and there pursued a graduate degree in printmaking. His series of printmaking based on the theme of Bian Cheng (literally “the frontier town”) written by Shen Congwen earned him great recognition, and won him the golden opportunity to further his education at the Banff Center for the Arts, Canada, where he was more fully exposed to the world of contemporary art. Becoming interested in installation and performance art, he expanded his repertoire from the limitations of traditional painting. The China / Avant-garde Art Exhibition in 1989 witnessed his earliest success in the field, including his work “Enclosures”. Later, he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, in pursuit of new artistic perspectives. Twenty productive years later, he is now tenured faculty at the University of British Columbia, and has established himself as a multimedia artist of international reputation.

　　As an adolescent, Yang Shu was known for his independence and unconventional attitude. At the Sichuan Fine Art Institute he majored in oil painting, and after graduation he stayed on as teacher, a position he has remained in to the present day. In the mid-80s, when avant-garde art such as Scar Art and Folk Art held sway, he focused on the motif of “the City” which has only recently garnered wider attention. His passion, energy, and emotion are evident in all his graffiti, as he has charted more than twenty years of Chinese urbanization using his visual language. Yang’s 1995 journey to the Netherlands and other European countries, and his participation in a 1996 joint exhibition in New York (“Shared Dreams,” together with Zhang Xiaogang, Ye Yongqing, Mao Xuhui, Guo Jin, etc.) significantly influenced him, and since his travels he has more closely engaged issues relating to a society as a whole, and to the art of painting itself.

　　It seems to me that both Gu Xiong and Yang Shu are exiles in the art world; however, they have both chosen their own way in a journey into the wilds of art. Setting off west with his roots in Chinese culture, Gu Xiong embraced the interweaving of different cultures—keeping his inner independence in such a situation embodies a certain living statement of art. While increasing distance opens new pathways of perception, its shrinking brings its own breakthroughs. To reevaluate Gu Xiong’s artworks through time is like reading his private visual diary. From an embarrassed immigrant confronting cultural conflicts, to the mature émigré scholar comprehending the essence of western mechanism, to today’s international artist using multimedia for self-expression, it is interesting to trace the increasing complexity of Gu Xiong’s “Chinese identity”; yet through all his multifarious work characteristics of “oriental wisdom” and Chinese poetics shine bright.

　　As for Yang Shu, living in spiritual isolation expresses a genuine ambivalence. After returning from his journey to the west, Yang Shu said: “I found out that the innermost part of me was taking root in the Western culture, which is, both in terms of distance and familiarity, considerably far away from my reality. I felt so depressed that I was doomed to be an exile. In a way my body and mind are parted.” Admiring his frank self-reflection, I attribute the vitality of his artwork to this Weltanschauung of mixed vanity and pessimism. In fact, only through this seeming drifting along, living an urban life in present world, can we perceive his pursuit of a personal artistic credo.

　　This is why I’ve entitled the two artists “The Catcher of the Art Spirit”. Both artists are from a generation where some of their peers have already enjoyed the spotlight, but they have shied from the public attention and the use of highly recognizable signature styles. With extremely clear perceptions, they have applied the various languages of their personal experiences to rediscover the original meaning of art.

　　As the writer Pang Jin has put it: “There aren’t many paths in our lifetime that can be followed by a single person… as time’s limited, when you’re dealing with a certain path, you hardly have time for another. Therefore, stop bothering yourself with all kinds of stuff. However great they are, let them be someone else’s priority. When you concentrate on a truly beloved path, you are sure to gain a life full of happiness.” Well, I wonder if this might be the philosophy of two young, yet experienced artists: Gu Xiong and Yang Shu.