趙曉東畫農(nóng)民工，的確很有西南藝術(shù)師承的傳統(tǒng)，四川美院八十年代的鄉(xiāng)土繪畫就源自對底層的人文關(guān)懷。為表達對勞動者的尊重，趙曉東在畫面上常常壓低視點使對象顯得更高大，這種久違的英雄化構(gòu)圖，在今天的藝術(shù)語境中反而顯得很有個性。其實趙曉東作品的價值，不在于描繪農(nóng)民工的勞動場面和生存境遇，而是致力于用形體塑造、色彩感受和有力的筆觸肌理，去揭示下層勞動者的精神狀態(tài)；不是以悲苦的面容、襤褸的衣衫、疲憊的勞作來博取廉價的同情，而是呈現(xiàn)自在、自為同時也就是自生自滅的自我生存，通過呈現(xiàn)而記錄在案。正如庫爾貝所說的那樣，記錄普通和平凡，就是記錄歷史并揭示歷史。
——王 林
The migrant worker painted by Zhao Xiaodong highlights on artistic style typical in the Southwest. The countryside painting style originating at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in the 80s, illustrates the artists empathy for those suffering poverty. In order to show the respect for the laborers, Zhao Xiaodong usually alters his perspective and looks at the subjects of his paintings from below. This old-fashioned heroic construction of images is rather unique in a contemporary artistic context. The value of Zhao Xiaodong’s works does not lie in the labor-class scenario or the living situation of the migrant workers rather, what he pays attention to is the molding of human form, the emotion given through colors and the vibrant texture, instead of inviting cheap sympathy by depicting sad expressions, ragged clothes and exhausting labor, the artist provides a portrait of a migrant worker’s personality and a record of their free, independent and self-sufficient existence. As Courbet suggests, to record the ordinary and the simple is to record and reveal history.
——Wong Lin
