我們的時代充斥著“視網膜”的藝術，電影、電視、攝影及廣告圖片。繪畫正在這機械手段發展的後面做種種削弱自我的適應。

而“視網膜”的藝術在繪畫上的起點在文藝復興之後，它意味著對瞬間場景的捕捉與描寫，從卡拉瓦喬到維米爾，最後終於發明瞭照相機。在當代藝術中，對“影像”的適應實際上削弱了繪畫的特性。自卡拉瓦喬開始意味著人類眼睛的“表面化”，與此同時油畫的發展也意味著人類精神世俗化的開始。

我認為偉大造型藝術存在於文藝復興之前，古埃及和希臘藝術早期。

目前藝術界的危機已經不在於創造性本身，而在於藝術的人類品質本身。

時代的飛速變化是藝術在追逐之中擊碎了藝術家對永恒價值的追求，這種永恒價值是存在的，並與現實有深刻的關係。

在古代藝術中繪畫的本質孕育在對自然的態度之中，但這種繪畫並不屈從於自然。

持久的繪畫應該為偉大的精神生活而存在。

我的藝術充分地介入了這個世界中心價值的緊張狀態和強烈的人格反應。

一個藝術家是否對當代具有敏感性，是一個大問題，這與能夠採用當代的表現手法與方式不是一回事。

繪畫的本質價值在於持久。

我在繪畫中所作的努力在於使具象寫實繪畫具有強烈的精神理想價值，人性的崇敬感和對人類人文歷史普遍價值最具敬意的回顧。

偉大的藝術總是産生於光明的人格，這是藝術與思想給陰暗的歷史邏輯的否定意義，是黑暗中的光明。

我珍視自己的存在並充分地審視自己，因為我對光明和陰暗均有強烈的感知，這是強烈的思想價值與藝術想像的根源。

我的人生巨大的挑戰在於面對這迅速世俗化的現實時，尋求強烈的精神真理，併為這永存的價值努力前行。

我的畫初看是令人茫然的，當我久久注視之後已有某種深度的意識與本質存在於其中。

我在用新的手法使繪畫有我需要的對視覺的吸收性，這是我長久以來希求的某種質樸品質，這種視覺感受在最簡單的形態中包含了光、空間與精神的存在。

我在構圖方式中把人安排在最尊貴的位置上。

我所尋求的是視覺的藝術，但我不尋求視網膜的藝術，我認為最接近原型的藝術亦不是高級的藝術，我追求的是心靈的藝術，好的藝術具有對現實的巨大空間和高遠之感。

我的所有形體都經過了一種我認為高級的藝術處理，它們具有物象的最重要因素，但最終獨立與自然。

我在追求永恒，不僅是空間形式的永恒，還是精神存在的永恒。

我在賦予這些看似單純的人物畫一種獨特的具有經驗性的東西。

如果當代現實對人提出什麼希求的話，人對永恒理念的尋求，才能保持人的價值感，我希望繪畫重新給人以崇敬感。

在繪畫語匯上我對油滑的近代語匯並無敬意，這是人類趨於世俗化的意識在語匯上的表現，只有那遠古的質樸語匯才能激起人格感懷與力度。

中國人對油畫的理解還停留在一點技巧、一點感覺之中，尚不能了解油畫中深層的理念。

我的畫面以最單純的形象傳達人的心靈感覺，而盡可能去掉繪畫敘事的那一面。

我在色彩方面的努力，力圖使色彩具有光的特性、精神特性和某種難言的本質的東西。

我輕視當代藝術中的極端行為，這意味著人們失去了從容的價值判斷與趣味，而依賴於驚人之舉。

我也輕視歐洲古典藝術中的享樂主義，這是人類精華思想感情轉化為情慾的滑落。

藝術創作是漫長的心智活動，我一直不願意把它與現實功利聯繫起來，在我的生活中的地位甚至遠遠高於才華的展現，它承載著心靈活動在有形世界的價值與可能，在整個藝術歷程中我是在充滿荊棘的路上從藝術與人的艱難存在，與人的價值內省中，獲得一種真正的意義。

在這個時代，人類價值所受到的巨大挑戰在於人的一些根本價值——愛，正直、未來感和存在的意義受到了前所未有的衝擊，我一直努力去做的是使繪畫與人性的中心價值統一起來，使繪畫成為重要的存在。

我曾經對人性有過充滿崇高價值感的期待，併為此建築一個藝術精神與理念世界，如果這種價值被摧毀的話，那也應該是一部悲劇的英雄史詩。

A short essay on art

Chao Ge

Our time has been stuffed with the　“Retina” art, such as movies, TV programs, photographs and advertisement pictures. The art of painting is making various types of self-adaptation under the background of the development of mechanical instruments.

The starting point of “Retina” art that was applied to painting was after the Renaissance Period. It means to capture and depict instant scenes, from Caravaggio to Vermeer, and finally to the invention of camera. In contemporary art, the adaptation toward “Image” has in fact weakened the characteristics of painting itself. Caravaggio’s art indicates the visualization of what human beings see with eyes, and at the same time, the development of oil painting indicates the start of secularization of human spirits.

From my point of view, the great plastic arts had been in existence during the early period of Ancient Egyptian art and the Greek art, which was before the Renaissance Period.

At present, the danger of art field does not lie in creativeness itself, but lies in the human characteristics of art.

The rapid changes in our time means that among the chases, art has crashed artists’ pursuit of perpetual value, which is in existence and has close relations with the reality.

In ancient art, the essence of painting was nurtured in the attitudes to nature. However, this kind of painting does not mean to bend over to nature.

The durable and long lasting painting should be in existence for the purpose of great spiritual life.

My art has fully involved the intensive status of the central value of the world and the strong responses of personality.

It is a major issue whether an artist is sensitive to the contemporary time, which is not the same thing as the available contemporary representation methods and means.

The intrinsic value of painting is long lasting.

The aim of my efforts in painting is to endow the realistic painting of a concrete scene with strong spiritual ideal value, great respectfulness for humanity as well as most respectful review of the universal value of the human history of mankind.

Great art is usually created from a bright personality, which is the negative meaning given by art and though to the darksome historical logics, and which is the bright in the darkness.

I treasure my own existence and often examine myself adequately, because I am very sensitive to bright and dark, which are the roots of my strong value and my artistic imaginations.

The huge challenge in my life is to seek the strong spiritual truth in the fast secularized reality and to improve myself and to make progress on this kind of perpetual value.

At the first glance, my painting works may seem confused and absentminded; however, after a long time of focus, I can feel the existence of a certain kind of in-depth consciousness and essence.

I adopted new technique so that my painting has the feature of attraction of visual attention, which is what I wanted and which has the simple quality that I pursued for a long period time. This kind of visual feeling has contained the existence of light, space, and spirit in the simplest form.

In the composition of my painting works, I put human being at the most distinguished position.

What I seek for is the art of vision, but I do not seek for the art of retina. In my opinion, what is most near to the original is not the best art. What I pursue is the art of heart. Good art can give people the sense of huge space and the feeling of highness and distance.

All the objects in my paintings have been processed, which I think is a kind of advanced art process. Those processed objects own the most important factors of the objects or scene, but at the same time, they look independent and natural.

The perpetuity that I pursue is not only the perpetuity of the form of space but also the perpetuity in spiritual existence.

I am endowing these figure paintings, which look simple, with a kind of unique and empirical thing.

If there is any request proposed by the contemporary reality on human being, only the seeking of the perpetual ideals by human beings can maintain the value sense of mankind. I hope that painting can give people a sense of respectfulness again.

In terms of painting language, I have no respect on the oily modern language, which can be seen as the demonstration of secularism on language. Only the remote ancient simple language can evoke the humanity and strength of the characters.

Chinese people understand oil painting at the level of technique and feeling, yet they are not able to understand the in-depth idea in oil painting.

My paintings can deliver the feelings inside the character with the simplest vision, and can delete the aspect of describing things in the paintings as much as possible.

With regard to my efforts on colors, I try my best to make the colors have the characteristics of light, spirit and some intrinsic things that is hard to express.

I look down on the extreme behaviors in contemporary art, which, from my point of view, means that people have lost calm and interest in value judgments and they merely rely on astonishing behaviors.

I also look down upon the hedonism in the European classic art, which, in my opinion, is the degradation of mankind’s essential thoughts and feeling to desires.

Art creation is a long process of intellective behavior. I am not willing to connect it with material gains in the reality at any time. In my life, I regard art creation even much more important than showing of artistic talents as it is loaded with the value and possibility of the mental behaviors in the physical world. Through my entire art career, I have been trying to obtain a real significance from the hard existence of art and human being and from the self introspection of value of human being on the road full of thorns.

At present, the huge challenge on the value of human being lies in certain elemental value of mankind love, honesty, sense of future and significance of existence are suffering unprecedented impacts. What I always endeavor to do is to unify painting with central value of humanity so as to make painting a significant existence.

I had expected with full respect on the value of humanity, and had built up a kind of art spirit and ideal world for this kind of expectation. If this kind of value is destroyed, it should be regarded as a tragic heroic poem.