出生於1962年的張新權，就像大多數出生於60年代的藝術家一樣，既有熱情卻又渴望溫情，充滿理想卻又忌諱浮誇，內心持重卻又積極變化，他們的藝術和人生同樣都帶有明顯的“烏托邦之後”的文化烙印。
所謂“烏托邦之後”的一個顯著標記就是“歷史感”，而情感風貌的這種變化無疑也延伸至張新權的藝術創作。張新權的很多創作都與中國近代史有著某種顯見的關聯：一些作品是對當時圖像的直接移用，如2008年創作的《中山艦》；還有一些作品雖然圖像來源相對複雜，但是畫家所表達的仍是場景的歷史性，如2003年創作的《十里洋場》、2004年創作的《有軌電車》、2006年創作的《蘇州河》等等。從表面上來看，“老照片”是這些作品的圖像資源，但是張新權的創作意圖並非僅僅是對那些恢弘多變的時代場景或者跌宕沉浮的時代人物等作出的如實敘述，卻是重在以“悄無聲息”的方式在更安靜、更理智的語境氛圍中與前者相毗連。在張新權看來，所謂的“歷史感”必須是承認距離的，也就是説藝術家通過創作要到達的不是針對歷史的如實再現，而是借助於新的闡釋就此生成新的認識。
在具體的做法上，張新權力圖在具象寫實和表現主義之間求得某種動態平衡。以《中山艦》為例，寫實性的手法運用於歷史人物或者歷史場景的有力塑造，用以區別各自的特徵以及情節性敘事的展開，而表現主義的手法卻是在努力消減這些具體的敘事，用以確定畫面的結構以及營造畫面的情緒張力。事實上，張新權的更多創作並不像《中山艦》這樣是與具體歷史事件對應掛鉤而是指向那些場景的歷史性。2003年創作的《十里洋場》、2004年創作的《有軌電車》、2006年創作的《蘇州河》等都是“老上海”的經典場景，讓人聯繫到“外灘”、“蘇州河”兩岸等這些浮華生活的昔日標記，而與現實生活中的現狀樣貌産生了顯見的反差。張新權刻意地製造了這種距離，其目的一方面是所謂“歷史感”的需要，一方面則是通過這一“歷史感”的呈現而反映了藝術家自我的“歷史觀念”。
張新權始終認為回顧過去並不意味著裹足不前，因為對過去的回顧會使自己在觀照歷史的同時，尋找出更符合我們時代特徵的精神和境界。也就是説張新權開始通過創作去體現作為藝術家個體對於過去、現在和未來的思考，同時正如T.S艾略特在關於詩學中歷史意識和現實意識聯繫的闡述，“‘歷史意識’也使一個作家最敏銳地意識到自己在時間中的地位，以及自己和當代的關係”。於是，當張新權的創作從稍早的“歷史感”呈現逐漸過渡為“歷史觀念”闡述的時候，其作品的創作空間也得到了更大地拓展。
從2007年左右開始，張新權創作了“船”的作品系列。“船”的作品系列，與之前的《中山艦》和有關“上海”的創作有著前後的關聯性，只是在之前的創作中“船”只是作品的場景或者場景的一部份而已。張新權對“船”的題材選擇，從表面上來看似乎仍是出自藝術家對歷史的持久興趣，他蒐集了各種歷史明信片以及舊報紙雜誌上的影像數據，用以架構歷史中的“船”的形象。然而除了2009年創作的《致遠艦》之外，張新權的大部份作品雖然是以晚清民國時期的“艦船”為題，卻並沒有刻意去強調具體的歷史意義和歷史價值，只是在作品標題上稱之為“巡邏艇”、“遊船”或“商船”，或者以“泊”等字眼加以命名，最後又逐漸被統括為“‘船’系列”或者“‘海魂’系列”之中。也就是説張新權有意識回避的是歷史形象的所謂再現，譬如在2007年創作的《巡邏艦》等作品中“船”的形象相對完整，周圍的環境如海面、海浪、地平線等都具有一定的現實性，而在稍晚的“海魂系列”中如2011年創作的《海魂系列之十一》、《海魂系列之十二》，“船”的形象往往突出的是局部，海景等環境的表達也變得不那麼具體甚至是抽象性的，因此無論是“‘船’系列”或者“‘海魂’系列”，張新權總是想通過概括提純的做法轉而強調自我創作中的“歷史觀念”，同時是以具有表現性的藝術形式去提示更多的可能性而不是為具體的敘事或視覺的表達所局限。
如果説張新權創作“船”系列的意圖是在探討歷史的“過去性”的話，那麼他最近的“風景”系列則更多的是在思考歷史的“現在性”。具體而言，張新權的“船”系列探求的是歷史進程中的那些隱秘時刻，是具有象徵而轉折意義的敘述而不是事件性的記錄，而2009年之後創作的系列“風景”是以人和時代的當下互動來體現歷史的變遷，是與當下的文化立場以及社會的整體環境相關係的。
2009年創作的《海景房》、《三江師範》、《金陵機器製造局》，雖然與稍早的關於“上海”題材的創作有著一定的前後承接，尤其是在對建築的關注度上表現得尤為明顯，然而張新權近期的創作似乎不再純以歷史照片為憑藉，卻是大量採用了“寫生”的手法。
“三江師範”、“金陵機器製造局”等是晚清時期革新圖變的象徵地標，如今既在歷史的語境中與我們漸行漸遠，又在現實的生活中為我們漠然視之，張新權以“寫生”的方式去創作《三江師範》、《金陵機器製造局》等，直面的就是歷史的變遷，揭示的就是歷史變遷給予人類自身的巨大變化。“寫生”對於現場的介入和情感的投射在《海景房》的創作中得到了更好的反映，畫家選擇了海邊的一些西式古建，並依靠強烈的透視和海平線來組織畫面，其畫法帶有明顯的寫生性，同時還通過刻意保留繪畫痕跡的手法來強調寫生過程中的生動活潑。寫生，還引申為某種顯見的介入方式。在《海景房》中，張新權並不充當著“旁觀者”的角色，他還傾心介入其中，成為了歷史變遷的見證者和警醒者，表達了對當代文化的一種深刻的懷疑態度。
鮑勃•迪倫説過，“世上沒有比變化更穩定的東西了”，張新權無疑是同意這樣的説法的。所以張新權並不是那些“過去”的維護者，他要探究的也不是這些變遷的表像答案。在張新權近期創作的系列風景中，藝術家開始強調歷史的變遷並不是任何個人有意選擇的結果，而是情感變動的深刻反映。古城蘇州成為了張新權的研究個案，因為它既是中國歷史變遷的縮影，也是藝術家創作的現實基地。那些歷古彌新的蘇州園林，那些風光迤邐的姑蘇郊野，在張新權眼中都是歷史長河中的“一瞥”、“一段”、“一瞬”。張新權承認歷史變遷的無窮無盡，因此他不再追求所謂的純真永恒，而是以放鬆的心態去體味心手相應的自由，去享受恣肆暢快的淋漓盡致。從這一點而言，張新權的創作卻是離表像愈遠而離真相愈近，離現實愈遠離心靈愈近。
——趙力（中央美術學院教授）
Historical Perspective
Born in 1962, Zhang Xinquan is just one of those born-in-the-60s artists, enthusiastic while yearning for tenderness, ambitious but abstaining from extravagance, prudent but active in innovation. Thus, their art and life are deeply imprinted with visible “post-Utopia” culture.
The so-called “post-Utopia” is marked with historical sense, and that sense has undoubtedly extended to Zhang Xinquan’s works, most of which are obviously related to the modern history of China: some are the direct transplant of images at that time, such as “Zhongshan Vessel” painted in 2008; some others may have a more complex source, but what is expressed is still the historical sense of the scene, such as “The Metropolis Old Shanghai” in 2003, “The Tram” in 2004, and “The Suzhou River” in 2006 and so on. Outwardly, old photographs are the source of the paintings. But more than the accurate narration of the volatile social background and the ups and downs of those influential figures, Zhang intends to relate them with a more peaceful and rational atmosphere. In his eyes, distance breeds the historical sense, that is, what artists should do is not to reproduce history through works, but to form a new image with their own interpretation.
To be more specific, Zhang Xinquan strives to balance dynamically between realism and expressionism. Take “Zhongshan Vessel” as an example. Realism is to shape historical figures and create historical scenes, while expressionism is to form the structure and emotional tension of the painting. Actually, most of his works relate more to the historical sense rather than the historical event itself. The classic scenes of “old Shanghai” in “The Metropolis Old Shanghai”, “The Tram”, and “The Suzhou River”, remind audience of the Bund and the Suzhou River, which symbolize the splendid past of Shanghai, but have a visibly different situation today. With the deliberately created distance, Zhang Xinquan aims to have the historical sense, as well as to reflect the artist’s own historical concept.
Zhang Xinquan insists that reviewing the past doesn’t necessarily prevent you from moving forward, for you may come across with the characteristics of the times in your review. In other words, he is reflecting on the past, the present and the future as an individual artist, just as T.S Elliott puts it in poetics, the historical sense “is at the same time what makes a writer most acutely conscious of his place in time, of his contemporaneity.” Thus, Zhang expands his territory of works by the transition from historical sense to historical perspective.
Since 2007, Zhang Xinquan has been working on the “Vessel” series, which is connected to the earlier produced “Zhongshan Vessel” and old Shanghai-related paintings, where vessels just worked as scenes or part of the scenes. His choice of the vessels appears to be out of his persistent interest in history, as he collected numerous images from newspapers and magazines and postcards from that time, so as to reshape those vessels. Virtually, apart from the painting “Zhiyuan Vessel” produced in 2009, most of his works, which were later classified into “Vessel” series or “Sea Soul” series, given the name of “The Patrol Vessel”, “The Yacht”, “The Merchant Ship” or “Lying at Anchor”, don’t stress on some specific historical value or meaning, despite the fact that they are all about the vessels in late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. He was trying to evade portraying the vessels themselves. For instance, in “The Patrol Vessel” produced in 2007, the ship was relatively complete, surrounded by the realistically painted sea surface, surf and skyline, while in “Sea Soul No 11” and “Sea Soul No 12” in 2011, parts of the ship are prominent, with abstractly painted surroundings. Through his “Vessels” series or “Sea Soul” series, Zhang is extracting images to express his own historical perspective. What he aims at is to suggest more possibilities with expressive art forms, breaking down the boundaries of a certain narration or visual expression.
On contrary to his discussion of the past in his “Vessel” series, his latest “Landscape” series focuses more on the present. To be more concrete, the “Vessel” series probes into those covert moments in history, which are of symbolic and transitional importance rather than a mere record of the history, whereas his “Landscape” series painted after 2009, which reflects historical changes through the interaction of people and the time, is closely related to the current cultural position and social environment as a whole.
“The Sea View House”, “Sanjiang Normal College” and “Jinling Machine Factory” painted in 2009, which obviously lay special emphasis on architecture style, are slightly related to the previous series of old Shanghai. But his latest works come out in a sketch style rather than imitating old photos.
“Sanjiang Normal College” and “Jinling Machine Factory”, the symbols of the Qing government’s effort to innovate and make social changes, are often ignored in our life. They have already faded away from our sight in the historical process. In those sketch style works, Zhang Xinquan mirrors the changes of history, as well as the changes they bring to human being. “The Sea View House” demonstrates how the sketch style can create a sense of presence and cast emotions on the work. The western style old buildings by the shore, together with the sea line, are sketched with skilled perspective in the painting, where the liveliness of the style can be seen from the traces of strokes.
“There is nothing so stable as change,” as Bob Dylan puts it. Definitely, it’s also Zhang Xinquan’s style. Zhang is no advocate of what has already gone. What he is probing into is not the artificial aspect of history. In his latest “Landscape” series, he emphasizes that history is not intentioned to be determined by any individual, but is a reflection of the deep social emotions. The old town of Suzhou became the target of his investigation all because it’s the epitome of the whole China, as well as a base for artists to produce their works. In Zhang’s eyes, those classical gardens and picturesque outskirts are just a glimpse, a section or a flash in history. He recognizes the endlessness of history, so instead of pursuing the alleged purity and eternity, he thoroughly appreciates the freedom of producing skillfully. On that point, Zhang’s works are approaching truth rather than illusion, soul instead of reality.
-- By Zhao Li, a Professor in China Central Academy of Fine Arts