《蘋果熟了》

龐茂琨以一張彝族老人的肖像而獲得社會激賞，這就是畫于1983年的油畫《蘋果熟了》。隨後幾年，因為他一直在同類題材上創作，給人以強烈印象，以為龐茂琨在影響中國的鄉土繪畫的藝術運動中，引領著對邊地民族的獨特描繪。其實，人們很少關注，就在龐茂琨這張成名的作品中，已經顯露了一種與眾不同的觀看意識：畫中老人半蹲著，兩隻手舉在眉梢，遮住過度刺眼的強烈陽光，平靜地注目著遠處。當年人們解讀這一作品，無不對藝術家所選取的遮陽動作予以肯定，以為體現了一種對細節的把握。但是，當今天我們認真審視這一作品，對龐茂琨所描繪的動作進行深入思考時，一個涉及到藝術家的觀看問題，才從作品中顯現了出來：與其説藝術家在現實生活中注意到這樣一個典型的細節，不如説他就是這樣去觀看的。我的意思是説，不是畫中人遮陽這個動作給畫家捕捉到，然後以如此傳神的手法表現了出來，而是畫家本人就是常常這樣去關注世界的。龐茂琨不是那種喜歡熱鬧與張揚的人，他內斂，説話不多，兩眼明亮有神，有一種收藏起來的尖銳，以至形成一種假像。我懷疑龐茂琨在自我的想像當中，不時會舉起一雙隱形的手，遮住現實世界過度刺眼而喧囂的光線，去探查人性的隱蔽思緒。我看他的作品，久了以後，突然有一天冒出了“不動聲色”這樣一個關鍵詞。把這一關鍵詞和凝視聯結起來，就形成了一種立場，一種視覺方向，一種洞察人性的習慣。

不動聲色不是無動於衷，恰恰相反，是體會日深了以後的一種重歸靜止的狀態，就像那個彝族老人，遙望著遠方，但卻用雙手遮著。表面上看是在擋住刺眼的陽光，實際上是在把一種尖銳放在內心，而讓凝視變得日常。

龐茂琨有一張女性油畫肖像，叫《彩虹悄然當空》，畫中一年輕女子蹲伏在大山之中，屈卷著身子，頭埋在雙臂中，眼睛卻悄然上升，默默地注視著前方。我相信這幅作品對於龐茂琨來説，大概算不上是嚴格意義的創作。表面看來，龐茂琨僅僅想傳達一種羞澀，一種內斂，一種隱藏起來的對外界的凝視。但正因為這樣一种經意與不經意之間的狀態，反而透露了藝術家的心跡，那種默然面對世界動蕩的邊緣。與此形成對比的是《紅門內端坐的女子》，藝術家把所畫對象置於房間之中，表面看是在描繪一種安靜，但如果從觀看的角度出發，我們就立時發現了一種獨特的視角，畫家的視角，他是站在門外往裏看的，他畫他所看到的，這個“看到的角度”，我稱之為凝視，就是龐茂琨要表達的主題。他不是在畫一個端坐在室內紅色沙發上的安靜女子，他是在畫一種凝視方式。有相同旨趣的是另外兩張顯然畫于同一時期的作品《室內悠趣》之一與之二，那種晃悠在室內的不經意，那種隨時往外尋找的偶然性，突顯了對凝視本身的凝視。

與《蘋果熟了》不一樣，與《彩虹悄然當空》更不一樣，以室內女子為題材的作品，表現的是一種從外向內的關注，主題是在畫外，而不是在畫中。雙手遮陽與頭埋在雙臂中，是一種由內向外的探尋，龐茂琨刻意隱藏這一探尋，好讓畫面産生一種令人意味深長的曖昧，並籍此傳達出來。以室內女子為題材的作品表達的先是藝術家的感受，然後才是觀者的感受，對藝術家感受的感受。檢索龐茂琨這一時期的作品，我發現他畫了不止一張，而是一批，已經形成了一個系列，姑且稱之為“室內系列”。如此頻繁地就一個類似的主題做反覆的探索，證明龐茂琨對於觀看角度的迷戀。那是一種不由分説的凝視，一種透過封閉的墻對另一種空間的反省。我甚至懷疑龐茂琨著迷于那些沒有畫出來的部分，那些被遮掩的內容。他把視線局限在無法觀看的邊界，堅決阻擋視線的延伸，用以質疑觀看的意義。這裡顯示了畫家的一種發自本能的思考，一種無法排遣的懷疑。

讓我們注意一下《書桌上的燈光》這幅靜物畫。在我看來，這並不是靜物畫，而是人物畫，有人在其中。畫中書桌上的兩面鏡子就透露了藝術家的意圖。鏡像是凝視的結果，但又是被凝視的開始，鏡像的意義在於其雙重的凝視，是觀看的對象，更是被觀看的結果，並因此而證明視覺悖論的存在，成為文化批判的關鍵詞。龐茂琨仔細而堅定地描繪了鏡子的質感，用以突出鏡中物像，但這鏡中的像卻又因為鏡框的限定而顯得殘缺不全，讓人無法準確辨認。恰恰這一特徵，決定了畫面所表達的意義具有多重性，從而成功地抹去了過於簡單的一目了然。

《鏡前》和《窗外晨光》是普通的女性肖像，畫中人在照鏡子，鏡中形像是完整的，鏡前人側著身子認真地注視著自己，結果只把一個側影留給了觀者我們。在繪畫中探討這一類觀看與被觀看的關係倒是一個傳統。17世紀委拉斯貴茲的著名作品《宮娥》，按照福柯的分析，就是通過形象對觀看與被觀看作一視覺説明。委拉斯貴茲想像他面對著一面巨大的鏡子，他正在描繪鏡子中的物象，包括他自己，他的描繪對象，以及在旁邊玩耍的宮娥和僕人。直到福柯從觀看政治的角度予以探討之前，人們總是把委拉斯貴茲的這幅作品看成是一幅普通意義的自畫像，就像是在寫日記一樣，試圖留下自己的工作狀態。但是，在福柯看來，這幅作品不是畫家的自我記錄那麼簡單，畫中一目了然的觀看與被觀看，代表著一種權力的凝視，不管是凝視者還是被凝視者，都無一例外地指向權力不變的層級關係。這一關係如此現實，以至於畫家生活其間也覺得艱於呼吸。同樣的凝視又出現在19世紀初法國古典主義畫家大衛的《薩賓婦女呼籲和平》的巨幅作品上。人們關注的中心一般而言是畫中張開雙臂制止衝突與戰爭的那個健碩的女性，但人們的視線很快就被畫家別有用心地畫在下方的一個注視著觀者的男孩所吸引。顯然，畫家正是通過這一凝視，把畫中情景延伸到現實中去，從而使一幅表面看來是古典主義題材的繪畫，轉變成為為現實政治服務的宣傳作品。

關鍵是凝視，那是一種發自內心的審視，一種自我反省，一種向外探求。有趣的是，在這凝視的目標下，龐茂琨著重表達的是一系列的女性。在他的大量作品中，女性佔據了顯著的位置，從早期描繪彝族女性到後期描繪城市女性，儘管對象的身份有了重大變化，但隱含其間的一種觀望，一種凝視，一種反省，卻一直主宰著藝術家的思維。我從來不認為龐茂琨可以簡單歸入中國的寫實主義油畫的風格中，我甚至認為，龐茂琨就其趣味方向與探求深度來説，和那種過度注意描繪的表面細節，尤其和那種美女風格毫無相同之處。的確，出現在龐茂琨作品的女性總是那麼妖嬈多姿，總是散發著一種迷人的光澤，但是，真正引發我們興趣的，或者説，真正讓龐茂琨筆下的女性具有意義的，表面看是一種無處不在的氣質，一種讓人一看就不想忘掉的品相，但內裏卻是一種思考，一種關於凝視，以及隱藏在這凝視背後的對立的思考，否則我們無法理解他去年在上海所創作的被魯虹稱之為《今日之神話》的系列，為什麼具有那麼大的奇異與詭詐。不能説龐茂琨突然迷上了電腦的流行圖像，突然趕起了“時尚”，要在趣味上來一個顛覆。相反，骨子裏龐茂琨並沒有任何改變。呈現在他的這一批作品中的詭異，卻絲毫也沒有掩蓋其中的與以往風格一脈相承的表情。那是一種什麼樣的表情？一種漠然偽裝下的凝視。畫中人顯然是被觀看的，但這只是觀賞龐茂琨這一批作品的初始印象。很少人意識到，我們，也説是徘徊在龐茂琨作品前的觀者，才是被凝視的對象。被誰凝視？當然是畫中人。畫中人以一種被觀看的方式在凝視著你，繼而盯視著你，讓你無所遁逃。但是，再想深一點看，究竟是誰在凝視和盯視著你？其實，只有一個人在這樣做，那就是藝術家龐茂琨，他躲在精緻的描繪後面，躲在寫實的圈套裏，躲在氣質非凡的女性的雙眸之中，正安靜而不動聲色地凝視著你，凝視著你所代表的一個世界，一個異我的世界，一個荒唐的世界，一個歡快到不知結局的世界。

龐茂琨就這樣，站著，不動聲色，凝視著，盯視著你。因為他不需要去動什麼聲色，他的凝視，繼而盯視足以説明一切。

Gaze in Silence

—Observing Consciousness and Subject Organization in Pang Maokun’s Oil Painting

Yang Xiaoyan

Pang Maokun is well-known for the portrait of an old Yi woman. This oil painting is named Apples are ripe, which was painted in 1983. During the following few years, Pang Maokun continued to paint with the same theme. Those paintings were so impressive that people thought of Pang Maokun as one of the leading painters depicting different cultures of the minorities in the rural painting movement throughout China. People hardly noticed the unique observing consciousness that already exists in his first well-known painting: The old woman is squatting, putting her two hands above the eyebrows to shade her eyes from the bright sunlight, staring into the distance peacefully. At that time, the painter’s choice of her motion in this painting was highly praised and was regarded as the proof of his grasp of details. But today, when we look at this piece of art again and try to understand the inner meaning of this motion, we finally get to the question: How does the painter look at the world? Rather than saying that Pang Maokun noticed a typical scene in life, we should say this is actually the way he looks at the world. What I’m trying to say is that it’s not because the painter saw an old woman’s motion and then painted it on canvas, it is because the painter always gaze at the world in that way. Pang Maokun is not that kind of person who loves to be in the crowd, he is quiet and focusing on the inner spirit. However, his eyes are bright and with hidden sharpness, sometimes people get wrong impression about him. I guess in his own imagination, the figure named Pang Maokun would sometimes raise his invisible hands to protect himself from the bright light of chaos from the practical life, while seeking to reach the hidden thoughts of humanity. After appreciating his works for many years, the word “silence” suddenly jumped into my mind one day. By combining this key word with gaze, we find a position, a visual direction, and a habit to observe the humanity.

To remain silence is not to be motionless. On the contrary, it is a tranquil status after complex experiences. Just like that old Yi woman, staring into the distance and raising her two hands to shade her eyes. It seems that she is protecting her eyes from the bright sunlight. In fact, this motion represents the observing consciousness to observe and gaze at each moment of our lives.

There is a another woman’s portrait by Pang Maokun named the rainbow appears silently: A young girl is squatting in the mountain, bending her body, hiding her face in her arms, with her eyes secretly and quietly staring at the front. Perhaps this painting is not really a piece of art from Pang Maokun’s point of view. It looks like the painter depicts a shy and inner self, a secret gaze at the outside world. With or without purpose, however, it reveals the painter’s attitude: Facing the chaos of this world quietly. The painting Woman sitting inside the red door is a sharp contract. The painter put all the objects inside the room, and it seemed that he was depicting quietness. However, as observers, we immediately find a unique angle used in this painting, angle of the painter: He was outside the door, looking inside, painting what he saw there. This unique “visual angle”, I call it gaze. It is the theme of Pang Maokun’s paintings. He was not painting a quiet woman sitting in a red sofa inside a room; he was painting a way of gaze. There are another two paintings with the same theme, Casual time No.1 and No.2. Obviously painted at same period of time. The casual feeling inside the room and the randomness of searching the outside emphasize the gaze at gaze itself.

Different from Apples are ripe and Rainbow appears silently, the indoor women series reveals a concentration on inner world from the outside world. The theme is outside the canvas, rather than inside the painting. Hands shading the eyes and face hiding in arms represent searching for the outside from the inside. Pang Maokun purposely hides the searching attempt to create a meaningful vagueness in these art works. The indoor women series depicts the artist’s feeling first, then the feeling of observer, and then observer’s feeling towards the painter’ feeling. When going through his works of this period of time, I find that Pang Maokun has painted a large number of paintings with the same theme, which I call “indoor series”. The frequently used theme reveals Pang Maokun’s infatuation for the visual angle. It’s a determined gaze to observe the other space through the walls. I even have the idea that Pang Maokun is more interested in those that were not painted, those that were covered and hidden. He is determined to limit our sights inside the frames and would not let us see the hidden world. This is the way the painter questions the meaning of observation. It shows his instinctive thinking and his doubts that cannot be wiped away.

Let us have a look at the still life painting Lamplight on the desk. To me, this is not a still life painting. It is a figure painting, because there is a human figure in it. Painter’s intention is revealed by the two mirrors on the desk. The image in the mirror is the result of gaze, yet the beginning of gaze. The gaze is dual, being the object and the result at the same time. It represents the paradox of observation and becomes a key word for culture criticizing. Pang Maokun depicted the mirror carefully and firmly to emphasize the reflection. However, the reflection is limited by the frame of mirror and appears to be incomplete. It is difficult to tell what it really is. This unique character determines that ideas expressed in this painting are sophisticated and complicated, and it successfully beats those simple scenes in former paintings.

In front of the mirror and Morning light from the window are two typical women portraits. In these pictures, reflection in the mirror is complete, but the woman who is looking at herself in the mirror is just a profile on canvas. In art history, it is actually a custom for the painters to discuss the relationship between observer and the observed. According to Michel Foucault, Diego VELAZQUEZ’s masterpiece Las Meninas of the 17th century is actually a visual explanation for observer and the observed. The artist imagined that he was facing a big mirror and he was painting the reflection. That included himself, his model, maids and servants who were playing around. Until Michel Foucault discussed the ideas of this painting from a political angle, people used to think of this work simply as a portrait, like a diary recording painter’s working status. But from Michel Foucault’s point of view, it is more than just a portrait. The relationship between observer and the observed represented the gaze of governing power. Social classes were represented by the observer and the observed. This kind of relationship was so real and so cruel that even the painter who lived in it felt hard to breathe. Same kind of gaze appeared in The Sabine Women, 1799, large painting of French classical painter Jacques Louis David. Generally speaking, our eyes would be attracted by the woman in the center who raises her arms to stop the conflicts and war. But soon, our attention would be drawn away from her and to the little boy particularly placed at the lower part of the picture. He is staring at the observers. Obviously, the artist tried to expand the scene from the painting to the real life with the boy’s observation. And this turns a seemingly classical painting into a method of political propaganda.

The key is gaze. It is an inner observation, a self-reflection, an attempt to reach and discover the outside world. It is interesting that Pang Maokun has depicted a series of women, aiming at gaze. Female images play an important part in his numerous works. Although his models change from the Yi women in his early works to the modern women in his later works, Pang Maokun always bears in mind the inner observation, gaze and reflection when he paints. I can never agree that Pang Maokun should simply be classified into the realistic style of Chinese oil painting. Moreover, I find his interest and depth in paintings are totally different from those of excess hollow details, especially different from paintings with merely pretty girl. True, women in Pang Maokun’s works are always charming and adorable. But what really arouses our interest, what gives actual meaning to those female images, is an everlasting character, an unforgettable visual impression, and below the surface, a meditation. It is a meditation on gaze and the hidden thoughts behind the gaze. Otherwise it is impossible for us to understand why Mythology of today series named by Lu Hong, which Pang Maokun painted in Shanghai last year, appears so strange and weird. It is not rational to say that Pang Maokun suddenly gets mad about the images on internet, so that he has totally changed his interest to become “fashionable”. On the contrary, the true Pang Maokun never changes. The weirdness in this series cannot cover an expression that always exists in his works of art. What kind of expression? Gaze under the mask of coolness. Figures in his paintings are the observed for sure, but this is only the first impression. Few people realize that we, observers wandering in front of Pang Maokun’s paintings, are the ones being gazed. Gazed by whom? Those figures in his paintings, of course. They are gazing and staring at you in a way of being observed. They look straight into your eyes, and you have no place to hide. But if you think deeper, who is actually gazing and staring at you? There is only one man, the artist Pang Maokun. He is hiding behind the exquisite depiction, behind the trap of realism, behind the eyes of adorable women, gazing at you quietly, gazing at the world you represent. It is a world different from his, a world full of nonsense, a world with endless joy.

Pang Maokun is there, standing, silently, gazing at you, staring at you. He doesn’t have to do anything else. His gaze, followed by his stare explains everything.